2. Raven
One month later…
“Hey, Liz, wanna ride to work?” I ask, grabbing a cluster of grapes from the bowl on the counter. Popping one into my mouth, I moan. “Mmmmm… these are good… Heading that way, if you need one.” Not sure where Lanie found these, but I could eat the entire bowl if I’m not careful.
“Nah, I’m meeting up with friends before my shift.” Snagging a grape from the bunch in my hand, she adds, “Erin’s picking me up.”
Lizzy just finished her freshman year at Portland State. To earn some extra cash, she’s picking up an unexpected shift at Booked at the Beach. Between that and working part-time for a nanny service, it’s hard to keep up with her.
I swear, I’ve barely spent any time with her since graduating last month.
I must find the time and fix this—no excuses.
“I’m so glad you’re all finally here,” Lanie, our oldest sister, interjects, stealing one of my grapes with a sigh. “Summers in Seaside just won’t be the same without us here together.”
“We haven’t missed one yet,” Sloane deadpans, then her tone softens. “Nana may be gone, but her legacy lives on. Trust me. Not a day goes by that I don’t think of her.”
“Same,” I add wistfully. I’m sure we all miss her terribly. She was always there when we needed her and never failed to call it like she saw it. She was a hoot. What I wouldn’t give to snuggle under the blankets and watch our favorite movies again.
Sloane pulls me from my trip down memory lane when she adds, “What’s up with the smell, though?”
Wait. What’s she talking about?
After a lengthy inhale, Lizzy chuckles. “No kidding. You and Ryan live here year-round, but it still smells the same as when Nana was alive every time I walk through the door. Just how many air fresheners did she have?”
Lanie shrugs impishly, and I press her to spill whatever she’s holding back. “Yeah… what’s up with that? Did she have a lifetime supply or what?”
Chewing on her lip, Lanie looks to Ryan as if her fiancé will save her.
Odd. What gives?
This house is sacred to all of us. We spent many summer and school vacations here. We stayed with Nana when Dad was deployed, so Mom could earn extra money as a traveling nurse. We loved our time with Nana, and it hit us all differently when she passed.
Lizzy interrupts my thoughts by throwing a grape at our oldest sister. “Geez, Lanie, what’s up with you?”
Ryan chuckles as he wraps his arms around my sister, holding her in place.
“In my defense, I didn’t know the backstory or the significance.
But when I saw there were only two cartridges left, I wanted to surprise Lanie with more of what I thought were her favorite scent.
I couldn’t find them in any stores, so I went to the powers of the internet. ”
Lanie’s eyes roll to the back of her head.
“Boy, did the internet have powers. This fool thought he was buying just an extra box or two but ended up buying a literal pallet. Wanting to surprise me, he had them delivered to his parents’.
Those suckers blocked the driveway, and he had to get a freaking forklift even to move them into their garage before it rained. ”
Gasping for air, I sputter, “Are you serious? How the hell can you mistake a few boxes for a freaking pallet? That must’ve cost you a fortune.”
Shrugging, Ryan nonchalantly says, “It wasn’t as much as you think. With all the expenses of the wedding coming out, I truly didn’t notice until they arrived.”
Lanie tsks, “They might have been seventy percent off, but you should’ve noticed.”
Reaching for a grape, he says, “At least I got free shipping,” before popping it into his mouth.
The room fills with laughter as Lanie smacks him in the arm. “Free shipping or not, you should notice when any purchase like that clears your account. In just a matter of weeks, we’ll be married. How am I just now learning this about you? ”
“Hey now,” Ryan protests. “You know I’m a much bigger saver than spender.” Leaning in, he kisses her temple and pulls her close. “Between automatic bill-pay and being so busy with this project at work—I’m trying like hell to wrap it up before the wedding—it slipped right through.”
Ryan’s been working on a new housing development just outside of Astoria. To make a name for himself, he took on this project, growing his family’s business exponentially after graduating last year.
“You’ll get it done,” Lanie sighs. “Aren’t you doing the final punch list on that last house next week?”
Knocking on the counter, Ryan says, “That’s the plan. I can’t wait to have three whole weeks without major responsibilities!”
“Well, you’ve got the family descending in two.
You might want to rethink that. You’ll be running around like crazy, helping us get everything for the wedding ready,” Sloane interjects.
She’s the planner of the family. With Mom working back east again this summer as a traveling nurse, Sloane’s helping Lanie with all the wedding details.
Even though she’s spending the summer organizing the music festival, finding new talent, and planning for her own nuptials, she’ll no doubt have spreadsheets to keep us all on track, helping Lanie have the perfect wedding.
Lanie may be older, but Sloane has always taken planning to an entirely new level.
“Oh, your sister put me on warning. Trust me.”
“Hey… I offered to elope… but you wouldn’t hear of it,” Lanie interjects. “You can’t say I didn’t warn you about our family.”
When Sloane growls, the room fills with laughter. There’s no way in hell the two of them would elope. Family is way too important to exclude them.
“At least I no longer have to deal with the meddling mind of Aunt Mable. Thanks to Jax, I’ve got an amazing career, and I’m officially off the market.
” Looking at Lizzy, she smiles. “Don’t worry.
She’ll never say a word with you still in college.
She wants nothing more than for us to be strong, independent women, like Nana did.
But Raven… well, she’s fair game… now that she’s graduated. ”
“Oh, I can handle Mable.” I nod, knowing I’ll be her prime target. “I still don’t have permanent employment yet, so hopefully, she’ll spend her time working her magic to finagle me a job, rather than playing matchmaker. God knows the type of job she’d pick for me… let alone a man.”
Wanting to spend this summer with my sisters, I haven’t been serious about the job market.
Between Lanie’s wedding and Sloane only being home through the musical festival, there’s no way I wanted to start a new job, only to request time off.
Right now, I’m getting by working at Hops and building my design portfolio with several freelance jobs.
I’ve worked my ass off for the last four years and unlike most graduates, I walked out of school with no student debt. I made applying to scholarships my bitch, and with a double major in graphic design and marketing, with a minor in communications, I knew how to craft the perfect essay.
“Speaking of the perfect man.” Sloane grins at the phone in her hand. “Jax is almost here.” Turning to me, she asks, “You sure you won’t join us?”
I love my sister, and I adore Jax, but I’m not up for anything fancy tonight. They’re meeting his grandparents in Portland to celebrate their engagement and his return home from touring the country. Besides, they need this time with his family, and I won’t intrude.
“I’m good. I’m running a few errands then heading to Pop’s to catch the live band tonight. Marnie’s expecting me.”
The blasting of a horn catches our attention.
Lizzy shrugs, then grabs another bunch of grapes for the road and says, “That’s my ride. Gotta run!”
When she gets to the door, she hollers, “Sloane… Jax is here!”
“We’ve gotta meet your parents in a few,” Lanie says, turning to Ryan.
In a matter of minutes, the room goes into utter chaos as they gather their things, then morphs into complete silence after the door slams. Popping another grape into my mouth, I chuckle as I mutter, “I guess it’s a party of one for me tonight.”
Pop’s Hops is packed when I walk through the door. I manage to snag a high-top table in the undercover section of the patio. The band is already playing, and Marnie is nowhere in sight. Pulling out my phone, I shoot off a quick text.
Me: You still coming?
Marnie moved to Seaside a few years ago. We met when I worked at the ropes course last summer. She’s recently broken up with her boyfriend and told me she could use a night out.
Glancing at the time, I swear she said she’d be here by now.
“What can I get ya, Raven?” Tonya asks with an eager smile. I love the way her blond hair piles on top of her head in a perfect messy bun. It uniformly wobbles when she leans in to place a coaster on my side of the table.
“I’ll have a rum and Coke with an order of sliders and fries. Have you seen Marnie? She said she’d meet me here tonight.”
Glancing around, she shrugs. “I can’t say that I’ve seen her.”
“Well, she’s missing a killer set. They sound fantastic.”
Glancing around, she smirks. “They can sure draw a crowd. You’re lucky you got here when you did. I think it’ll be a full house tonight.”
“I’ve been telling Sloane about these guys. She’ll have to catch them before she gets too busy with the festival.”
“Can you imagine if they hit it as big as Jax? Joe’s head will explode.”
Knowing our boss loves to tease about giving Jax Cartwright his big start, we all know it was one-hundred percent Sloane. But he won’t hear otherwise. There won’t be a customer in sight that won’t know about his hidden talent scouts.
“God help us all.” I laugh.
Rolling her eyes, she chortles, “I’ll be right out with your order.”
After she drops off my drink, the song switches to “Teenage Dirtbag”.
I can never NOT sing along to this one, so when the chorus hits, I belt it out with the rest of the crowd while the dance floor fills up.
I’m caught off guard when a guy walking by stops at my table and stares. “Holy shit. I think I’m hallucinating.”