Page 45 of The Grump I Loathe

“It’s just…kids are funny.”

“Why?”

“Grace and Idohave a lot planned—but part of that is because…well, because I’m overcompensating. I’ve been having a tough time getting Grace face time with Ali. She’s caught up in her own things, and she keeps canceling plans. I’m crossing my fingers that the summer visit goes off without a hitch, but I’m worried about it.”

“So what you’re saying is the girls probably have more in common than they realize?” He nodded as our arms bumped. He didn’t move away. Neither did I. “Kids,” I said.

“Kids,” he agreed as we reached the tug-o-war pit. Grace and Alannah stood at their end, facing off, hands on their hips.

“Go, team gurple!” I shouted at them, trying to head off whatever argument was brewing.

“Work together!” Connor called, cupping his hands around his mouth. Grace looked over her shoulder at him, scowling.

“Wow,” I laughed.

“What?”

“Like father, like daughter.”

He scowled at me.

“Ha! Yes, exactly.”

He shook his head as the girls lined up along the rope and tugged.

“They’re not pulling together,” I said as team yellow and blue started to drag them across the line. “Come on, gurple! You can do it!”

“Gurple! Gurple! Gurple!” Connor and I started cheering together.

Grace and Alannah looked at each other, said something, and with anod, both of them sank down lower. “Pull!” they shouted in tandem. “Pull, gurple!”

“Yes!” I screamed, clamping down on Connor’s forearm. “There! Go! Go!”

“GO, GURPLE!” Connor shouted.

“PULL!” Grace and Alannah yelled. And with one more great heave, they dragged the blue and yellow squad across the line.

“Oh my God!” I said, jumping up and down by Connor’s side. “They did it!” The second they dropped the rope, Connor and I swept in, gathering Alannah and Grace into a giant group hug.

Connor beamed at us. “I think this calls for a celebration.”

13

CONNOR

“How are you Alannah’s mom if you’re so young?” Grace said to Eddie, pointing her ice cream spoon at her from across a table in Trudy’s Ice Cream Parlor & Arcade. All it took to bury girl drama was winning a game of tug-o-war and eating some sugar.

After I’d jumped Eddie’s car, she’d suggested Trudy’s, and she and the girls were currently eating their way through mini ice cream flights. Because apparently one flavor was simply not good enough.

“Don’t point,” I said. “It’s not polite.”

Grace lowered her spoon. Alannah’s lips puckered. “She’s not my mom,duh! That’s why she’s actually fun.”

Eddie chuckled softly, her cheeks turning the softest pink. “I’m her older sister.”

Grace huffed. “I wish I had a sister.”

An odd pang flared in my chest. It had been tricky having friends growing up. On her bad days, Mom had needed me with her. And on her good days, there was always the chance of something setting heroff and turning it into a bad day at any minute. Inviting people over never seemed like a good idea. But through all of it, I’d always had my brothers.