Dad got to talking about some land that was in a great part of the city that was being developed. He had a plan to open another investment company there, and I tuned him out as I ate the pasta. I was so tired of his plans for more companies. He was a millionaire, near billionaire. Why keep looking for more to come in? I rarely listened too closely to his shop talk, but my mother’s eyes lit up as she listened. His hard work served her well.
After dinner, I did the dishes with Sabrina and we walked out on the deck where I took in the beautiful blue water. I spent a lot of time here growing up. It was a favorite place to read and write for me. I found a lot of peace here when things were crazy. I looked at my sister, seeing myself in her as she took a seat on one of the cushioned chairs outside. It was surprisingly nice outside. Mom came out, and we talked about Thanksgiving and Christmas in a couple of months. She was planning to have some relatives stay at the house.
“Have you been dating at school?” Mom asked as I fought the urge to roll my eyes. I shrugged, knowing that she did not want to hear about my sleeping with Sterling.
“Nothing serious. Everyone is focused on getting out of there.” I looked at her disappointed face. “Not everyone meets their Mr. Right in college, Mom. There’s plenty of time for that.”
“It’s good to start young,” Mom reminded me as I watched sadness cross her face. She intended on having a much larger family but suffered a few miscarriages early on. I was the first pregnancy that worked out and later, she had Paul and Sabrina. I think she told me once that she wanted six kids.
“It will happen, Mom. If I met him now, I’d be too busy to spend any time with him.” I reminded her as she shrugged. I hoped that she wasn’t talking about this to my siblings already. Glancing at Sabrina, I saw how focused she was on the view as she sat beside me and smiled. She was learning how to check out early.
“What would you like to do to celebrate your graduation?” Mom asked as her face brightened up. “We could have a party here or go out to a nice dinner. You could bring your roommate over, so we could meet her.”
“I am sure that her family will be here, but we’ll see.” I didn’t have a lot of close friends at school other than Violet. There were acquaintances of course, but my closest friends were Violet and Sterling. “I don’t have a big group of friends so maybe dinner?”
“We can plan a family trip, so you can relax after all of that work. Something tropical,” Mom mused as I smiled.
“I’d like that.”
We had dessert in about an hour and Mom served coffee to the adults. I sipped the strong blend, knowing I’d be up for a while. I spent some time with Sabrina in her room talking about school and her friends. She was a happy but sassy girl who had a lot going on for someone so young. I promised her that I’d get her one weekend and we’d spend time together before looking at the clock. It was already past eight, and I knew that Mom would want them in bed soon. Sabrina joined me as I went to get my purse and the bag of leftovers that Mom was sending home with me. I hugged everyone goodbye and promised that I’d see them the following weekend.
I got into the car and started the engine, finding something soothing to play on the way home. My family always made me feel edgy, and I pulled out of the driveway as a text came through on the large screen of the phone.
S: Still at your folks? Want to meet for ice cream at Lucy’s before we go back to campus?
Everyone hung out there as a kid and the idea made me smile. It was still the same rundown and loved building and I told him I’d be there in ten minutes. I ate a ton of food tonight and would need to jog a few times this week. There was always room for a cone at Lucy’s, though. I turned right to head over and sang along to A Fine Frenzy as I took the curves in the car, loving the handling. I wasn’t entirely ungrateful for my family.
I pulled into the parking lot to see that it was relatively crowded inside. I parked and looked around for Sterling’s blue Lexus, smiling when I saw him leaning against it. I got out and slung my purse over my shoulder, walking over to him.