Page 34 of The Sweetest Return

Bari answered before anybody else could.

“He think you fine.”

I turned.

Mama closed her eyes.

Daddy looked toward the ceiling.

“What?” Bari said. “Y’all been too serious for eight straight minutes. It’s not that deep.”

A laugh escaped me. A real one.

Daddy smiled.

Bari had probably been aiming for that the whole time. Drag me out of my head before I disappeared too far into it.

“I’m going Thursday,” I said.

Bari nodded once. “Good. Send me the wedding invitation in a few weeks.”

I threw the nearest pillow at him.

He caught it against his chest, grinning. “See? Already emotional. Sounds serious.”

“Get out of my house.”

“After I hang this last picture. I’m the only one in here with a good eye.”

“You hung one thing correctly and became insufferable.”

“One more than you.”

The laugh that left me was real, and after that, the afternoon loosened. Bari finished the print and demanded credit. Mama refolded towels I had apparently folded without enough respect for the linen. Daddy finished the media console without cursing, which none of us trusted.

When they gathered their things, the condo felt less like corporate housing Saint Aurelia had arranged and more like somewhere my family had already disturbed into belonging.

Mama hugged me at the door.

“Rest.”

“I will.”

“That answer came too fast.”

“I will make a sincere effort.”

“Better.”

Daddy kissed my forehead. “Don’t make work the place you hide from yourself.”

“I heard you.”

“I know.”

Bari hugged me last, holding on long enough to make it sincere before he ruined it.

“If Milan start acting stupid Thursday, call me.”