Chapter 18
KENSEY
Iwas ready forty-five minutes before I needed to be. Mom was already at the kitchen table. She’d abandoned the puzzle for the morning.
“How do I look?” she asked.
“Beautiful,” I said.
She beamed. “I’m so excited. I haven’t been out anywhere fun in weeks. Your father’s idea of an outing is the hardware store.”
“I heard that,” Dad called from the living room.
“I meant you to,” she called back pleasantly. “Is he here yet?”
“He’s not supposed to be here for another fifteen minutes.”
“I feel like a kid waiting to go to Disneyland,” she said with a laugh.
Drew had always had that effect on her. She’d treated him like a second son from approximately the third time she saw him.
She’d always said he had good manners and a good heart, which were the two things she cared about.
Everything else was noise. She didn’t care about the money or influence. Those things didn’t matter to her.
And him offering to take the whole family out for a day of fun was just what Drew did. It wasn’t anything more than that. We were friends and I was completely fine with that.
“You look nice,” Mom said.
“Thank you.”
“You did something different with your hair.”
“I just blow-dried it.”
“It looks nice.” She paused. “You’re nervous.”
“I’m not nervous.”
Dad appeared in the doorway, dressed in khakis and a button-up. He looked just as excited as mom did. Getting Mom out of the house and in a good mood was doing something for him.
“He’s a good kid,” Dad said.
The doorbell rang and all three of us grinned. I opened the door and did my best not to gasp. He was too hot. Dark jeans, a white linen shirt, and sunglasses pushed up on his head.
“Hello, Blake family,” he said.
“Drew.” Mom hugged him with her good arm.
“Mrs. Blake.” He pulled back and looked at her. “You look wonderful.”
“Thank you.”
“Mr. Blake. Good to see you, sir.”
“Drew.” Dad clapped him on the shoulder. “Looking forward to this.”
Drew turned to me last. There was a beat, just the smallest one, before he smiled. “Ready?”
“Ready,” I said.
We got on the road with Mom in the front passenger seat of his Escalade because Drew had insisted. Dad and I settled into the back. I had a direct sightline to the rearview mirror, which meant I had to be careful about how often I let my eyes drift forward.
“Can you tell me where we’re going now?” Mom asked. “Kensey said it was a surprise.”
Drew laughed. “So Kensey and I were talking about doing something where you wouldn’t have to do too much walking or anything too physical while the arm is still healing.”
“That’s very thoughtful,” Mom said.
“We’re starting with lunch,” he said. “There’s a restaurant out at the Malibu Pier. Right at the entrance. It’s farm-to-table, really good food, and the view of the water is incredible. We can sit outside if you want, right over the ocean.”
“Farm-to-table,” she said. “Sounds fancy.”
“You’re going to love it,” Drew said.
“What’s after lunch?” she asked.
“That’s the part that stays a surprise a little longer,” he said with a smile.
“Oh, Drew,” Mom said after we were seated at our table. “This is wonderful.”
“I thought you’d like it,” he said.
Dad caught my eye over the top of the menu and gave me a small nod of approval.
The food was exactly what he’d promised.
Beautiful plates, fresh everything, the kind of meal that made you feel like you were doing something good for yourself even when you ordered the thing with the butter sauce.
Mom got the halibut. Dad got the short rib.
Drew and I both ordered the same pasta dish without consulting each other, which we only noticed when we ordered.
We ate and talked. Drew asked my father about the woodworking project he’d been doing in the garage. Dad lit up the way he always did when someone actually wanted to know.
“Drew,” Mom said pleasantly. “Are you seeing anyone?”
I nudged her under the table, my eyes wide. She didn’t flinch.
“Mom,” I said.
“What? It’s a normal question.” She looked at him with zero shame. “You’re a wonderful young man. I always thought so. I’m just so surprised no one has pinned you down yet.”
Drew smiled, and to his credit, he didn’t look remotely uncomfortable. He picked up his water glass. “No, ma’am. I’ m not seeing anyone at the moment.”
“Such a shame,” she said, shaking her head slightly. The way she said it, you’d think he’d just told her he had a terminal diagnosis. “A handsome, successful man like you. You have so much heart, Drew. You always have.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Blake.”
“Mom.” I nudged her again, harder this time.
She reached over and patted my hand with her good one. The international maternal signal for I hear you and I am choosing to ignore you. “I’m just saying.”
Dad cleared his throat and I thought for one blessed moment he was going to steer the conversation somewhere safer. “Kensey, have you ever thought about moving back to California?”
I put down my fork. “Dad.”
“You’ve been out east for a few years now. I’m just curious.” He cut into his short rib with the calm of a man who had not just lobbed a grenade on the table. “You love your students. I know that. But do you ever think about coming home?”
“I love my job. It’s a good school.”
“California is better,” Mom said.
“I don’t think that’s really fair.”
“I’m not pressuring you. I’m just saying the door is always open and we would love to have you closer.”
“I know,” I said.
“Drew, have you ever thought about the east coast?”
I put my hand over my face. “Dad. Come on.”
“I’m making conversation,” he said, perfectly serene.
Drew laughed. “It’s okay,” he said, glancing at me with amusement before looking back at my father. “I’ve spent time in New York. The cousins are all based there. But honestly, no. California is home. I can’t see myself leaving this coast. The ocean is part of how I function.”
“Of course,” Dad said, nodding thoughtfully. “Of course it is.”
The implication hovered over the table. My parents were as subtle as a bull in a China shop. I looked at my mother. She was sipping her iced tea with a serene expression.
“Can we just enjoy the view?” I said. “It’s a beautiful day. We’re at a lovely restaurant. Can we simply be here and eat our food without conducting a joint interview?”
“I was making conversation,” Mom said sweetly.
“Mom.”
“I just love you both very much. That’s all.”
Drew took a piece of bread from the basket in the center of the table, tore it in half without asking, and put one piece on my plate. A completely automatic, completely familiar gesture that he’d been doing for years.
Mom watched him do it but said nothing. I didn’t even stop to think it might look like something it wasn’t. Drew and I were always eating off each other’s plates and ordering for one another.
We finished eating and walked out onto the pier. There was a breeze off the water. My hair lifted off my shoulders. It was warm but not too hot with the cloud cover.
Dad stopped to lean over the railing and look down at the water, and Drew stopped with him, the two of them falling into easy conversation about something involving tide patterns. Mom and I walked a little ahead.
“It’s a beautiful day and I’m very happy to be out of the house,” Mom said. “Your young man is very kind.”
“Mom, stop.”
“I’m done,” she said cheerfully. “I’m simply walking and enjoying the view.”
We reached the end of the pier and stood there for a moment, the four of us. Down the beach to the north I could see the surfers, a loose cluster of them sitting on their boards waiting for the right wave. One of them caught a wave and rode it in a long, clean arc toward the shore. We all watched.
“I used to surf,” Drew said.
“You still surf,” I said.
“Not like that.” He nodded toward the beach. “I used to be out there all the time with Hollis and Micah.” He was quiet for a moment. “I miss it.”
“Go,” Dad said simply. “The ocean will still be there at five in the morning.”
Drew looked at him. “You sound like Hollis.”
“Hollis sounds smart,” Dad said.
On the walk back along the pier, the pace slowed. Mom and Dad drifted slightly ahead, moving at their own unhurried rhythm, and I found myself slowing naturally, letting the distance between us widen by degrees.
I watched Drew fall into step beside my mother. He shortened his stride without making a production of it. He tucked his hands in his pockets and said something I couldn’t hear from where I was walking. She laughed. I watched the three of them talking and found myself smiling.
Dad glanced over at Drew and made a comment that had Drew shaking his head and laughing.
He had always gotten along well with them, but I was seeing it differently today, maybe because I was looking for it.
The ease he had with my parents wasn’t an act.
It was real. He liked them and they liked him.
I thought about New Jersey and my adequate apartment. The school, which I genuinely loved. I didn’t want to leave, but I wanted to be here. I loved California and I did want to be closer to my parents, but it felt complicated.
If I did move back, what happened then? We said we would be friends. So, were we going to hang out like we used to and just not kiss? Would he want a kiss? Did I want a kiss?
Obviously, I did.
I wished I knew what he wanted. He had never been the serious type when it came to relationships. Did he want to settle down with one woman when all the ladies loved him? Would he choose me if I was an option? Would he even want to try this thing?
No, because if he wanted to pursue a relationship, he wouldn’t have gone on that blind date. Right? He wouldn’t be telling me about his brothers trying to set him up. Of course, I had encouraged him to go, too.
“Kens!”
I looked up and saw Drew waving me over. “Let’s get a picture,” Drew said.
We squeezed in, all four of us, and took a selfie.
“Let me get one of the two of you,” Mom said.
She stepped away and pulled out her phone. Did she really think we didn’t know what she was doing? I had a feeling she didn’t care.
Drew put his arm around my shoulders and we posed for a series of pictures. My mother had suddenly turned into a photographer.
“Alright, I think I got a couple of good ones,” Mom said.
I rolled my eyes. “Just a couple?”
Drew kept his arm around my shoulders as we walked back toward the parking lot. I told myself not to read into it. We always walked like that.
So I pretended it was all just fine. Totally normal.