Twenty-Six
Juno
Friday morning, I knock on Grandma Dori’s apartment door in Northern Lights Assisted Living and wait for her to answer. Going to her is really a Hail Mary. I hate asking her for money.
“Juno,” she says when she opens the door, her bluish-tinted hair in curlers. “Come in.”
I walk in to see a hairdresser from Clip and Dish cleaning up some things in Grandma’s kitchen sink.
“Since when do you not go to the salon?” I ask, and the hairdresser smiles at me.
“Mila didn’t mind coming here this time. Something is up with my knee.” She sits down on the couch, massaging it.
My entire life, I’ve never seen Grandma even sick. The woman is unstoppable. “Are you okay?”
She waves off my concern. “Stop it. Why are you here?”
I know Grandma Dori has some money, but I cannot just take her money to save a company I’m not sure I love anymore. I change my mind—I won’t even ask. “Just wanted to say hi.”
“Hmm… what’s the real reason?” I glance back at Mila at the kitchen sink, and Grandma follows my movements. “Mila, you should go to the cafeteria and get some of the custard they have today. If anyone gives you trouble, you tell them you’re my girl.”
Mila either takes the hint or she loves custard because Grandma’s door shuts a minute later.
“What’s really going on, sweetie?” Grandma asks me, and I release a breath.
“Do you think Aunt Etta is real?”
“You mean did your mother make her up?”
I nod.
“Why would your mom do that?”
“Because I was an eleven-year-old who felt like I didn’t belong. Because my siblings were making fun of me, as were the kids at school. Hank Billings told me they bought me at a pawn shop on one of Mom’s trips.”
“The Billings are assholes, you know that.”
I nod. “I’m just not sure I’m really matchmaker material.”
Her eyes narrow. “Why on Earth would you think that? You’ve never once doubted yourself. Why now? Especially when your own love life is going so well.”
I smile, thinking about Colton. I should never have waited as long as I did to face how I feel about him. Although the fear that I’m going to lose him still lives just beneath that layer of love, I’ve done a really good job of pushing it as far down as I can. “I don’t know. I’m just wondering.”
“First of all, that’s your mom’s family, so I only really know what your mom told you and whatever you dug up.”
“Etta could be some random picture that means nothing, and I’ve clung to this belief my entire life for what? To feel like I somehow belong to my siblings even if I don’t look like them?”
“Look like them? Have you seen Holly?”
Has she really gotten so old she doesn’t remember who is actually her actual grandchild?
“Holly isn’t blood,” I say.
Grandma waves me off like she does when she knows someone else is right, but she’s older and wiser and we should just believe her. “The only ones who actually look alike are Phoenix and Sedona and Rome and Denver. The rest of you all—”
“Brooklyn and Savannah are both blonde.”
“Well, what about Austin? He doesn’t look like anyone.”
“He looks like his brothers. I have this red hair.”
“Well, sweetie, I’d describe your hair more as auburn with some dark undercurrents. Not to mention, what does hair color really prove?”
“It’s also my pale skin. No one has pale skin like me.”
“All of these silly things could be solved with hair dye and a fake tan. I was there when you were born, Juno. You’re a Bailey.”
I sulk in the chair. “I didn’t really believe Hank Billings. I didn’t think I was bought at a pawn shop or flea market.” I shrug. “I just feel like I’ve put all my rocks into being a matchmaker and what if Mom lied to me?”
“Did you know your mother to be a liar?”
“No, but I only knew her for thirteen years.”
Knock, knock.
“Perfect timing. Get the door.”
I stand and open the door to find Savannah there with a stroller.
“Brinley,” I say, bending to stare into the stroller at my beautiful niece.
“You wake her and you’re dead.” Savannah pushes the stroller into the apartment. “You’re getting your hair done, Grandma? I’m not sure Brinley should be exposed to those fumes.”
“It’s not a perm, they’re just rollers,” Grandma Dori scolds. We all seem to be on our last nerve today. “Do you think I didn’t raise a child of my own?”
“What are you doing here?” Savannah asks me.
“I could ask you the same thing,” I say.
“Because I have to talk to Grandma about business.” She moves the stroller back and forth to keep Brinley asleep. “How’s things with Colton, you little vixen?”
I feel heat fill my cheeks. “Fine.”
“Juno’s back to her whole ‘she’s not a real Bailey’ thing again,” Grandma Dori says.
Savannah scoffs. “Juno, you’re a Bailey.”
“I know I’m a Bailey, but I’m not sure if I’m a matchmaker. Did Mom ever lie to you?”
Savannah laughs. “And I thought I was hormonal. I went from mean to nice and now I’m in some weird galaxy where I cry about her getting older and yell at Liam for putting the lotion in the wrong place.”
“That’s motherhood,” Grandma Dori says, cool and calm.
“Juno, you need to relax. You’re good at what you do. This person at my work still refers you out because you got her brother with someone. They’re married and have, like, a trillion kids. Which after one, I’m not sure why people have more.” She looks at Brinley and smiles. “Although when she’s sleeping, she’s beautiful.”
I laugh. “Have you always loved working at Bailey Timber?”
She balks. “You’re joking, right? No. Remember a few years ago when Holly’s dad’s business was threatening ours and I thought we were going down? That was bad…” Her eyes laser in on mine as if
