Chapter 16 #4
“She won’t. I promise you. She’ll be thrilled for you. This is such an amazing development, Summer. Enjoy it.”
Can I do that? Just enjoy it? Being outside among the blooms was so nice today, as if a part of me came back to life. Maybe I can move forward here. It’s a scary thought, but part of me is obviously ready. “Okay. I’ll try not to overanalyze.”
“Perhaps you can think about having a conversation with Zander about this. He will need context to understand what happened today. Can you do that?”
I swallow. A big conversation already, and we just arrived. “Yeah, okay, I will.”
“Good. I’ll let you go now, Summer. Same time next week, unless you need me sooner.”
“Thanks, Sarah.” I return the bowl to the nightstand before closing the laptop and placing it beside me on the bed.
Flopping back on the pillows, I take a deep breath.
I didn’t expect such rapid changes in myself, if at all.
It’s kind of scary how easily it just happened.
Being outside felt so natural, and I was…
happy. Perhaps Sarah is right, and I can truly start fresh here.
Mal may have been right all along. I’ve got to get past the conversation with Zander first, though.
Sighing, I sit up and swing my legs off the bed.
Putting on my sneakers, I make my way to the office.
Knocking on the open door, I peek inside.
Zander smiles and waves me in. While he’s on a phone call, I take the chance to explore his office.
The same dark tile as the foyer and bathrooms covers the floor in here, and the walls are a dark charcoal, the opposite of the rest of the house.
I turn towards the right and see there’s a bunch of military stuff hanging; photos of him and others in uniform, medals, and a few certificates.
Charcoal-painted bookcases line the far wall between two windows, and there are two more windows facing the front yard.
Zander is sitting at a light wood desk with two brown leather barrel chairs in front of the desk, so I take a seat in one.
“Hey Summer. Sorry about that. I was catching up with Troy. How was your session with Sarah?”
“Um good. Can I talk to you about something?” I fidget.
“Yeah, of course, anything,” he says as he leans forward and puts his arms on the desk, giving me his undivided attention.
“So, I think I may have actually been humming in the kitchen earlier.”
“Okay?” He looks at me quizzically, eyebrows raised.
“I haven’t really had an interest in anything since the accident.
I guess I was in survival mode. Today was the first day since before the accident that I even noticed flowers, let alone picked them.
I used to love flowers and had gardens planted all over our yard and a vegetable patch. I used to hum when I was gardening.”
“So today was a big deal,” he says kindly.
“Yeah, it was,” I nod. “I never even realized what I did until you mentioned my humming. I kind of freaked out for a bit, but Sarah talked me through everything.”
“I noticed the two of you have a special relationship.” He leans back in his chair, folding his hands over his stomach.
I smile. “Yeah, she’s the Summer whisperer.”
Zander laughs. “That’s a good name for her. So what does this mean? How can I help you?”
I shrug, unsure how to answer. “I’m healing. There are no rules or plan for any of this.”
“Okay, well, thank you for telling me. Let me know if you need anything. I want to help you any way I can,” he says sincerely.
I nod. “I will try to do that. So my great grandmother had a green thumb like me?”
“She did. She spent as much time as possible in the yard here. I tried to help when I visited as a kid, but like I said, I have a black thumb. I always ended up helping my grandpa in construction.” He gets up and grabs a photo from the bookshelf.
“These are your great grandparents. They were in their 60s in this picture.”
I take the photo from him. Mara and Philip 1996, is written on the frame.
Mara is short with dark, straight hair cut just below her chin.
Philip is tall and still in great shape for a man of his age, with light grey hair.
They are in front of this house, holding hands with big smiles on their faces.
It seems Zander renovated the house to resemble the original.
“Mara has your dimple,” I say, looking at Zander.
“You have the same one, Summer. We get our green eyes from grandpa. Why don’t you keep that photo on your bookshelves in your room?”
I hug the photo to my chest. “Thank you, Zander.” I can now count three new people in my family.
“You’re welcome,” he smiles. “So, on a different note, Troy has asked for your phone number. Are you comfortable with my giving it to him?”
“Sure, I don’t mind.” He seems like a nice guy, and Zander obviously trusts him.
“Good. How about we head to the kitchen? I need to make a list for shopping tomorrow.”
Nodding, I follow Zander into the kitchen. “I asked Troy to pick up a few things while we were gone from the list Sue helped with,” he winks. “I’m missing the stuff for hot chocolate, though. Can you check the fridge and pantry and tell me what food you need me to buy for you?”
“You don’t need to buy anything for me, Zander. I’ll eat whatever.”
“Humor me, please? I’d like to get at least the basics in for baking. Except for flour, I don’t know what they are. You can help me with that list, right?”
I see the plea in his eyes and sigh, “yeah alright.” I go over and open the fridge and see tubs of fruit, eggs, water bottles, soda, beer, and some condiments. That’s it. The life of a bachelor, I guess. “Do you mind if I eat some fruit while you make your list?”
“This is your house now, too, Summer. Please eat what you want. No need to ask about anything in the house. Consider everything yours.”
I gaze at Zander who’s smiling at me, genuine sincerity in his eyes.
“Thank you. Do you want anything?” Turns out Zander likes melons.
After he tells me where the silverware is, I grab a tub of melon mix and a tub of pineapple and set them on the island and push the melon tub and a fork across to Zander.
Opening the pineapple, I pick up a chunk and pop it into my mouth.
It’s super sweet, so I grab one more and look around the kitchen.
“Start rooting in drawers, Summer.” I raise my eyebrows at him. “Really, open everything up. Tell me what’s missing.” He waves his hand around. “Seriously, go crazy.”
I hesitate for a minute before opening the drawers and cupboards in the island. While moving through the kitchen, I find some essentials. The pantry has a sparse selection of food, including fresh boxes of my favorite teas, old all-purpose flour, and baking soda.
“So, how bad is it?” He asks.
“Well, you need everything for baking. Your flour is caking and your baking soda is chunky.”
He cringes. “Yeah, I use baking soda for scrubbing pots.”
“You really don’t need to buy baking supplies unless you’re planning on baking, Zander. I don’t need them.” It would be a large cost to him.
“I thought you might teach me how to bake? Maybe it's something we could do together, since you enjoy it?” He actually seems excited about the prospect.
“Oh, okay,” I nod. That’s sweet, actually, and I enjoyed baking with Sue.
I list off the things he’ll need as he takes notes on his phone.
I add measuring cups and spoons as I didn’t see them anywhere either.
Speaking of baking… “Zander, I’ll be right back.
” I say. Heading to my room, I grab my suitcase and wheel it out to the kitchen.
Arranging it on one of the island stools, I unzip it to reveal Sue’s baked goods.
“Damn, I almost forgot about all that Summer. You’re gonna share, right?” He smiles.
“Yeah, I’ll share. I should freeze some, though, so they stay fresh.”
Zander grabs some freezer bags, and we divide up the baking, leaving a large plate full on the island to eat now.
He places the full bags in the fridge-freezer.
“There’s a large chest freezer in the laundry room if the fridge freezer is full.
The meat is stored there. I was going to order takeout tonight since there’s no food. What kind of takeout would you like?”
“Whatever you want is fine with me.”
A calculating gaze appears in Zander’s eyes. He opens the left drawer on the island, rooting around and hands me a pizza menu. “Okay, we’re getting deep-dish pizza, but you’ll have to choose the toppings or I’m ordering onions and extra anchovies.”
Shocked, I glance over at him, but he has a poker face now. “What’s your favorite, Zander?”
“I’m not telling you until you tell me what you want.” He folds his arms across his chest, standing straight.
Oh boy. I fidget with the menu, reading all the choices. “Really, whatever you like will be fine,” I reply quietly.
“Summer, tell me whatever three look good.” Zander, although insistent, has a kindness in his tone.
Taking a deep breath, I read over the toppings again. Get your life back, Summer, I tell myself. It’s just pizza toppings, not a life-altering decision. “Salami, mushrooms and parmesan, please.”
“Phew,” he says as he wipes his brow. “I really wasn’t looking forward to onions and anchovies tonight.”
“You wouldn’t have really ordered that, would you?” I question. No one would like those toppings.
He winks at me. “Guess we’ll never know.
” He types on his phone for a minute, then sets it on the counter.
“Food will be here in 30 minutes. Oh, before I forget, I called your school this afternoon to check on getting you registered. You need to email them your transcripts, and they said someone will email you back on Monday with a list of available classes. I texted you the email address already. On your first day, you need to bring the certified copies to the office.”
“Thanks. I’ll do that while we’re waiting.
” Grabbing the suitcase and the photo of my great grandparents, I walk back down the hall to my room.
I place the suitcase with the other two in the closet, and the photo of my great grandparents goes on the right bookshelf.
Taking my phone off the desk, I open the text app.
I copy the email address from Zander and forward the scanned copy of my transcripts I made in Sue’s office.
There’s one additional text from a Charleston number.
When I click on it, I see it’s from Troy.
Hey Summer. It’s Troy. Z gave me your number. Use it if you ever need anything.
Can you send the pic of Z with the penguin? I've got plans!
Smiling, I attach the image for Troy and save his contact info before putting the phone in my pocket and walking back to the kitchen. Zander is sitting on the couch, turning on the tv. “Come join me while we wait for the pizza, Summer.”
I take a seat in the corner bend of the couch as Zander chooses the local news. The news anchors both have a strong southern drawl I never noticed in Zander or Troy. I can understand them, but I have to focus. “Zander, where did you grow up?”
“California born and raised. Why do you ask?”
“The news anchors have a strong drawl, and you and Troy don’t.”
“Oh. They must sound strange to you. Their accents aren’t even that strong.
Wait until you meet some locals, especially outside of the city.
During my first summer with my grandparents, I had to really concentrate on what people were saying.
Troy grew up in the military, so he was constantly moving.
That’s why neither of us has an accent.”
That might be interesting. Mal has a slight twang when she talks, but it’s subtle and slightly different, not like on tv.
“So, other than shopping tomorrow, I thought we could drive around Charleston and I could show you the sights. Did you find anything on your Google search you wanted to see?”
“Nothing in particular, no.”
“Hmm, have you been to the beach before?”
“No. I haven’t even seen the ocean.” Wouldn’t the water be cold since it’s still spring?
“I’ll add that to the agenda. It’s supposed to be warm and sunny all day,” he replies.
We both turn back to the news until the doorbell rings.
Zander gets up to grab the pizza as I head into the kitchen for plates and napkins.
I find the plates to the right of the stove in an upper cabinet and some napkins in an island drawer.
I set both on the island, unsure of where he likes to eat.
Zander heads back to the couch and places the pizzas on the coffee table, then walks over to the fridge to grab a soda and a beer.
Noticing me standing there in indecision, he waves his hand towards the living room.
“I’m not formal, Summer. Grab the plates and napkins. Let’s eat in front of the television.”
It turns out Zander’s favorite pizza is simple pepperoni.
Mine is delicious, and we swap a slice each so I can try the pepperoni.
It’s good, but I end up liking mine better.
I put the remaining slices in the fridge for later, as Zander gets rid of the boxes.
We get comfortable back on the couch to watch Zander’s favorite television comedy.
As I brush my teeth before bed, I can’t help but marvel at the day I’ve had.
Fear and high stress in the morning to getting a part of myself back in the afternoon.
I grab some pjs, then get under the covers.
The mattress is super plush, the softest I’ve ever slept on, and I feel like I’m sinking into a cloud.
I’m exhausted, but I lie awake for a long time.
So much has changed so quickly. Part of me hopes Sarah is right and something has clicked inside me and I’m finally pulling out of survival mode.
The other part is scared to think about it.
What will my new life look like? It’s daunting to live again.
I roll over, open the nightstand drawer, and grab Jake’s cologne, spritzing it on a pillow, snuggling back down as sleep claims me.