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“Don’t worry, kiddo.” Nancy patted her disgruntled son’s cheek. “Some of it will work here.”
“You guys didn’t have to do all of this.”
“You kept your marriage from us until the last second. We have to overcompensate now.”
“I think it’s nice,” I said. “You guys really care a lot.”
“Even when he keeps stuff from us,” Isra said as she returned to the living room with a cup of coffee in hand. She took a sip and nodded. “This is good.”
“Thanks. It’s from a local shop down the road.”
“Oh, shopping from local stores too?” Isra asked. “She’s got good taste. I don’t know why you hid her from us.”
Levi let out a stilted laugh. “I just had to make her see I was worth her time. Now, can we go through my whole life that you’ve packed in the truck?”
“Come on,” Nancy said, pulling him outside. “You two come with me and we’ll decide what you all want together.”
To saythat my house looked lived-in by the time we were done was an understatement. Levi had nice stuff, things that I could have never afforded in my life, and instead of the bleak modern style I expected, a lot of it was used pieces that had either been meticulously cared for or colorful, restored things.
I thought it would take years for my home to feel like it did when Gram was alive. All I had to do was marry Levi, apparently.
Isra was a powerhouse. She had seemingly endless energy, even when Nancy and I had to take breaks. Between her and Levi, everything was unloaded and put up by the end of the night.
As we all worked together, it felt like we were a family. I hadn’t experienced any adult figure in my life giving me this much attention, and it was hard to remember that, eventually, they would no longer be here. I was just borrowing their kindness, and it would be hard to give it back.
Levi ordered us food, and we sat around the dining room table to eat. He had an easy demeanor with both his mom and stepmom, in a similar way to what Calvin had with Mom and Dad. When we’d been moving things in, I’d been more talkative and helpful in finding places for it all, but now as everyone talked about their lives, I did the familiar thing and sank into the background as I ate.
I learned that Nancy worked as a paralegal downtown and Isra spent her days running groups at the Nashville library. Their lives seemed to be full and interesting. There wasn’t much that I could contribute.
“Hang on a second,” Isra said after discussing a teen group gone awry. “Amy got quiet.”
I sat up straight and blinked. They’d noticed? “S-sorry, I was just listening to you all.”
“We still want to hear from you,” Nancy added. “Levi hasn’t told us much about you.”
“I’m afraid there isn’t much to say.”
Levi’s eyes cut to me. His flat expression made me reconsider my words.
“Isn’t much to say?” Isra scoffed. “How about how you got this beautiful house? What do you do in your free time? What conditioner do you use?”
“You really wanna know those things?”
“How else would we get to know you?” Nancy said it as if it were obvious, as if it were a no-brainer. To anyone else, it would be. But I wasn’t used to anyone asking anything about me.
“O-okay,” I started hesitantly. “I inherited this house from my grandmother. Kinda. It’s a long story.”
“I love long stories.”
I bit my lip, glancing at Levi. He nodded for me to continue.
“So, I stole it from my brother, actually.”
“I knew this woman was hiding a secret dark side!” Isra said. “I love it. But I have to askhow?”
“Don’t give too many details,” Nancy added. “She might actually try to steal a house.”
“It was mostly luck. I found a handwritten will, changed the date to screw my brother out of the house, and here I am. But to be fair, he was gonna sell it for the money to build a pool at his own place, and I would’ve been homeless.”