13. Liberty
An hour later, Liberty looked out the car window as she and her mom headed to pick up Glory from the resort.
They were passing cute little conch houses and palm trees with their fronds drifting in the warm breeze as they drew closer to the small downtown Liberty had seen on the way in.
Her mom was navigating the streets of Driftwood Key with as much ease as she had driven her girls around Aynwick for years. And though the house on Seashell Lane was a complete disaster, the kitchen and two of the bedrooms were cleaned up already, and she even had a bouquet of fresh flowers out.
“Your sister was over there long enough that I’m pretty sure they offered her the job,” Jess explained. “But we shouldn’t assume unless she tells us. Oh, look, there’s the flower shop where I’ll be working.”
She pointed to the cutest two-story building with flowering vines growing up the porch, right across the street from the palm tree lined park at the center of town.
“Wait a minute,” Liberty said. “Didn’t you guys get here like yesterday? And you somehow have a whole life here already? You both got jobs?”
Her mom smiled and Liberty shook her head, amazed.
“Hey,” Liberty said, looking more closely at the flower shop. “Isn’t that where we got the flowers…”
But her throat closed up before she could say for the wedding.
She missed Chase horribly, and had been missing him over the last week or so, even though she’d been right there in the house with him, pretending to be asleep before he got to bed so he couldn’t keep asking her what was wrong.
“Yes,” Jess said happily. “That’s where we got your wedding flowers, and would you believe the owner remembered me?”
“I would actually,” Liberty said, glad to have a distraction from her sadness. “She was so impressed with you, knowing all about which flowers would be easiest to get in a pinch and which would be the hardiest.”
“I think that’s why she hired me,” Jess confided. “It wasn’t like I called on an ad in the paper and she’d never seen me before.”
“She met you for the first time when you were at your most stressed out and you were still charming, as always, Mom,” Liberty said fondly. “I’ll bet she figured if you could be that kind and patient right before your daughter’s big day, you were just the right type of person to work in her shop.”
“Liberty, what a nice thing to say,” her mom said, glancing over with a pleased expression.
“I call it like I see it,” Liberty laughed. “But this doesn’t explain how Glory got a job, too.”
“Oh, well now that’s a more interesting story,” Jess said thoughtfully. “I bumped into Mary McKinnon at the grocery store the day we arrived.”
“Your foster mom?” Liberty asked, awed.
Her mom had mentioned Mary many times over the years. The way Jess talked about her Liberty had the impression that the woman was practically a saint.
“Yes,” Jess said with a fond smile. “She and Becca invited us to have dinner there last night, and it turns out Becca is a manager at the new resort on Driftwood Key. She invited Glory to interview to be a lifeguard. I dropped her off this morning, and she only now messaged me to pick her up. Which makes me think it must have gone pretty well.”
Liberty glanced down at the bedazzled cell phone in the console between them. Mom was definitely expanding her horizons.
“Speaking of which, before we pick up your sister, do you want to talk about what’s going on?” Jess asked.
Liberty glanced over at her mom, who had a little furrow in her brow, and felt a pang of guilt. Here her mother was, bouncing back after almost thirty years of marriage, and now Liberty was going to come along with her sad story and ruin everything?
And just the mention of Glory had her stomach in knots.
Glory was still absolutely furious with their father for leaving Mom. Loyalty meant everything to the baby of the family. And now here Liberty was leaving her own husband. She could only imagine how her little sister would react.
But if she told them that it was because she couldn’t have children, it would be even worse. Then they would feel sorry for her. And they would all tell her that Chase loved her and didn’t care if they couldn’t have kids. Everyone would say that she and Chase could just adopt.
It was all true. But just because Chase would willingly forgo having biological kids for her didn’t mean he should have to. He was a truly selfless man, but that didn’t mean he should have to be.
And I’m not truly selfless…
Liberty bit back the tears that wanted to come when she let herself consider the other facet of all this, the one she didn’t like facing.
If she was honest with herself, she wasn’t sure she was ready to adopt. At least not without taking some time to mourn the dreams she had of experiencing pregnancy, and bringing home a baby who looked like a tiny version of Chase and herself.
She was sure that she would get there. But she needed a little time to just be sad first.
“You don’t have to talk to me about it if you don’t want to,” Jess said, interrupting Liberty’s spiraling thoughts.
The look on her mom’s face said that she assumed Chase had done something terrible. More guilt twisted Liberty’s stomach and she felt like she was going to throw up.
“Are you okay, honey?” Jess asked.
Buttoning her lips, Liberty nodded.
“We’ll talk about it when you’re ready,” Jess told her firmly. “Just know that I love you and I have your back, no matter what.”
“Thanks, Mom,” Liberty managed.
“Now wait until you see this place, honey,” her mom enthused. “I’ve only seen the entrance, but I can already tell how amazing it is. We never had anything like this on Driftwood Key when I was a girl.”
And just like that, they were onto something else as they pulled onto a dirt and gravel road that was lined with palm trees. Liberty was relieved to have the focus off of herself.
“It’s really amazing down here,” she told her mom. “It must have been a magical place to grow up.”
“Well, the weather’s a little warm and muggy right now,” Jess said modestly. “But it really is a little slice of heaven. And wait until you take a dip in the ocean.”
“I can’t wait,” Liberty told her.
She had been relieved to see how many bedrooms the house had. She knew her mom wanted her to feel at home no matter what, but she hated to impose. On the other hand, she couldn’t imagine going back to Philadelphia until she had to.
In just a few minutes, they were pulling up to a big wooden building that said Welcome Center, and Liberty could already see Glory standing outside with a tall, blonde woman around their mom’s age.
Glory had always been pretty, but she looked absolutely stunning today with her golden hair glimmering in the sunlight and her skin already a tiny bit sun-kissed.
Though Glory had been dieting practically since she hit puberty, Liberty was envious of her sister’s naturally curvy body. Glory looked so feminine, and yet she was unafraid to voice her opinions. Liberty figured that was a pretty amazing combination.
“I got the job,” Glory yelled the moment Jess pulled up.
“We’re very lucky to have her,” the blonde lady told Jess when she rolled down her window.
“Becca, I’m truly grateful,” Jess told her.
“Well, don’t be,” the woman laughed. “She’s filling a slot I was getting nervous about. We have so many reservations starting in June.”
“Liberty?” Glory yelled suddenly.
“Hey, baby sis,” Liberty said, grinning.
“What are you doing here?” Glory asked, quickly getting into the back seat, and then leaning through between the two front seats to grab her sister.
“Becca, this is my oldest daughter, Liberty,” Jess said. “She surprised us today.”
Liberty bent so that Becca could see her, and gave a little wave.
“My goodness,” Becca said. “It’s lovely to meet you. You all are getting the whole family together. You’ll be there tomorrow night, right?”
Liberty looked to her mom.
“Yes,” Jess said. “Of course, Liberty will join us for supper at your mom’s place. Right, Libs?”
“Of course,” Liberty said, smiling at her mom’s old nickname for her.
“My mom is going to fall over,” Becca said with a smile. “So, we’ll see you all tomorrow night. Can I swing by for Glory on the way to work in the morning? Say quarter to nine?”
“Oh wow,” Jess said. “You don’t have to do that.”
“I’m coming out here anyway,” Becca laughed. “Besides, this way I can give her all kinds of unsolicited advice on the way in.”
“I want the advice,” Glory said immediately. “It’s not unsolicited.”
Mom’s eyebrows went up slightly and then she smiled, looking really happy.
“That would be perfect, Becca,” she said. “We’ll see you in the morning.”
Becca gave them a wave and Mom followed the road in a circle around the welcome center and headed back out toward town.
“What are you doing here, Libby?” Glory asked, slipping into the nickname she’d had for her big sis when she was small.
“Oh, it’s a long story and I really just want to hear about your day,” Liberty said. “Did you really get a job? After being here for two days?”
“Technically today is the second day,” Glory said. “And I already have the job, so it feels more like after one day.”
“That’s amazing,” Liberty laughed. “What’s it like in there? It seems fancy.”
“Oh my gosh, you have no idea,” Glory enthused. “There are three pools, so I won’t even get bored sitting in front of the same one every day. And we get an employee discount that we can use at the spa. I can even save up discounts and get a whole spa day for free if I want.”
“That’s cool,” Liberty said, knowing a day at the spa was right up Glory’s alley.
“And the kids who work there seem really amazing too,” Glory went on. “I can’t wait to meet everyone and see what’s what. It’s going to be a fun summer now that I’ve potentially got a crew.”
“That fabulous, Glory,” Liberty said. “It sounds like the perfect summer job.”
“Where’s Chase?” Glory asked suspiciously.
Liberty bit her lip.
“Oh right,” Glory said. “I guess the school year’s not over yet. Are you sticking around? Is he coming down?”
“Chase and I are, um, taking a break,” Liberty said carefully.
“What?” Glory demanded. “What are you talking about?”
“There’s not a lot to talk about,” Liberty said. “But I do want to hear about Mom’s day. Did you know she got a job too?”
Glory was silent for a second, then she turned her attention to her mother, asking about the flower shop.
Liberty meant to listen, she really did, but now that she had shared that she had left Chase with both her mom and her sister, suddenly the long day of travel was catching up to her.
She gazed out the window at the palm trees and the blue sky and the wood frame shops painted in bright colors, and prayed for peace to come to her.
I know I can’t change this. Please, let me accept it.
But the knowledge still formed an iron cage around her heart, and it took all she had to keep herself from bursting into tears. Mom seemed to know instinctively that she needed space. She kept Glory occupied with light chatter about the flower shop and what their schedules would look like as she drove.
When they pulled up at the house, Jess remembered something.
“Hey, who was that guy who was here earlier?” she asked her mom as they got out.
“What guy?” Glory demanded.
“Oh, it was just Clint,” Jess said, closing her car door and heading for the house.
“Clint came over?” Glory asked immediately.
“Who is Clint?” Liberty asked.
“Oh, another former foster kid of Mary’s,” Jess explained. “I think he just felt bad that he wasn’t super friendly yesterday, Glory. Mary sent him with a casserole.”
“He’s kind of a Zaddy,” Glory said with a half-smile.
“Please don’t tell me what that means,” Jess sighed, rolling her eyes.
Liberty thought she knew what it meant but pretended not to, because she didn’t really like the idea of her little sister saying it about some man that had been visiting their mom.
“A casserole?” Liberty asked, hoping to change the subject.
“Oh honey,” Jess said, turning to Liberty. “You just got here after a long flight and I didn’t even offer you a glass of water, I just put you right in the car. You must be famished. Come on in. Let’s get you settled, and I’ll put the casserole in the oven. It’s lobster mac and cheese. You’ll love it.”
“Oh wow,” Liberty moaned a little louder than she intended. “That sounds good.”
“It was my favorite when I was a kid,” Jess said dreamily. “And Mary remembered.”
“Where’s Libby sleeping?” Glory asked as they headed in.
“Well, I thought maybe you two would share for a little while,” Jess said. “Until we can get another room cleaned up.”
Liberty held her breath. Glory could be a little spoiled at times. She’d probably have a lot to say about Liberty invading her space.
But her little sister’s face lit up instead.
“Amazing,” Glory said, grabbing Liberty’s hand. “It will be like a sleepover. Come on. Wait until you see this room. It has a porch.”
Liberty found herself laughing as she let herself be led upstairs. It was hard not to notice that she was feeling a little better just being around her mom and sister.
Mom seemed so much more herself here than Liberty had seen her since Dad left. And even Glory seemed more content and way less stressed out. It was like they were all better, more relaxed versions of themselves down here.