that we both know you’re not the most organized individual.”
“If I’m such a poor choice, why not take him to Mom’s? She loves having Cody.”
“I would, except she’s buried under work.”
“And I’m not?”
Anna took a slow, sweeping look around the property. “No.”
Jenny felt like a dartboard her sister kept taking aim at. “What about Paul?” It seemed to her that if her brother had time for early morning calls to pester his baby sister, then he obviously had time to watch his nephew.
“He works nearly as many hours as I do. You know that. Come on, Jen, it would only be for the weekend. Cody’s excited to come to the lake.”
Jenny glanced into the back of Anna’s car. Cody didn’t look at all excited. Like mother, like son. Anna had never fallen in love with the lake like Jenny had. She’d never liked the water or fishing with Grandpa or gardening with Nana. To her, it had all been an interference, a waste of time for a girl who only wanted to set the medical world on fire.
And then the full impact of her sister’s words hit her. “Weekend? As in today and tomorrow?”
“And possibly next weekend, too. Until I can make other arrangements for the summer. He has a baseball game late Sunday afternoon and a book report due on Monday. Please make sure he gets that done.”
Jenny looked back at her nephew. He was turned sideways in the seat, facing as far away from them as possible and slouched so far down on the expensive beige leather seat all Jenny could see was the top of his spiky blue hair. But that still didn’t hide the fact that he wore a big Back Off sign.
“This was a mistake,” her sister said, uncrossing her arms. “I told Mom you couldn’t handle it. Forget I stopped by. I’ll figure something else out.”
Her sister opened the car door, and Jenny waited for the sense of relief she was sure would come. She didn’t need this. She didn’t need her nephew hanging around giving her attitude. Her gaze strayed toward the hangar. She had enough to deal with at the moment.
I told Mom you couldn’t handle it.
She could handle it; she just didn’t want to.
Through the open car door, Cody shifted his position, and their eyes met. But this time, instead of seeing a brooding teenager, she saw something else, something more: a kid trying his hardest to act like he didn’t care. But each time Anna talked about him staying for the weekend, Cody seemed to collapse into himself a little more. It was almost as if he expected to be rejected. Watching him, Jenny felt a pull on her heart. If anyone in this family knew about building barricades and pretending not to hurt, it was her.
“He can stay,” Jenny heard herself say.
TEN
Before her sister’s car even crested the driveway, Jenny knew she had made a mistake. Why hadn’t she just said no?
Because she’d never been good at turning anyone down, particularly not family and most certainly not her sister. And especially when her sister was asking her for a favor. It had been such a novelty, Jenny had said yes before she’d fully thought it through.
Twenty-six years old and still trying to prove herself to her family. Pathetic.
Anna’s Volvo turned left onto Lakeshore Drive. Soon the silver car disappeared around a long, sweeping bend, and the only evidence of her sister’s visit was the low cloud of dirt hovering above the gravel drive, two brown grocery sacks at Jenny’s feet, and the sullen teenager standing next to her.
Jenny faced her nephew and put on a brave face. Just because she knew it was a mistake that Cody was here, he didn’t have to. Besides, it was only for the weekend. Two short little days. How bad could it be? “Why don’t we head inside and—”
“Don’t bother.”
His tone took her aback. “Don’t bother what?”
Cody snagged his backpack off the ground and slung it over his right shoulder. The stuffed gray and white nylon hung low on his back, the shoulder strap extended as far as it could go. “You can stop smiling.” He glared at her. “I don’t want to be here any more than you want me.” Without saying another word, he sulked off toward the house.
Jenny watched him go, his backpack thumping against his butt with each step he took. “Great,” she muttered under her breath, already feeling the weekend lengthen. As usual, she’d been wrong. Cody hadn’t