Chapter 5
Ali Kat
The table looks much the same as it did when I was in high school, except instead of a white tablecloth with blue flowers, it’s yellow with white polka dots.
Prim is filling glasses while Jake takes a seat, his clothes wet and dripping. Mom casts him a look of displeasure but says nothing.
“Where’s Garrett?” Mom asks.
“Helping Pa fix a leak in the loft,” Jake says.
“I’m sorry,” I interject, “but since when did you start having Garrett Flint over for dinner?”
Three sets of eyes fix on me like they somehow forgot I was present. It’s awkward and uncomfortable, and I have no idea how we are going to make it through the summer together.
Finally, Jake says, “It’s been going on years now.”
“I thought you hated him.”
“I don’t hate him. He rooms with me at the guest house.”
It can’t be true. Why would Garrett Flint be rooming with my brother on my family’s farm?
“But why?”
“He’s been here almost nine months,” Prim chimes in.
“You almost got expelled for fighting with him,” I say to a disenchanted Jake. “Didn’t he steal your prom date?
“People change,” Jake says, casting me a deadpan stare.
And there it is again, the steaming pile of guilt that he so loves to serve.Yes, Jake, I changed. I found my way out of the corn maze, and I now have one of the most recognized faces in the entire world. Deal with it.
“Tomorrow, it will be your turn to set the table, Tam,” Mother says as she sets down a platter full of food onto the table.
The fact that she’s already delegating chores out to me is telling. She’s as predictable as a clock, and I know that if one hundred years went by, she’d still be putting me on the roster to set the table.
Mother starts loading everyone’s plate with country-fried steak, green beans, and potatoes, completely disregarding the fact that we’re in the middle of the most awkward silence ever.
I take my seat and wait for my father and Garrett to come in for dinner, wishing I could just disappear into the barn.
“So, why is Garrett rooming with you?” I ask.
“After he broke up with his girlfriend, he needed a place to crash while he hunted for an apartment. It was only supposed to be for about a month, but he was helping around the farm, and we got along pretty well. I asked if he wanted to stay, save some money, and do half the chores.”
Mom snickers. “As if you two keep up with the chores.”
Jake rolls his eyes.
After I went away to Hollywood, Garrett all but fell off my radar. The last I can remember, he got injured and lost his scholarship, but that was nearly a decade ago, and I have no idea what he’s been up to in all that time.
“Well, I’m glad it’s working out for you,” I say politely.
The door opens, and two sets of footsteps stomp into the breezeway.
I release a steady breath and brace myself for the rollercoaster of emotion that will inevitably engulf me.
He loves you. That never changed. He’s just disappointed is all. The love’s still there.
