Cadence of Cranberries - Valerie Comer Page 0,60

looked at each other, each shaking their heads. Landon leaned back. “Don’t think so.”

“If this is all because of that trip he wanted to take Mikey on...” Gabriella started.

“Now you all are questioning my mothering? It’s more complicated than that.” She hesitated. “Parents in the twenty-first century can’t be too careful about letting someone they don’t know that well take their kid on a trip. It was just a bad idea, all the way around.”

“You thought he was going to…” Gabby’s eyebrows shot up.

“No, no, of course, I didn’t think that. Just a parent needs to be extra careful. One day you’ll have kids, and you’ll understand.”

“That’s dumb, Mom.” Landon shook his head. “Charlie’s a good guy.”

Brittany leaned on the table. “Mom’s got a point, though. And here I thought it was all about the size of the gift.”

Because Winnie had let them think that. She snuck a peek at Michael’s scowling face.

“Actually, we care about you.” Brittany took a deep breath. “You’ve been moping around the house for over a week now, and you know you’d never let us get away with that.”

Also true. Winnie poked at the lasagna on her plate. What had smelled delectable only a few minutes before now seemed flat and bland. She wanted nothing more than to excuse herself politely from the table and go hide in her bedroom. And wouldn’t that scar Michael? She felt a glimmer of sympathy for the many times she’d forced the kids to talk about what was bugging them. How could she expect to be exempt from the five kids around the table? Sure, Dominic wasn’t here. Ava was, but Ava was so close with her girls she sometimes seemed like another daughter.

“I like Charlie. You guys know that.”

They nodded, though Michael rolled his eyes. Hello, fourteen-year-old boy.

“I wasn’t sure how you felt about us dating.”

Landon leaned back and folded his arms over his chest. “Didn’t we talk about this a few weeks ago, before you guys went skating? Didn’t he bake Christmas cookies with us? I think you two got through that gauntlet just fine.”

Winnie looked at her youngest. “Except for Michael.”

He grimaced again. “Jeepers. Everything is always my fault.”

Landon punched his brother. “Only when you’ve got your head stuck up your... sorry, Mom. Just think of someone besides yourself for five minutes a day, Squeak. Is that too much to ask?”

Michael’s shoulders hunched as his jaw set.

“Dude, Landon’s right.” Gabriella reached for another piece of garlic toast. “It’s not all about you. If you think Dad died to ruin your life, think again. Do I wish I could run to him and tell him my secrets like I did when I was little? Of course, I do. I was his favorite—”

Brittany snorted.

“Well, I was! But it was an accident, S-Mikey. We all lost our dad. Do we like it? No. But life moves on. It has to.”

“And Mom lost her husband,” put in Britt. “Which, you know, is a bigger deal than for the rest of us.”

Michael didn’t look convinced. On the other hand, he was still at the table. Probably only the cake and the gifts kept him seated.

“I’m honestly not sure if it’s a bigger deal…” she started. Well, yes, but it was certainly a very significant loss for the kids, too.

Brittany shook her head. “Don’t downplay it, Mom.”

“Yeah,” agreed Gabby.

“Here’s the thing.” Landon leaned onto the table. “We all like Charlie, and Mikey at least doesn’t hate him. So, would you patch stuff up, please? Because we’re walking on eggshells around here, and we can’t take it anymore.”

Winnie studied Landon, then her daughters, then Michael. Her youngest didn’t meet her eyes, but he also didn’t protest. “Do you want to see what he got you for your birthday?”

Michael’s head whipped up. “Now? Before cake? And I can keep it, no matter what?”

Winnie took a deep breath. It better not be something crazy extravagant. But she had to trust Charlie. Had to trust God. She nodded. “It’s your birthday gift.”

“Sweet!” Michael bounded into the other room. The sound of tearing paper followed, then the bouncing of a basketball. In the house. Her boy appeared in the archway, spinning an orange ball on the tip of his finger. “Look at this! It’s a collector’s item, signed by LeBron James.”

Landon surged to his feet. “Squeak, that’s awesome!” Landon reached for the ball, and Michael shot it to him in a chest pass.

Winnie winced, but Landon caught the ball, and even the hated nickname hadn’t dulled Michael’s