Page 77 of The Cinnamon Bun Book Store

‘Girls, you know Uncle Noah is very busy.’ His sister’s voice came from somewhere in the background. They were at Rachel’s this weekend. He knew his sisters took turns babysitting on Sundays so they could each get a break.

The way Ivy nodded, like of course he wouldn’t come visit and she had already come to terms with it, nearly killed him.

‘Maybe Thanksgiving, though.’ The words were out before he could stop them.

‘Really?!’ Cece squealed. ‘Did you hear that, Mama? Uncle Noah’s going to come for Thanksgiving and you can tell him all about the baby in your belly!’

Noah winced. There was no taking it back now.

‘All right, let me talk to your uncle, please.’ Again the screen was filled with snatches of Rachel’s home, of his sister’s life that he rarely saw because of his own stubbornness.

‘Hey, Rach.’ She was frowning. Off to a good start.

‘Please don’t get their hopes up, Noah.’

‘Jesus. Give me a chance to actually let you down before you get mad at me.’

She blew out a long sigh, her eyes to the ceiling like she was looking for strength up there. ‘Look, Noah. There are two little girls here who love you, and, frankly, I’m too sick from this pregnancy to sugar-coat things for you right now.’

‘Congrats by the way.’

‘Thanks.’ She pinched the bridge of her nose like she did when she had a headache coming on. ‘We were going to tell you soon, there’s just been a few complications so we didn’t want to jump the gun . . .’

‘Complications?’ Noah’s heart dropped into his stomach.

‘Yeah, we weren’t sure at first if it would ... if we would...’ She waved her hand in front of the screen, brushing away her worry, but suddenly the dark circles under her eyes were obvious, the furrow between her brow deeper. ‘Everything’s better now. Just hoping I don’t have to go on bedrest.’

‘Bedrest?’ he croaked. ‘Jesus, Rach.’

She gave him a weak smile and Noah’s heart broke. His strong, seemingly invincible sister was hurting and here he was only thinking about his own bullshit.

‘Just come home for the holidays, okay? I don’t know what story you’ve been telling yourself about everyone being mad at you or disappointed or whatever. All any of us care about is you.’

First his nieces’ little faces and now this?

‘It’s not a story, Rach. You know how Dad felt about me dropping out. And then leaving the business...’ All his excuses seemed so feeble now in the face of his sister’s stress.

‘Yeah. He wanted what was best for you! But you need to let it go. He has. And the business is just fine, thank you very much.’

‘I didn’t mean it like that.’ He knew his sisters did an amazing job with the business, but he also knew his parents were upset with his decision, that for years they’d imagined all their children working together on what they’d built. And he’d ruined that.

Noah had talked to his parents since he left, but there was always an undercurrent of disappointment, of them waiting for him to get his shit together. But maybe he was wrong? Maybe they just wanted him to be ... okay.

‘Just think about it, Noah. I don’t want your new niece or nephew to only know you as a face on a screen, okay?’

He nodded, the sudden emotion at the thought of having a new little person in his life clogging his throat.

‘And if you want to bring a guest for Thanksgiving ... we can make room.’

‘What guest would I bring?’

Rachel tried to look innocent but she’d always been a terrible liar. ‘The girls mentioned you’d had a sleepover the last time they called you. Sorry about that, by the way.’

Noah shrugged. ‘It’s okay.’

‘Anyway, if that sleepover person is serious, feel free to bring them.’

‘It’s not serious.’