When they walk away, I feel good. Not because I've been recognized and praised—I certainly don't need the praise. I feel good because I just made that boy happy. I gave him a guitar pick and he looked at it like it was a goddamn gold bar in his hand. Bright Side always said our music made people feel something. I think I know exactly what she meant. Because right now, I feel it.
A text alert comes from the phone in my pocket a few minutes later.
KELLER: On the ground. Meet you at baggage 23C.
GUS: No hurry. I'm here.
Ten minutes later, Stella is running at me full throttle and squealing my name. "Gus!"
I stand and scoop her up when she crashes into my legs. She's grown a lot since I saw her in January. "How's my favorite pint-size girly?"
She giggles. "Good. We just flew on an airplane. It was fun."
I nod. "You like flying?"
She answers absently. "Yeah," she says, draping her right arm around my shoulder and grabbing my ponytail. She runs it through her hand once, scalp to the end and then cranes her neck over my shoulder to take a look. "Your hair is really long, Gus." She says "really" like two separate words.
I laugh.
"It's so pretty."
I feel like one of her dolls, but I accept the compliment. "Well, thank you, Stella."
Keller finally approaches; he's out of breath as if he's been chasing her through the entire airport. He extends his hand to shake and in between deep breaths he says, "Hey, Gus. Sorry about the ambush. I've got a runner."
I laugh. "No worries. A Stella ambush is the best kind of ambush."
He laughs with me. He looks a little tired, but he looks good. His hair is longer than when I last saw him. There's a lot of it poking out from under his beanie. "I just need to grab our bag and Stella's booster seat."
"Take your time. I've got all day, dude."
I sit down with Stella in my lap and she proceeds to fill me in on Miss Higgins, her turtle, and life in Grant while we share the Twix bar I brought for her. She loves it in Grant, but I think she'd love it anywhere Keller is. She idolizes her dad. I know how she feels; I feel the same way about Ma.
Before long Keller returns with their belongings, and not long after that Keller's dad arrives. Stella goes apeshit upon sighting him. She's squealing excitedly and jumps off my lap, but before she can make a break for him Keller's got a handful of the back of her shirt. He's quick. He looks at me and mouths, "See, a runner," but he's smiling. She's giggling and waving her arms, trying unsuccessfully to get away.
After his dad hugs Stella, he hugs Keller, which puts me at ease. I remember Bright Side saying they had a pretty strained relationship.
I extend my hand by way of introduction. "Hey, Doc Banks. I'm Gus." I saw him at Bright Side's funeral, but I didn't stick around long enough to talk to anyone. This is our first encounter.
He shakes my hand, nods his head formally. "Of course. It's nice to meet you, Gus. I've heard a lot about you."
I nod and look to Keller. "Good or bad?" I ask. "What have you been telling him?"
Keller laughs and claps me on the back. "It's all good, man. It's all good."
The conversation on the ride home is dominated by the tiny redhead in her booster in the backseat. And we wouldn't have it any other way.
"Daddy, can we make a sandcastle again when we get to Gus's?"
"Tomorrow, baby girl. Today's Thanksgiving. Audrey's making lots of yummy food for all of us today. Maybe we can play a game inside after dinner, okay?"
"Okay." It's as easy as that.
I can't help but smile at how agreeable she is.
"Gus, you wanna have a play date with us tomorrow and make sandcastles on the beach?"
"Heck yeah, Stella."
At that, she cheers, "Yay!" And then she sings, "We're gonna have play date. We're gonna have a play date."
When we get home, Ma greets us all at the door with a hug, because that's what Ma does.
After all of the hugging, I gesture to Keller and Stella to follow me down the hall toward my bedroom. Impatient walks out of her room just as we approach. Keller looks startled when the bedroom door opens and someone walks out. I see him look inside the room, and I can't help but notice the sadness in his eyes. He's thinking about Bright Side. I live here, but Keller hasn't been here since Bright Side's last days. It has to be shocking to see the room where she died after all these months.
Stella breaks the silence for all of us. "Who are you?" she asks curiously.
Impatient looks down and a smile lights her eyes as she squats down in front of Stella. It's a smile that transforms her, patient and loving. Some people just love little kids. I'm one of them. So is she. "I'm Scout. What's your name?"
"I'm Stella." She tugs on Keller's pant leg. "This is my daddy. His name's Keller."
I have to laugh, because Stella's so goddamn cute. Impatient looks up at Keller but doesn't stand. "Hello, Keller."
"Hey ... Scout was it?" He's being polite, but he still looks a million miles away.
She nods.
I motion for Keller to follow me. "Why don't you put your stuff in here? You guys can crash in my room."
Keller shakes his head, but he's still in a fog. "I don't want to put you out. Stella and I can sleep on the sofa. We'll be fine for a few days."
Impatient stands and speaks up. "I just changed the sheets on the bed. Go ahead and take this room. I can sleep on the sofa."
Keller looks stricken, like he's just been presented with something unimaginable. I need to make this better ASAP. "That's okay," I say to Impatient. Then I grip Keller's shoulder until he looks at me, really looks at me. I nod my head toward my door. "Come on, you can sleep in my room. I changed the sheets on my bed, too. I'd hate for that to go to waste. It's like the first time all year I've done that."
He almost smiles.
I look at Impatient, trying to smooth this over. "Why don't you go grab Keller's dad and put him in your room?"
She nods. She looks a little confused, a little embarrassed, and a lot concerned. She knows what she's seeing isn't normal.