I was rested and bored. It was the weekend, and I suspected Raymond would finally be reaching out. When he did, he’d realize I’d blocked him. Sad thing was, there was no doubt in my mind that today would be the first day that he would have tried to call or text me since I passed out. Three whole days, and in not one second did he feel enough yearning or care and concern or love to call me. To see me. He probably hadn’t even gone into my office to see my engagement ring there. All that did was confirm I’d made the right choice.
As I prepared to go for my morning swim, my phone rang on the bed. A smile lifted the corners of my mouth. This was the first time in years that I didn’t have my phone on Do Not Disturb. Usually, I was working so much, phone calls and texts were a disturbance. For the past three days, without work being a priority, my phone was able to ring freely. The sad part about that was not too many called or texted me anymore.
When I first left Jasper Lane ten years ago, I intentionally wasn’t keeping in touch with anyone. I got a job in Rose Valley Hills and buried myself in work. Love, or at least what I thought was love, healed me enough to not be filled with anger and hurt at the thought of the past and family I’d left behind. I started talking to friends and family again, but I felt like the damage had been done, so I buried myself in work even more. Now that I was accepting the fact that my relationship was over and that I no longer wanted work to consume me, I was forced to take account of what else I had in my life.
What else did I have in life?
A horrible social life, distant parents, no kids or other responsibilities.
Blah.
Things had to change.
At the sight of my mother’s name and a picture of her and my father that they’d taken on one of their many trips, I smiled. They were on a cruise with horrible service, and since she was finally able to call, I figured they were docked somewhere in Mexico.
While I wouldn’t say we had a close relationship, we had one that was full of understanding and respect. I was so angry with them right after Zina died. Angry because they kept the truth from me. Angry because we weren’t close anymore. Angry because they were enjoying each other, their love, and their lives . . . traveling and making the most of the time they had . . . while I was stuck drowning in my sister’s grief. At that point, traveling and enjoying life felt cruel. It felt like the thing that kept me from my sister when she needed me most.
Now, I respected and understood their desire to enjoy their lives. They’d worked hard, saved their money, and chose to enjoy each other and their lives when their children were able to take care of themselves. I admired how they traveled the world now.Though that meant we only saw each other for holidays, it gave me something to look forward to in my future. One day, I wanted to get to a point where I wasn’t so consumed with work and grief that I allowed myself to love, travel, and create memories again.
Breaking up with Raymond and taking this much-needed break from work seemed like the start of that.
“Hey, Ma,” was my greeting.
“Zoe!” she yelled, and I had to keep the sputtered laugh inside that wanted to come out at the sound of her slurred speech. “What Boosie say? Me and S-Scoob tow up!”
No longer able to hold my laugh in, it released as I sat on the edge of my bed. “Oh God. Y’all drunk already? The day just started, Ma.”
“Chile, we in Mexico. I had tequila for breakfast.”
My head shook as I laughed. “Well I’m glad y’all are enjoying yourselves.”
“Baby girl, I’ma send you these videos we took,” Daddy said in the background.
“Can’t wait to see.”
“You’ll have to come with us one time, Zoe. We have one more cruise planned for this year in the fall. That’ll give you enough time to take off from work, won’t it?” Mama asked.
I wasn’t ready to tell her about me being off yet, so I squeezed the back of my neck and nodded. If she knew what happened, she’d worry and want to see for herself that I was okay. That was one thing I could say about them. They may not have been close physically, but when I was sick, they always came to me from wherever they were.
“Um, yeah. I guess just keep me posted. If I don’t have any crazy deadlines, maybe I’ll be able to come.”
“That’s better than a no,” she said before her voice took a more serious turn. “While I wish I was just calling to check onyou, there’s something important that I wanted to talk to you about.”
“What’s up?”
“I know you hate to hear about it, but the coffee shop isn’t doing too well.” My eyes rolled as I looked down at my acrylic nails. “It’s no fault of Haji’s. He’s doing everything he can to keep up your sister’s legacy, but they are being overshadowed by Starbucks. It should be a crime for large corporations to move into small towns.” She sighed. “Anyway, even though he’s been running the place, it’s in your name. Your daddy and I don’t want it to go under, so we think maybe you should go to Jasper Lane and consider selling it. Your sister put her heart and soul into Grounds 4 Love, and it shouldn’t die with her. We think it’ll be better if you let it go while it still has some kind of profit coming in.”
I hated hearing that my sister’s coffee shop wasn’t doing well. When I left after her funeral, I never stepped foot in Jasper Lane again. The small town held big, bad memories for me. I didn’t know or care in that moment what they were going to do with Grounds, but it made me happy to hear Haji had agreed to manage the place.
“Well, I have a little time off from work. I could go and check it out. If it isn’t bringing in any money, I’ll sell. I would hate to, but I don’t have the capacity to take something like that on. Or the desire, honestly.”
“I told you she’d say that,” Mama said with a muffled voice, as if she’d covered the phone to talk to Daddy. Even with her attempt to make sure I couldn’t hear them, I did. She would have been better off putting the phone on mute, but I shouldn’t have expected much at this point.
“That just don’t make no sense. The girl is a marketing genius. If anyone could bring Grounds back to life, it’s her.”
I chuckled at their attempt to use reverse psychology on me. They were definitely tipsy as hell to think it would work. When Mama returned to the call, I didn’t let her know that I’d heard their conversation. I allowed her to think I thought they were okay with me potentially selling the business even though it was clear they really wanted me to keep it. Hard knocking on my front door caused me to end our call after telling them to stay safe and check in once they made it to their next destination.
There was only one person who could be knocking on my door with such urgency—Raymond. A small smile was on my face as I took my time going down the stairs to open the door. I knew him so well, and it tickled me that he’d come over here upset, banging on my door, after just now realizing that his ass was blocked.
