“There they are!” Drew said. “The Grinch is coming on in five minutes.” The kids bounced on the couch in excitement.
“Appropriate,” Marley teased, meeting my gaze with a laugh.
“Have a seat. I’ll make us some coffee.” My phone buzzed in my pocket on the way to the kitchen. I fished it out and froze when I read the on-screen email preview.
“What is it?” Mom asked, dropping a worried hand to my shoulder.
“It’s an email from school. I was chosen for an internship at a publishing company next semester.”
“The one you applied for just for fun because they’d laugh at you?” Drew chuckled. “I knew you’d get it. Congratulations, Victoria.” Drew smiled widely but I couldn’t return it.
“What’s wrong?” Marley asked. “That’s exactly what you wanted, isn’t it?”
“It was, but—”
“What do you meanwas?” Mom pressed, her eyes now boring into mine.
“It’s unpaid. I couldn’t work next semester or even the summer. I have to think about it.”
“What’s there to think about?” Drew pushed off the couch and came over to us. “Between all of us, we can easily support you while you’re in school. You don’t have to work, now. We’ve always told you that.”
“Yes, I do have to work.” I huffed out a laugh. “I have a cell phone bill and things I need that I can’t always ask you for when you all pay most of my tuition. Just let me think about it, okay?”
Drew and my mother shared a look then turned back to me with the same narrowed-eyed expression.
“Marley, honey could you give us all a minute, please.”
Marley nodded at my mother and headed into the kitchen. The kids were too close to the TV to notice the uncomfortable conversation behind them.
“Sit,” my mother ordered while pointing to the couch. I knew better than to fight her when she used that stern tone.
“You’ll work for the rest of your life.” She crossed her arms over her chest as she leaned over me. “This is the only time you get to be carefree and just do what you want, and that’s what we all think you should do. You love working with your father, and I know that, but Falco’s isn’t your future. This could open up early doors for you and make it easier to get into the graduate program. You told us that when you applied, and all four of us were behind you.”
She crouched in front of me and put her hands on my knees. “If Anthony is going to come back to you, he will whether you work at Falco’s or not. If you stay there and give this up for the simple purpose of being in his proximity, you’ll spite yourself and regret it. So, which is it? The loss of the small salary your father pays you or not wanting to leave Anthony?”
“Both,” I admitted. “You’re right.” I raked my hands through my hair. “This is just,” I swallowed, so overwhelmed it was hard to breathe. “A lot right now, a lot of changes, I guess. I’m almost twenty years old, you guys can’t keep trying to spoil me to make up for what we went through when I was little.”
My eyes clenched shut as a tear streamed down my cheek. That was the first time I ever voiced that to any of my parents. I constantly tried to prove to them I was fine, so they’d stop coddling me, but I never called them on it.
I was surprised to hear Mom laugh.
“Maybe we do that. I know I do. My hands were pretty tied back then when it came to you as a little girl. I couldn’t give you much more than bare minimum.” She swiped a lock of hair off of my forehead.
“So, when my daughter got a partial scholarship to NYU, I was thrilled that we all could split the tuition to give her something great that she deserved. And if you take this internship, and we have to pay all your bills for a few months, I welcome the shit out of it.”
A laugh bubbled out through my tears before I cupped my aching forehead.
“I will probably always do this, no matter how old you are. I’m sure Josh will, too. There’s guilt we’ll both never stop working through when it comes to you.” She cradled my cheek, her dark eyes wet. “I’m sorry if you feel suffocated by it, but can’t you let us give you now, what we couldn’t when you were a little girl? You can stop being the dutiful child who worried about her mother, and then worried about her parents fighting over her. Just be the beautiful young woman who embraces the amazing future in front of her, even if she has to accept help from all four parents to do it.”
I nodded, swiping at my cheeks with the back of my hand as an odd relief washed over me. I’d accept their help for once and take joy where I could get it.
Tomorrow, I’d try to say goodbye to the happiness that wasn’t meant to be.
23
Anthony
After a shitty night of sleep,I headed into Falco’s on Monday morning with a knot in my stomach and a huge chip on my shoulder. Every time I tried to get to sleep, all I saw was Victoria’s tear-filled eyes when I told her it was over. Tossing and turning on sheets that smelled like her didn’t help.
