"Do you know if Cordelia is coming to the island?" Grayson asked Andrew, assuming he would know the whereabouts of the oldest Thorpe sister. Last he knew, Cordelia moved to London as well. But maybe he was wrong.
Andrew's brow puckered in confusion...
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"Knock, knock!"
Sunday afternoon brought naps on the couch, video games online with his friends, and baking in the kitchen between his mom and Delilah. His dad, Asher, mowed the backyard after finishing the front, waving to every single car that drove by whether or not he knew them. It was so like his dad to insist on mowing his own lawn. He didn't trust anyone else with his beloved yard - a stubbornness that Grayson could stand behind because it meant his father didn't turn to him for child labor on a lawn mower.
For lunch, Layne whipped up a tasty taco bar with homemade guacamole and pico de gallo. Grayson ate until he felt bloated and then ate some more. He and Delilah washed the dishes while he felt guilty about ditching Charlotte last night.
"Hello!" Layne called from the kitchen. "Come in, come in!"
"I brought the girls!" Miss Camilla answered as she welcomed herself into the Mitchell home. Even though their friendship stood the test of decades, Miss Camilla stalled in the foyer for further direction instead of admitting herself into the house. "Georgia has a special delivery for you!"
Grayson stood from his perch on the couch, assuming 'girls' meant Charlotte too. Hopeful for only a brief interlude with Charlotte, he spun to see his mother breeze out of the kitchen into the foyer with a blue and white striped kitchen towel which she used to dry her hands. She beamed with excitement, pitter pattering through the hall in her wedge heels, which meant she knew that the Thorpes planned to make an appearance today. And his mother hadn't informed him.
"I think I know what this is!" Layne exclaimed, tossing the towel over her shoulder, something he'd never seen Miss Camilla do in all her life. She patted her daughter on the shoulder and ushered her forward. Like his own mother, she dressed in small heels and a bright green dress belted at the waist - the picture of elegance and grace. Even inside the home, her huge Dior sunglasses remained perched on her nose, covering her eyes. Only Miss Camilla could wear her sunglasses inside without receiving jabs and jeers.
Georgia and Layne squealed with excitement as she passed along an ivory sealed envelope to his mother. "A hand delivered invitation for our dearest friends," Georgia proclaimed.
"Oh, Georgia!" Layne waved the envelope at her teary eyes. "I just can't believe you're getting married! This is such an exciting time in life..." His mother teetered off with a story as Charlotte sneaked past her mother and sidled up beside him. She tempered an excited smile from the thrill of seeing one another again. She hadn't texted him back since that morning and now he knew she wanted to fill him in face to face. So like her to withhold information for the sake of dishing the gossip in person.
"You made it out of the house?" He joked, speaking out the side of his mouth.
Charlotte swished back and forth in a chic short lavender dress with thin straps and white Hermes sandals. Without the assistance of heels, Charlotte stood a breath or two underneath his chin. Unlike her sisters, she was rather vertically challenged which she eradicated with the constant service of high heels, wedges, and stilettos. "Daddy and I chatted this morning. I technically gave myself a punishment."
