Girl Unmoored by Jennifer Gooch Hummer

worried, but I shrugged like I was used to getting in trouble, then I waved and followed my dad.
    Outside, we walked to our car without talking.
    “How’s Grandma Bramhall?” I asked in a small voice when we were both inside.
    My dad wrapped his hands around the steering wheel.
    “Fine, Apron,” he said. “You knocked the wind out of her, but they let her go as soon as she got to Maine Med. Margie and I brought her home in time for that trunk show she wanted to get to. But you have a lot of explaining to do. You shouldn’t have left with those boys, Apron.” He looked at me. “You have no idea who they are. Look at their window for Christ’s sake. They aren’t the type to be hanging around with.”
    “They’re really nice,” I said. “I helped them decorate the church for a real wedding tomorrow.” I realized my mistake and waited for him to get mad, but instead he shook his head.
    “Well, you were supposed to stay there.”
    “I was there for two hours, dad. Reverend Hunter had to go somewhere so Mike and Chad took me home. And then I forgot to give them back Reverend Hunter’s key so I came here and they wouldn’t let me take the bus home by myself. I tried calling you. Where were you?”
    He paused. “Getting married,” he said, starting the engine and backing out of the parking spot.
    An elevator dropped in my stomach. “What?”
    He put the car in gear again and told me they went to the courthouse right after dropping Grandma Bramhall off at Mrs. Finn’s trunk show. M was still in her wedding dress because she said she wouldn’t take it off until they got married. And my dad said she meant business because he had never seen her cry like that.
    Mr. and Mrs. Haffenreffer were their eyewitnesses and my dad tried to call Reverend Hunter’s office, but got the answering machine telling him what time Sunday Service was and to go with God, so he decided maybe Reverend Hunter had taken me out for an ice cream. And the courthouse only had a 5:35 appointment left, so sorry, Apron, but it seemed the best choice at the time.
    My dad told me all this without looking at me once. I didn’t look at him, either.
    “Apron?” he said finally, turning to me at a red light. “It was a rough day for Margie.”
    I looked at my empty wrist. If I hadn’t broken my bracelet, almost killed Grandma Bramhall, smashed my head into a vase, and split my lip open, today would have been a rough day for me, too. “ Nemo sine vitio ,” I mumbled. No one is without fault .
    “ Nemo sine vitio est,” he corrected me. “And Margie wasn’t the one to knock the wind out of Grandma Bramhall.”
    I looked out my window.
    “Why did you hit Mr. Perry?” We hadn’t talked about it once since it happened.
    My dad didn’t answer for a moment. “He cheated,” he said finally.
    “How?” I crossed my arms.
    “Illegal tackle.”
    I looked over at him. “Why?”
    My dad shook his head. “That’s just what some people do.”
    I looked back out at the road. A green car switched into our lane too fast, and my dad honked. “Idiot,” he said. And I agreed.

     
    Later, I didn’t get into as much trouble as you might think. But only because a) Grandma Bramhall’s head was all the way back up to speed again and b) I went into the kitchen after we got back from Scent Appeal and looked M straight in the eye and said, “Sorry,” while my dad stood in the doorway watching.
    Behind M’s eyes, you could see that she didn’t mean it when she smiled, or when she said, “It’s okay, Aprons. Come to gives me a hug,” opening her arms like a pterodactyl. I had to hug her if I knew what was good for me, so I held my breath and waited for it to be over. You could feel that round bump of little whatever in there.
    “My new daughter,” she said trapping me and rubbing my back so my dad could get a good look. Then she stood back and took my shoulders in her hands and laser-beamed me with her brown eyes. “Now we are one big happies of