41

Tyeshia threw the door open when we finally arrived early Saturday afternoon.

"We thought you were going to be here twenty minutes ago! Did you get caught behind that accident?"

"How do you know about that accident?" I asked. She took my duffel and Tyler's guitar and headed into the house.

She nodded toward the TV that was showing news coverage of the accident.

"It's interrupting your dad's TV watching time."

"Your sister made me start watching Bridgerton, and now I can't stop." Dad called from his chair.

"Of course she did," I said. "She never convinced me to start it, so I guess you were her next victim. Sorry, Dad."

"Don't be." He got up to hug me. "It gives us something to talk about."

Pulling out of the hug, he shook Tyler's hand and looked between Tyler and Tyeshia. "You two know the rules, right? Guest room only."

"Yeah, yeah, we know," Tyeshia said. "We'll behave ourselves. Right?" She directed the question at Tyler.

He nodded and said. "Absolutely."

Tyeshia and I led Tyler upstairs to the guest room with Pebbles following close behind. It had two twin beds and the walls were covered in pictures of us girls and Pebbles.

"One of you is going to have to fight Pebbles for a bed," I said as Tyler set his things next to one of them. Pebbles jumped onto the bed and laid down, wagging her tail at Tyler.

"I won't complain," Tyler said, sitting down to pet her.

I went back downstairs to find Sierra sitting at the kitchen table doing homework. I peeked over her shoulder. Calculus. I exaggerated a shudder and gagged.

"Oh, please. Like Cleopatra is so much more interesting than this." She half-heartedly threw an eraser at me.

"At least her life makes sense! That's why I want to go into publishing. The less math I have to deal with, the better."

"Ugh, boring. The girl's been dead for like two thousand years. Can we just move on?"

"You're something else, sister." I smiled, picking the eraser up off of the floor. "I'm glad we're home."

I loaded the dishwasher after breakfast on Sunday. Tyeshia and Sierra had started a puzzle on the kitchen table, and Tyler was in the shower. Dad was volunteering at the soup kitchen just like he did every year.

"How many pieces is this?" I asked Tyeshia, drying my hands on a towel.

"Just a thousand" She shrugged. The picture on the box was various butterflies against a white background.

"You two are something else," I shook my head.

Sierra was intently separating the edge pieces. Tyeshia shrugged, bending down to scratch Pebbles behind her ears. "I bet you're over here helping before your dad gets home."

She was right. I had just sat down to start helping sort puzzle pieces by color when the door opened.

"Guess who!"

Everly burst through the door with a box in each hand. The smell of freshly baked cookies filled the room as Tyler walked in and sat at the table next to me.

"Emerson sent me with cookies!" Everly exclaimed, moving the box of puzzle pieces to set the boxes down.

"She's a pastry chef-in-training, and her cookies are to die for," Sierra said, pulling the top box closer to her and taking off the top. She pulled out a chocolate chip cookie and bit into it. We saved four cookies for my dad. Over the next two hours, the five of us devoured the rest of the first box of cookies and finished most of the puzzle.

My dad walked through the door, immediately greeted by Pebbles. After she was content with her sniffing and head scratches, she went back to laying on the couch.

"What's this?" He said with mock indignation, gesturing to the table. "What happened to my table?"

"Don't worry about it," Everly said, getting up. "I come bearing gifts."

"Make sure you tell your sister to never change this recipe," My dad said around a bite of chocolate chip cookie.