The door opened before my knuckles made contact, and a boy who I assumed was my cousin’s stepson Trevor shouted, “They’re here!”
A woman with chestnut brown hair and a bright smile appeared behind him. “Sorry about that. He’s been waiting all day, come in!”
I placed my hand on Josie’s lower back as we stepped inside. The gesture hadn’t been a conscious decision, but it felt right.
“You must be Jackson and Josie. I’m Sara, this is Trevor, and that is Charlotte.”
A girl with huge blue eyes sitting at the kitchen table looked up and waved, but then immediately looked back down at the book she was coloring in.
“She’s shy,” Sara mouthed.
“I was shy when I was her age, too,” Josie relayed. “I still am, actually.” She let out a forced laugh.
I hadn’t really thought about what Josie was like as a child. But I would imagine that being the granddaughter of, and living with, Josephine Grace Clarke may not have been the ideal environment for someone who was shy. Knowing how reserved she was also made her decision to go on the reality show for her grandmother even more of a selfless sacrifice. And it shed a brighter light on what happened after the show, and just how traumatizing that must’ve been.
We all said our hellos and then Sara motioned to the back of the house. “Austin is out in the back on the grill, follow me.”
As we trailed behind my cousin-in-law we passed by the fridge. It reminded me of my fridge growing up. It was cluttered with papers and magnets. There was a chart that looked like some sort of chore schedule with stars on it. There were colored pictures and several photos and a Save the Date wedding invitation.
The fridge in my furnished studio apartment only had magnets I’d collected over the years from productions that were holding up take-out menus. I’d never thought about my fridge before, but I did now. I wondered—if Josie and I lived together, what would we have on our fridge?
Did she want kids?
Did I want kids?
Was I actually having a mid-life crisis?
Or maybe an existential one?
“Hey!” Austin left his post at the grill and pulled me in for a one-armed man-hug after greeting Josie.
“Thank you so much for having us,” Josie looked between Sara and Austin. “I’m so sorry that I showed up empty handed.”
Sara waved off her apology. “Stop! You’re family.”
Josie’s eyes shot to mine, and I saw uncertainty there. If she thought I was going to correct Sara, she was mistaken. I thought her being included in my family had a nice ring to it.
“Do you want to see my magic trick?!” Trevor jumped up and down.
“Like I said, he’s been waiting all day.” Sara ruffled her son’s hair.
“Of course, we do!” Josie enthused.
Sometime during the magic show, Charlotte slipped outside to join us and sat on the table on the other side of the deck. When Trevor announced it was intermission and he needed to go get ready for his grand finale, Sara excused herself to go help him and Josie made her way over to Charlotte.
I hung back with Austin who handed me a beer from an outdoor fridge that was built into the elaborate outdoor grill area.
“How long are you in town?” Austin threw some slabs of meat on the barbeque.
“We fly out to California tomorrow.”
“Where are you staying?”
“I think at a hotel by the airport.” I hadn’t really paid attention to the itinerary, but I thought I’d heard Josie mention something about that.
“You should stay at the B&B.”
Austin inherited a bed and breakfast from his grandparents. That’s why he’d ended up in Whisper Lake after he’d retired from the Marines. And that’s where he’d met Sara and the kids.
“Thanks, man.” I popped the top of the beer. “I appreciate it.”
I’d have to double check with Josie, but she’d seen the B&B on our drive in and had said that it looked adorable.
“It’s a really nice setup you got here.” I commented, and not just about his state-of-the-art grill and massive deck overlooking a backyard that could easily be a neighborhood park. I was talking about all of it. The house. The kids. The wife. The family.
I’d never wanted any of those things, but now, I had to admit, I saw the appeal. And I was even a little envious of what Austin had.
“I’m a lucky man.” Austin flipped several burgers. “So, what about you? You ever think you might want to