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SIXTEEN

lauren

Olivia scrambles after me as I head out the door. “Don’t leave yet, Lauren. You have to make a showing at dinner tonight. For Granny’s sake.”

She shuts the door behind us so Bart and Abby can’t hear our conversation, a small act of kindness I’m grateful for.

“The only reason I showed up was for you and Mom,” I say, turning to Liv.

“And it’s clear you have everything taken care of.

” I start down the porch stairs, noticing the hanging swing shifting gently in the breeze on the porch.

I always loved reading in that swing with Mom.

She would take one end of the swing, and I’d prop my feet on her lap.

“What about the promise to Mom?” Olivia asks gently, snapping me out of the memory. “And this isn’t me trying to play the guilt card, Lauren. She wanted us to carry on this tradition because it was the only thing keeping us together. We can get through this.”

“Yeah, well, it’s pretty hard to keep a family together when you hide things from each other,” I say. “And believe me, Mom would understand.”

I don’t look back at Olivia as I head to the parking lot. Even mentioning Mom makes my chest tighten. She would have handled this situation so much better than me, reminding me that being together is better than being right.

A promise is a promise.

But I’m exhausted from pretending I’m fine. And I’m hurt that no one thought to tell me about Dad’s new relationship before I walked into this reunion completely unprepared.

I haul my suitcase over the gravel, the wheels catching and stumbling behind me. The rough, jarring motion matches exactly how my heart feels—scraped raw.

I miss Mom so much.

As I fumble through my bag searching for my car keys, everything turns into a blur behind the tears welling in my vision. I open my trunk as someone calls from the end of the parking lot.

“Lauren, where are you going?”

I spin around. Granny is standing there, holding her aluminum lawn chair from the sixties with its woven green seat.

She’s decked out in her traditional vacation attire—a straw hat bigger than a small planet, Bermuda shorts, and a Hawaiian shirt decorated with flamingos even though there are no pink birds around here.

“Aren’t you supposed to be helping Olivia at the registration table? ”

I glance back at the porch. Olivia’s gone now, and part of me feels guilty for leaving her to handle everything alone, but the larger part just needs to escape before I completely fall apart.

“I was just moving my stuff,” I say, even though it’s clear I was putting my suitcase into the trunk.

“Let me help you with that.” Before I can stop her, she grabs my suitcase and hauls it right back toward the house.

“Granny, stop! I need that.”

“Sorry, honey, but I don’t have my hearing aids turned up,” Granny says, not meeting my eyes as she marches toward the front door. I get the feeling she’s trying not to hear me. Like she knows I’m trying to escape.

“I need my suitcase,” I say firmly, reaching for the handle. “Right now.”

She yanks it just beyond my reach. “But you’ll miss our special announcement at dinner. There’s a wonderful surprise planned.”

“Another one? I’ve had about all the surprises I can handle for one day.”

“Oh, you’ll like this one,” she insists.

I hesitate, stopping next to a rose bush in full bloom. “If this is anything like finding out Dad has a new girlfriend, I really don’t want to be here for it.”

Her forehead creases. “Your dad didn’t tell you, did he? After I specifically told him to?”

“Is it true I’m the only one who didn’t know?” I ask.

“Oh, sweetheart.” She takes a few steps toward me and opens her arms. “I’m so sorry. That wasn’t how it was supposed to happen.”

I nearly collapse into her arms. It’s been so long since anyone has held me like this—like I’m allowed to be broken.

When she pulls back slightly, she looks me straight in the eye, still keeping her hands on my shoulders. “I know the reunion is especially hard this year, but there’s something important happening tonight. Something your mother arranged before she left us.”

“What do you mean?”

“We’re establishing the Rose Williamson Memorial Foundation.

Every year, we’ll donate to a different charity in her name.

And here’s the part she was most specific about—she wanted you to choose the first recipient, Lauren.

She said you’d know best where the money should go.

And she felt certain there was a reason why. ”

I blink. “Mom asked me to pick the first one?”

“She did,” Granny says with a nod. “Tonight’s the announcement, and we need you there to tell everyone your choice.”

A warmth spreads through my chest, easing some of the day’s pain. This was so Mom. Always thinking of others and how she could help. Even her awareness of what I might need and how this would help me face the first reunion without her.

“You know how much it would mean…for everyone,” Granny says lovingly, stroking my arm. “Besides, there are some important details about the foundation we need to discuss with you after the announcement. Your mother was very specific about how she wanted this to work.”

I nod, blinking back tears. “Okay. I’ll be there.”

Granny squeezes my elbow before heading toward the front door with my suitcase.

“Granny, wait! You still have my suitcase.”

She turns back with a tiny, mischievous grin. “I know. Just making sure you don’t get any ideas about disappearing when I’m not looking. Your mother was stubborn too, you know.”

Hiding in one of the extra bathrooms, I put on a yellow blouse, the one that always makes me feel a little brighter, and my favorite jeans.

Now I just need to make it through one meal, name a charity for my mom’s new foundation, and then leave. At that point, no one can stop me, right? I’ve fulfilled my promise to Mom. Even Granny can’t argue with that. I take a deep breath, square my shoulders, and head to the large dining room.

When I get there, it’s loud, crowded, and as chaotic as I expected.

The Bear Creek Lodge’s dining hall is massive, with exposed wooden beams stretching across the vaulted ceiling and a stone fireplace taking up one wall.

Round tables covered in checkered tablecloths fill the space, accommodating at least forty people, with a buffet table stretching along the back and a makeshift stage tucked into the back side—ready for Granny’s announcements now and karaoke disasters later.

My uncles Bobby and Ray—Mom’s older brothers—are huddled together by the punch bowl, as different in appearance as two siblings could be.

Uncle Bobby, with his thick goatee and vintage hairstyle he’s had since the seventies, stands next to his wife, Aunt Tammy.

She adjusts her loose bohemian blouse, looking every bit the piano teacher who secretly wished she’d become a folk singer instead.

“Lauren!” Bobby calls out. “Where’s this mystery man of yours Olivia mentioned to us?”

“What man?” I reply, pretending I don’t know what he’s talking about.

“That’s exactly what Rose would’ve said when she was dodging questions,” Uncle Ray laughs, his bald head gleaming under the fluorescent lights. He slings an arm around Aunt Karen, who’s wearing her Summerville Elementary School t-shirt advertising where she works.

“Don’t let Karen hear too much about this boyfriend,” Ray adds. “She’s already planning which Olympic events would best show off his athletic abilities.”

Aunt Karen playfully swats his hand away. “Someone has to organize the games unless you want a repeat of the Great Canoe Disaster of 2016.”

I squeeze past a group of kids racing toward the dessert table, trying to escape the boyfriend interrogation before it gets any more detailed.

Olivia waves at me from her chair next to the kids, who are far more interested in using their silverware as drumsticks than actually eating their spaghetti.

I slide into my seat, dodging a runaway meatball from Camden’s plate.

“I’m glad you came tonight,” Olivia says as she plucks the meatball off the floor.

“Well, it’s hard to say no to Granny, but I’m not letting her talk me into participating in the Family Olympics.”

Jake’s fork freezes midway to his mouth, his eyes widening. “Wait—the Olympics aren’t mandatory? Granny told me all adults had to compete or face ‘dire family consequences.’”

I snort. “She would say that.”

“Well, it is sort of an unspoken requirement,” Olivia says, then turns to me. “You know, if you’d brought Tate this year, you’d actually have a shot at winning. Someone needs to give Bart a run for his money.”

“Believe me, I can handle not winning. What I can’t handle is Bart’s ego.” I glance toward the table where Bart and Abby are sitting. He looks over at me, then deliberately drapes his arm around Abby’s shoulders before whispering something in her ear that makes her giggle.

As I’m contemplating how many ways I could use Kaylie’s plastic fork as a weapon on the back of Bart’s head, a microphone squeals and Granny steps onto the makeshift stage.

“Welcome to the Williamson Family Reunion! Tonight, we wanted to honor someone very special, someone who made these reunions what they are and who made our family what it is. That person is my daughter, Rose Williamson.” She looks directly at me, and my throat tightens a little.

“This year, we’re establishing the Rose Williamson Memorial Foundation, a foundation dedicated to supporting causes close to her heart.

And Rose specifically requested that Lauren choose the first beneficiary of this foundation. It was one of her final wishes.”

I move next to Granny before taking the microphone and a deep breath that helps steady my racing heart.

“Mom loved a lot of things—her homemade pies, Dad’s terrible jokes, and shooting all of us in paintball without guilt.

But one thing she really loved was animals.

She once told me she liked them better than most people. ”

A few chuckles ripple through the group.

“So I’d like the first donation to go to Sully’s Beach Animal Shelter.”

Everyone applauds, and for a moment, something blooms in my chest—a feeling so close to joy that I almost don’t recognize it. It’s the first time since Mom died that I’ve felt anything besides numb or shattered when speaking about her.

From across the room, Bart’s voice cuts through the applause. “Well, that makes sense,” he says. “Lauren’s always preferred dogs over men. ”

My whole body stiffens as I look down at the notes I wrote about the animal shelter. The old Lauren would have a razor-sharp comeback ready. But tonight, with Mom’s memory hanging in the air and Dad and his new girlfriend watching, I just… can’t.

From the back of the room, someone replies through the awkward silence. “I disagree.”

The voice is familiar, pulling my heart to a hard stop.

I look up to see Tate striding into the room, holding Annie the puppy.

“Most dogs do make better companions than men,” he says.

“That’s why it takes a real man to prove otherwise.

” His eyes lock on to mine with the same steady intensity he brings to his games.

“Tate?” I say with barely more than a whisper.

He’s here. At my family reunion. He came—for me.

The shock rolls through my body like a wave. He navigates around the tables, never once easing up eye contact with me.

“Who’s this handsome young man?” someone whispers loudly.

When I don’t answer, Olivia says it for me: “Granny, that’s Lauren’s boyfriend.”

And for the first time tonight—possibly the first time ever—Bart is completely speechless.