Chapter 12
Present Day
Louisiana
“Grandma wants to know if we’re coming to dinner tonight?
” Amy leaned against the counter, watching me sketch.
I started working at my sister Carrie’s flower shop, Life In Bloom, about six months ago.
It’d been great working with her, and I finally felt like my life was heading in a positive direction.
“What’s today?” I tapped my chin.
“Thursday.” Amy rolled her eyes. I was always asking what day it was because we always had something going on. We were busy all the time. Between dance and single mom duties, I didn’t have time for anything else.
“No classes tonight, so yeah… we can do dinner.” I went back to sketching.
Carrie had rented a wall in town. There was a brick building at the end of the street, and the side faced the road.
When you drove into town, it was the first thing you saw.
I suggested that she see if she could rent space on a building and put a mural on it that advertised her business.
When she came in last week all smiles and slapped the paper down with the rental agreement, I was floored.
I didn’t expect it to happen so fast, and now she wanted me to design and paint it.
“Mama says yes. Ok, see you then.” Amy hung up.
“Grandma says don’t be late, everyone’s coming, and see you at six.
” She turned and went around back. Amy was constantly wanting to come to the shop with me, and she would help organize the shipments as they came in.
My sister was great with her, teaching her all about arranging and how to balance the flowers out.
“Everyone’s going to be there,” I muttered under my breath. “Great.”
“Maybe it won’t be that bad,” Carrie chimed in as she placed a bud vase with a single rose in it in the cooler beside me.
Are you delusional?” My head swung in her direction. “You may be able to ignore her, but Gia will make a scene; mark my words.” I stood up straighter as I put the finishing touches on my drawing. “What do you think of this?” I showed her my pencil sketch I’d spent most of the morning working on.
“I love it.” She grinned. “I’m so glad you’re here.” She leaned in to hug me.
It’d been great this last year rekindling the relationships with my sisters.
Charlie kept me isolated and made me feel bad when I wanted to spend time with them, but lately it’s all I do.
Codie and I were by far the closest, but Carrie came in a close second.
Ginny’s just so much younger that I was more of a mom than a sister to her, and then there’s Gia.
Gia was about a lovable as a catus. I tried when we were younger but gave up during our teen years.
She was just mean, and now that we were adults, I didn’t have to be nice.
She’d tried to ruin Codie’s wedding. I could only imagine what she had up her sleeve for tonight.
“So, I was thinking this could be white, and then we could use the green and pink like you have on the front of the shop to accent it. I don’t think we should put any prices on there, though.
This way you can change things as needed.
We need the lettering to be big and over the top though.
” I grabbed some colored pencils to show her what I was talking about.
“I like that. I can help you this weekend with the painting if you want to get a base layer on.” She wiped her hands on the green apron she was wearing.
“It would have to be in the late afternoon after I drop Amy off. She has class starting at three.” I pulled up my calendar on my phone and began tapping away. If I didn’t make note of this, I’d forget.
“That’s fine. I can meet you at your place.” Carrie spun around behind us and opened the small dorm fridge behind the register. “To us getting this done.” She handed me a Diet Coke.
“To us.” I giggled as I took a sip.
“What’s so funny?” She placed her elbows on the counter and stared at me.
“Nothing, really. I guess I’m just happy for the first time in a long time. I can finally do things on my own terms. I have a pretty cool apartment, and I love being able to work for you.” I shrugged.
“Work with me. We’re a team. I don’t need to be your boss.” She sipped her soda.
“But it’s your shop.” I crinkled my brow.
“And just over a year ago, I thought I was going to have to close. You’ve helped me grow this into what it is now. I may own it, but it’s just as much your success as it is mine.” She wrapped her arm around my shoulders and leaned against me. “I’m glad you’re back. I missed you,” she murmured.
“Same.” I sighed. I understood where she was coming from. Except for a few family dinners here and there, I never saw them. My mom would come out and visit and both my parents came to dance things, but my sisters had their own lives.
“Wanna take bets on whether Gia shows up drunk?” I chuckled.
“I’ll take that bet and raise you a ‘she’ll make sexual comments toward one of the farmhands’.” We both burst into laughter as Amy decided to come back up front.
“What’s so funny?” She looked around.
“Nothing. We’re talking about boys.” I wrinkled my nose. Amy wasn’t crushing on any boys yet and still thought they were gross, so any time she started to get nosy, I’d tell her I was talking about boys.
“Ew.” She stuck her tongue out. “Well, I came to tell you that we need to leave soon if we’re going to be on time to Grandma’s.
” She crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her foot as if I were taking forever.
I couldn’t help but laugh. One, she looked just like her dad in that moment, and two, I was getting a glimpse of what the next ten years would be like… maybe longer.
“Aunt Carrie and I are finishing up. Why don’t you grab your things and meet us in the back? We’re going to lock up first.” I went around to the front door and flipped the sign to closed and locked the door.
“Fine,” she huffed.
Carrie and I moved about turning off lights, putting flowers away for the night, emptying the register and making lists for what needed to be done the next day, before heading to the back. I grabbed my purse, and Amy and I left.
Ooooooooo
The ride to Sunnybrook didn’t take long.
Carrie’s shop was only about a ten-minute drive.
When we pulled up, Codie and Hank were walking down from the guesthouse.
Ginny was pacing on the porch, and Gia was nowhere in sight.
I parked and Amy jumped out. “Jack is already inside helping set the table,” Codie called out as Amy bounded up the stairs.
Codie and Hank went inside, and I hung back to talk to my baby sister. “You ok?” I was genuinely concerned. Ginny never acted like this.
“Mama said I could invite Corey tonight. We’ve been studying together a lot and I think he really likes me.” Ginny sucked her bottom lip in and bit down.
“Ok, so what’s the problem?” I opened the door and held it.
“I’m worried everyone’s going to just be too much. You know we can be extra at times.” She kicked at the floorboards of the porch.
“You mean Gia,” I grumbled. “We’ve all been embarrassed by her.
You have to learn to ignore it.” I motioned for her to come inside.
“Besides, who knows if she’ll even show.
” I knew there’d be a grand entrance, but I was trying to make light of the whole thing.
Gia was Gia and nothing was going to change her.
We just had to learn how to deal with her.
Ginny’s the baby. A lot of the drama happened when she was too young to notice or care.
“Just so you know, if she tries to embarrass me in front of Corey, I’m going to punch her.” Ginny followed me inside.
“I’ll hold her still for ya.” I laughed as the smell of pot roast hit my nose.
My mother made pot roast at least once a week, and if it was going to be a family dinner you could just about guarantee it.
“Smells great, Mom.” I smiled as I took a seat beside Amy.
Codie was across from me with Hank on the end.
Just as we were all sitting down, a young man came in.
His hair was still wet but combed and he clutched a baseball cap in his hands.
“Sorry, I’m a little late.” He smiled when he looked at Ginny. This must be Corey.
“We just sat down.” Ginny glanced up at him and blushed. He took the seat beside her, and our father said grace.
“Any idea where your other sister is?” Mom glanced at Carrie. She usually knew but rarely told all of us. She liked to keep the peace and if Gia knew that Carrie was ratting her out, she’d probably stop sharing things with her.
“I haven’t talked to her in a few days. Last I heard she had gotten a job down at Tumbleweeds.” Carrie shrugged.
“She’s probably drinking all her tips,” Codie muttered.
“Let’s enjoy this dinner your mama cooked for us, ok?
” Dad started passing dishes around. We each scooped food onto our plates as the dishes passed.
Potatoes, broccoli from Mom’s garden, homemade rolls, and sweet tea.
Dad asked how things were going now that I was settled.
I smiled and kept the conversation light.
I didn’t share that Charlie didn’t pick Amy up for his weekly visitation for the second week in a row, or that he’d missed his last three months in child support payments.
I didn’t want to bring the mood down, and the entire family had been helping me get back on my feet for the last year.
When we finished eating, the kids went outside to play. Ginny and Corey went for a walk. I’m sure they were looking for privacy. Codie and I stayed to help our mom with the cleanup and Carrie went to talk to our father about the business.
Just as we were finishing up with the last of the dishes, a set of headlights came up the driveway. “Are you expecting anyone?” I looked over at Mom.
“No.” She dried her hands and went out on the porch. The car stopped and when the driver climbed out, annoyance rose. It was Gia. Of course it was. “Didn’t think you were going to make it.” Mom smiled. She was always happy to see us, even on our worst days.
“I had to work.” She staggered a little as she walked over and hugged our mother.
“Have you been drinking?” I was concerned with her track record that she was working in a bar and that she chose to drive here.
“I had one drink after my shift. I’m tired.
Get over yourself,” she barked as she made her way inside.
“Did you guys save me any?” I watched as she opened the fridge and began pulling containers out.
No hi or how are you doing. No nothing. She opened a drawer to grab a fork and sat down with the container in front of her at the table.
I stood there in disbelief as she began to spoon cold pot roast into her mouth right from the container.
“You know we have plates for that?” I crossed my arms as I watched her in disgust.
“Why would I dirty a plate when I can just eat it this way?” She scooped another bite into her mouth.
“Why are you even here? Don’t you have a husband to keep happy?
” she mused as a smirk slowly spread across her face.
“Oh wait, you couldn’t do that.” She chewed her food and wagged her finger at me.
“Maybe you should take some classes on how to keep him happy in the bedroom, or how to keep the next one happy. If there is one.” She shrugged.
As she swallowed, she began laughing. “You always thought you were better than me. Least I’m happy with my life.
I know what I want, and I take it.” She stood and put the remnants of the leftovers back in the fridge before wiping her mouth.
“Thanks, Ma.” She hugged her and then went outside.
I watched as she made her way to the barn.
I don’t know what she was doing, and I didn’t care.
I’d reached my caring limit years ago. Now, I just pretended as if I didn’t hear her when she flung jabs at me. It wasn’t worth my energy.
“On that note, I think I’m going to head home. Amy has class tomorrow and it was a long day at the shop. Love you, Mom.” I hugged her and went outside to find Amy. My bed was calling me, and I wasn’t going to deny it.