34. Sloane Really Simple
sloane: really simple
I HAD OFFICIALLY REACHED THE unwieldy point in my pregnancy. My ankles were swollen, my rings didn’t fit, I couldn’t sleep. And I was so, so happy.
Caroline turned around, in my brand-new kitchen, and said, “I’m so glad we went with the blue range. I was afraid it wouldn’t age well, but it just ties the whole space together so beautifully. And I feel like it’s a classic.”
I nodded, barely able to wipe the grin off my face.
“No, no, no,” I could hear Mom saying near the back door. “Don’t let it hit the door. You’re going to scratch it.”
I took a deep breath and hugged my sister. “We did it,” I said.
“Just in time for Thanksgiving!” she responded.
Mom walked into the kitchen now, and I hugged her as well.
“I can’t thank you two enough. I thought this place would never be finished by the time the baby came. And with Emerson’s wedding and all you have going on…”
“How crazy is it that we’re all here prepping for Emerson’s wedding, and she isn’t?” Caroline said.
“Not crazy,” Mom said. “We work. Emerson arrives.”
We all laughed. She was right. It was true.
But it was true, with love. Emerson was our baby.
She was capable and strong and kind. But who needs to be capable when you have a mom and two sisters to do your bidding?
I couldn’t talk. Caroline had left on a five a.m. flight yesterday to meet the picture hangers to make sure all our art was hung at the right height, and Mom had spent the entire day at the warehouse with the movers.
“Those stools go right there,” Mom said to Derrick, Mom and Caroline’s favorite, most trusted mover. He arranged them under the island as Caroline said, “Ladies, I need to tell you something.”
I sat down on one of the stools because this felt big.
“What?” Mom said, alarm all over her face.
“Wes has broken up with all of us.”
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“Well, apparently, he was doing me a favor because we were dating, but now that we are not, he is no longer interested in our franchises.”
I felt about ten thousand pounds lift off my shoulders. I wanted to admit that I hadn’t been loving this franchise thing for quite some time, but something told me I shouldn’t.
“Well, that is immature and ridiculous,” Mom said.
“And it’s fine!” I chimed in. “We all have enough going on.”
Caroline set her jaw resolutely. “I will solve this. I will. I will fix it.”
Mom put her arm around Caroline. “Honey, no one expects you to fix anything. We are all good. Everything is fine. We don’t need any more franchises.”
I nodded, thinking, Please don’t make me do any more franchises! But I said, “That is the most immature thing I’ve ever heard, by the way.”
“Wes surprised me,” Mom said. “I’m not mad. I’m just disappointed.”
We laughed, and Caroline said, “I don’t think he takes rejection well.”
That reminded me of someone else I knew, and I had to ask: “Hey, Car? How come you flew commercial yesterday?”
“Well, I know Sloane Emerson is great, but we don’t quite have company jet money yet.”
“You know what I mean. Why didn’t you ask James to fly you?”
She blew out her breath. “Well, for one, he can’t leave until tomorrow. But also… things with James are, um, complicated.”
To my surprise, my always-wound-up sister sat down on a barstool.
“Oh no,” Mom said. “Are you fighting?”
“Is who fighting?” Keith interrupted.
“No one!” I said.
Caroline nodded. “No one. In fact, Keith, I’m glad you’re here. I could use a man’s opinion.”
He nodded. “But first, coffee. Decaf for our mama,” he said, handing a cup to me. “This is my new, patented squash blossom and sage latte.”
That sounded disgusting. Absolutely vile.
“You know, for Thanksgiving.”
Mom, Caroline, and I shared a look, all taking tentative sips.
I held my cup away and looked at it. “Wow. I expected that to be disgusting. But it’s great.”
He smiled. “Yeah. Not too sweet, just earthy enough. It’s bizarre, but it works.”
“Well done, Keith,” Mom said. “But I’d still like my chocolate pumpkin spice tomorrow, please. I’m sensing the end of fall, and I will be devastated when that flavor is over.”
He nodded. “Noted.” Keith leaned against the counter. “Now I’m ready to weigh in on man problems.”
“You guys,” Caroline said, pausing for dramatic effect. “I finally got James’s and my divorce papers together. I mean, it’s time, you know?”
That made me feel sad. Yeah, it was high time. But the dissolution of a family was always hard.
“It’s time,” Keith said authoritatively.
“But then…” We all leaned forward, captivated by story time with Caroline.
“But then what?” Mom asked.
“James told me he loved me and that he wants me back.”
I stood in stunned silence as Keith burst out laughing.
“Why is that possibly funny?” Mom asked.
“Because,” Keith said. “Don’t you think it’s kind of convenient that she starts dating a hot movie star and then he wants her back?”
We all looked at him, wide-eyed in disbelief.
Not because of what he was saying. He was probably right.
But because Keith was not known for his insightful critiques, God love him.
It took him years to grasp the most basic coffee orders.
Even still, I shook my head. “I don’t know.
He talked to Emerson about it, like, a while ago.
He told her he wanted to try to get you back. ”
“Yeah. He mentioned that. Glad you guys didn’t deem that worthy of telling me.”
I shook my head. “You were just so… happy. We didn’t want to complicate that for you.”
She looked down at her hands sadly. “I was happy,” she whispered.
Keith snapped his fingers and stood up straight. “Well, that’s your answer.”
Ah, good old Keith. Back in action.
“I’m sorry,” Mom said. “How is that an answer?”
Keith smiled and put his hands in his pockets.
“See, relationships are really simple. You guys complicate them a lot, but they aren’t complicated.
If they make you feel happy, then great.
If they don’t, then it isn’t the relationship for you.
Caroline, you expressed more enthusiasm over a weird coffee drink you don’t much like than the prospect of getting back together with your ex. So, there’s your answer.”
He patted his coffee carrier and said, “I’m off to deliver more coffee and wisdom.”
Mom and I both looked at Caroline, who set her cup on the island and said, “Yeah, but, like, it’s more complicated than that.”
“Is it, though?” Mom asked.
Caroline blew out her breath long and slow. “Yeah. Things are very, very complicated right now.” She shook her head.
I patted her hand. “You’re out of it. You did the hard part. I think you just move on.”
She shook her head. “The hard part…” she repeated, trailing off.
She was being super weird. And I couldn’t figure out why. “So is he still coming for Thanksgiving?” I still thought that was strange. I mean, grown up and great for their kids. But still.
“Of course,” Caroline said. “This was our deal. We all do holidays together for Vivi and Preston.”
“Even if it ruins every holiday for you?” I asked.
“It doesn’t ruin them,” she said. “In fact, I usually love it, or at least don’t think much of it. But this one is going to be a little awkward.”
“You think?” Mom asked. “So what did you tell him?”
“I told him I had a lot to think about, which was crazy because it’s just delaying the inevitable.
I know we can’t be together now. I believe he’s sorry, and I believe he loves me, that he never stopped.
And I do love him. I really do. I’d actually sort of hoped that time would heal the wound and that we could make a fresh start—mostly for the kids, but for us too. ”
That sounded nice. It really did. “And you don’t want that now?”
“Yeah. It’s just not going to work…” Caroline trailed off, and Mom and I shared a look.
“How did it feel when you were with Chase?” Mom asked.
“I mean, amazing. Great. But then he doesn’t want to be together anymore.”
“Because of a decision you don’t have to make, Caroline,” I said.
Caroline waved her hand. “It isn’t important. What’s important is that we have like nine rooms to accessorize, and I want that done immediately. When I leave after the wedding, I want to know that my sister’s life is in perfect order.”
I raised my eyebrows. “So then you can kind of understand why I want to feel like my sister’s life is in perfect order. Right?”
Caroline smiled. “Well, Sloane, I think that ship has sailed. I will attempt to be in perfect order one day soon, though. I promise.”
Caroline stacked a huge bundle of coffee-table books under her arm and said, “I’m off to the living room.”
She left, and Mom and I shared a glance. “Something’s majorly off with her,” I said. “There’s something she’s not telling us.”
Mom nodded. “Sometimes we have to let Caroline be Caroline.”
“Sometimes?” I countered.
We both laughed as she called, “Less talking, more working! We have a house to decorate!”
No rest for the weary. Even the pregnant weary.
But, honestly, today was one of the best days I could remember.
My house was finished. We were settled. And, in a matter of weeks, I’d get to bring my baby home to the perfect place on the same street where Murphy babies had been coming home for generations.