Happenstance (Happenstance #1)(23)
Author: Jamie McGuire

“Are you happy?” she asked.

“I don’t know. I think so. More than I have been before.”

Her eyes softened. “Good. Did you get the rest of your things from Gina?”

“We stopped by Gina’s on Tuesday. I wasn’t sure about just walking in, so I knocked. She didn’t answer, so I walked in.”

“Did you get everything you needed?”

I nodded. I didn’t mention to Frankie that Soul Asylum was playing loudly when I walked in, so I rushed through my room and the bathroom, grabbing anything I thought I’d need—my other pair of jeans, my toothbrush, a razor, the little bit of makeup that I owned, underwear, bras, and a sketch pad. I left behind everything else.

“What did Gina have to say to you? Anything?”

I looked over at the score board. The game had just started.

“Why don’t you go over there and watch him? We’re not busy.”

“I need the hours.”

Frankie winked. “No you don’t. You’re an Alderman now. They’re going to take care of you, Erin. You can finally be a teenager for once.”

I thought about that for a moment then smiled. Tossing my apron on the hook, I jogged across the street and walked into the stadium. I’d never been to a baseball game before. Not many people were sitting in the bleachers besides a handful of students and the families of the players.

“Erin!” Weston was standing on the other side of the fence in his uniform and ball cap, his shaggy brown hair sticking out the bottom. He slipped his fingers through the wires of the fence, beaming.

I approached the fence. “Frankie let me off to watch your game.”

“I’m going to have to step it up a notch then.” He winked and jogged back to the dugout.

I spent my Saturday afternoon sitting on the bleachers, baking in the direct sun. It felt glorious. Weston made it to third base once, and the next time hit a home run. He played first base and got three players on the opposite team out. Once he even caught the ball right as it careened off the bat. The popping sound the ball made when it hit Weston’s glove made my hand hurt, but he was all smiles, and they all ran in off the field.

When they got their things together and listened to the coach speak, Weston made his way up to the bleachers and gave me a peck, sitting next to me. It was the first time he’d kissed me in public, and I didn’t miss the stares it garnered.

“What?”

“People are looking at us.”

“Good.”

“I’m going to go back and help Frankie. It’ll get busy since the game is over.

Weston kissed me goodbye, and I walked across the street, bursting into the back door and tying on my apron with a big grin.

“Was it fun?” Frankie asked.

“It was amazing. They won! Weston was great.”

Frankie nodded, and we worked without a break until close. We cleaned up quickly, because I would have to hurry and change and make it downstairs by the time Sam and Julianne brought over dinner at seven. I encouraged Weston to hurry as soon as I climbed up into the truck, and the second Weston pulled into the garage, I let go of his hand and darted up the stairs.

Thirty minutes later, I emerged, showered, shaven, and lotioned. Weston was sitting on the top stair, waiting for me. He stood when I walked out of Whitney’s room. I smiled at him, but he didn’t smile back.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” he said, finally forcing a smile. He leaned down and kissed my cheek, and then we walked downstairs together. Peter and Veronica were setting the table while Sam and Julianne were uncovering dishes and setting them in the center.

Julianne and Sam’s eyes lit up when they saw me, and they both came over to give me a hug. We sat down to eat, and Weston and I chatted about our day. The adults asked us more specific questions about our assignments, and how we felt about certain school policies, which brought us to Weston’s art project. It could have been small talk, but Sam and Julianne seemed genuinely interested and hung on to my every word.

“I would love to see it sometime,” Julianne said.

“It’s up in my room.”

“The one you had framed?” Veronica said, a little surprised.

“Yeah,” Weston said.

“But you’d been working on that for months, hadn’t you?” his mother asked.

Weston looked over at me. “Yes.”

Recognition lit Veronica’s eyes, and she stifled a grin. She seemed to want to ask more, but didn’t. We were all stuck in this strange situation. Weston’s ex-girlfriend was Sam and Julianne’s faux-daughter, who also happened to be recently deceased. It was hard to know what appropriate conversation was.

“This is . . . uncomfortable,” I said.

Sam’s eyebrows pulled in. “It’s okay. This is such a rare circumstance, Erin. There’s just no room for judgment. We’re just happy that you’re happy. That’s all that matters to us.”

By the time we finished the chocolate cheesecake, Julianne seemed nervous. During a lull in conversation, Sam took Julianne’s hand, and her eyes glossed over.

“Erin,” Sam said. “Julianne and I have been talking quite a bit this week, and although we know everything has happened very fast for all of us, we want to ask you if you would come and live in our home . . . until you go to college, or until you want to live on your own. We just feel we have a lot of catching up to do, and we’d love it if we could do it as a family.”

My eyes danced between the both of them. They watched me with desperate hope in their eyes.

“You’ll have your own room,” Julianne said. “We’ve already gotten you a new bed, dresser, and linens. But we thought you might want to make it yours by choosing your own comforter and things, so I left a few catalogs on the bed,” Julianne said. She held up her hand. “Not that I’m assuming you’ll come to live with us. I just . . . didn’t want you to think we’d offer you Alder’s room. You’ll have your own room, your own clothes, and your own things.”

Sam leaned forward a bit and pushed up his glasses. “You don’t have to make a decision tonight. We just want you to know the offer is there. And we’re not doing anything at all this weekend, just in case you want to, you know, move in. But again, no pressure.”

“It’s okay. I think it’d be good,” I said.

“You do?” Julianne said, in shock.

I nodded.