Not in this life.
I rehearsed what I would say to Wyatt, how I’d act breezy and casual. “Mom nixed me going out tomorrow night. How about you coming over here?” I was determined not to allow this opportunity to slip away. Now that I knew the truth about when I could actually date, how could I be sure that I’d ever be asked out again? And Wyatt was so cool. I couldn’t let him get away. So how to date him without going out? Mom and Dad had dictated my future years ago and I was stuck with it. Maybe. If I—
The house phone rang, interrupting my thoughts. I jumped.
“Grab it,” Mom called. “I’m elbow deep in hamburger meat.”
I picked up the receiver, hoping it was Wyatt saving me from the trauma of calling him.
“Hi,” a woman’s voice said cheerfully. “Is this Arabeth?”
“Yes.”
“This is Terri Eden. I’ve been thinking … I’d love to treat you and your mother to tea at the Ritz-Carlton. Do you think you can meet me there this Sunday?”
• 21 •
Kassey
I got a job. In the months after Elowyn died, Wyatt and I had been pretty tight. Now he was busy with his lawn customers, his buddies, and yes, with Arabeth too, which was an adjustment for me. Plus I’d promised Mom I’d be responsible for my car, and gas was expensive, so a job seemed like the logical thing to pursue.
I landed one in a nursery—the kind that nurtures flowers, not kids. I liked it because I could be outside catching sun rays
and
get paid. I also joined a summer volleyball league at the Y—a good thing, because I could take out my feelings about life being unfair on the court and sometimes on the competition. In one game I spiked a ball hard over the net, catching a girl on the other side smack in the face and making her nose bleed. My bad.
Around July Fourth, I grew really bored. People, including Wyatt, were out of town. The Y was sponsoring a picnic, and so was Mom’s office, but I didn’t want to go to either one. In a fit of pure and utter boredom, I called Arabeth. She’d called me a few times earlier that summer and invited me over, but I’d always told her I was ‘busy.’ Now a day with her beat my alternatives. “Maybe we can catch the fireworks at Stone Mountain,” I suggested over the phone. “Or at Six Flags.”
“Really? You want me to go with you?” She sounded more excited than the situation warranted.
“Do you want to?”
“Absolutely! You’ll save me from an evening with my family.”
The inn was having a cookout when I arrived, and the food grilling on the barbecue smelled delicious. I met Arabeth’s mother, her aunt Vivian and her uncle Theo, assorted cousins, and several inn guests who’d decided to hang around rather than brave holiday fireworks traffic.
“Don’t leave. We can watch the show over in that direction,” Aunt Viv said, pointing toward the sky over the backyard trees. “We’ll eat home-churned ice cream and avoid the crowds.”
Her idea sounded good to me. I’d forgotten about the crowds and traffic when I’d asked Arabeth to hit the road with me. “That okay with you?” I asked her.
She agreed, but looked disappointed.
“We’ll blitz the mall next week,” I said, to make it up to her. I liked her family, but I understood about wanting to shed them. Elowyn had always wanted to lose hers and I thought they were easy to be around.
“That would be fun,” Arabeth told me, brightening.
As it grew darker, her mother asked, “Where are the sparklers we bought?”
“My room,” Arabeth said. “I’ll get them.”
I tagged along behind her. When we entered her bedroom, I almost fell over. It resembled a French countryside, with sunny yellow walls and a wallpaper mural of fields of lavender. “What’s this?” I asked, flabbergasted by the decor. “Where are we?”
“France,” she said, crossing to a desk with a weathered farmhouse finish.
“You love France?”
“Not until after my transplant.” She picked up a sack and turned toward me.
I rehearsed what I would say to Wyatt, how I’d act breezy and casual. “Mom nixed me going out tomorrow night. How about you coming over here?” I was determined not to allow this opportunity to slip away. Now that I knew the truth about when I could actually date, how could I be sure that I’d ever be asked out again? And Wyatt was so cool. I couldn’t let him get away. So how to date him without going out? Mom and Dad had dictated my future years ago and I was stuck with it. Maybe. If I—
The house phone rang, interrupting my thoughts. I jumped.
“Grab it,” Mom called. “I’m elbow deep in hamburger meat.”
I picked up the receiver, hoping it was Wyatt saving me from the trauma of calling him.
“Hi,” a woman’s voice said cheerfully. “Is this Arabeth?”
“Yes.”
“This is Terri Eden. I’ve been thinking … I’d love to treat you and your mother to tea at the Ritz-Carlton. Do you think you can meet me there this Sunday?”
• 21 •
Kassey
I got a job. In the months after Elowyn died, Wyatt and I had been pretty tight. Now he was busy with his lawn customers, his buddies, and yes, with Arabeth too, which was an adjustment for me. Plus I’d promised Mom I’d be responsible for my car, and gas was expensive, so a job seemed like the logical thing to pursue.
I landed one in a nursery—the kind that nurtures flowers, not kids. I liked it because I could be outside catching sun rays
and
get paid. I also joined a summer volleyball league at the Y—a good thing, because I could take out my feelings about life being unfair on the court and sometimes on the competition. In one game I spiked a ball hard over the net, catching a girl on the other side smack in the face and making her nose bleed. My bad.
Around July Fourth, I grew really bored. People, including Wyatt, were out of town. The Y was sponsoring a picnic, and so was Mom’s office, but I didn’t want to go to either one. In a fit of pure and utter boredom, I called Arabeth. She’d called me a few times earlier that summer and invited me over, but I’d always told her I was ‘busy.’ Now a day with her beat my alternatives. “Maybe we can catch the fireworks at Stone Mountain,” I suggested over the phone. “Or at Six Flags.”
“Really? You want me to go with you?” She sounded more excited than the situation warranted.
“Do you want to?”
“Absolutely! You’ll save me from an evening with my family.”
The inn was having a cookout when I arrived, and the food grilling on the barbecue smelled delicious. I met Arabeth’s mother, her aunt Vivian and her uncle Theo, assorted cousins, and several inn guests who’d decided to hang around rather than brave holiday fireworks traffic.
“Don’t leave. We can watch the show over in that direction,” Aunt Viv said, pointing toward the sky over the backyard trees. “We’ll eat home-churned ice cream and avoid the crowds.”
Her idea sounded good to me. I’d forgotten about the crowds and traffic when I’d asked Arabeth to hit the road with me. “That okay with you?” I asked her.
She agreed, but looked disappointed.
“We’ll blitz the mall next week,” I said, to make it up to her. I liked her family, but I understood about wanting to shed them. Elowyn had always wanted to lose hers and I thought they were easy to be around.
“That would be fun,” Arabeth told me, brightening.
As it grew darker, her mother asked, “Where are the sparklers we bought?”
“My room,” Arabeth said. “I’ll get them.”
I tagged along behind her. When we entered her bedroom, I almost fell over. It resembled a French countryside, with sunny yellow walls and a wallpaper mural of fields of lavender. “What’s this?” I asked, flabbergasted by the decor. “Where are we?”
“France,” she said, crossing to a desk with a weathered farmhouse finish.
“You love France?”
“Not until after my transplant.” She picked up a sack and turned toward me.
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