“That’s not what I meant.”
“That’s okay. I appreciate your willingness.”
“Don’t make it sound …” she began. “When will you move in?”
“Will tomorrow be okay?”
A beat passed. “Sure.”
Yeah, that didn’t feel good at all. I cursed myself and wished I were June for the hundredth time that day. If I were her, I wouldn’t be in this mess. But I wouldn’t have my boys, either, and they were worth all of it. Every fucking bit of it.
As if her thoughts had run the same course, she suddenly asked, “Did you tell the boys?”
I sighed. “No. How do I tell them something like that? I need them to focus on their studies. I kinda hinted that they should spend spring break at school.”
“Mom tolduseverything.”
“I know.”
We both chuckled and looked at each other. I loved my sister, despite our differences.
Our mom had always involved us in everything. Her hardships were always out there in the open—how much money we had or hadn’t, her jobs, her struggles, her efforts, her wins, losses. Growing up without that childish innocence that everything was okay or would be okay because someone was going to make it okay for you, wasn’t easy. My sisters and I knew that we had to work for things to be okay. Not great, just okay.
Mine was a hundred-and-eighty-degree shift from my mom’s motherhood style. I struggled alone and didn’t let them in on it.
“Will sent this earlier today.” I opened a pic on my phone and turned it toward June.
“The face of a man in love,” the text beneath Will’s wide smile said.
“Oh, wow. He’s practically beaming,” June said.
“He says it’s serious, but I still haven’t seen a picture of her.”
“I have a feeling you will soon.” June smiled.
“Yeah, I just hope not in person yet. Where will I host her?”
“Where are you staying now?” June asked, straightening up, as if realizing she had missed asking such an obvious question.
“At a friend’s here in Wayford.”
“Oh. From school?”
“Yeah.” I didn’t want to tell her who. She didn’t know about my history with Oliver, and I could imagine that me staying at the house of the son of someone our mom used to work for wouldn’t fly with June.
“So, tomorrow?” I asked. “Will you be home, or …?”
“I’m out most of the day, so you can make yourself comfortable.”
“Thank you. I really appreciate this, June. And please don’t say a word of this to Mom or Tammy. Please. I’ll tell them when I find a place … soon.” God, I didn’t even believe that myself.
“Okay,” she said. I didn’t think she believed it’d be soon either, and as if to prove it, she gave me a little smile and added, “So, two to three weeks for a start? Something like that?”
I cleared my throat. “I’ll drop by tomorrow to pick up the key.”
“Sure,” she said.
After a quick goodbye, I left with a heavier heart than the one I had walked in with.
