"That's not up for debate," I said. "But she's not wrong. You go above and beyond."
"Because you're my daughters," Mom said.
"And we feel like we owe you," I countered.
"Hmm," she said. And the expression told me that she wasn't done with this conversation.
Great.
She was tabling it for a while.
I sipped more of my wine.
Bless Summer for changing the subject. “For once, I think I need you,” she said.
“Why?”
“We were arguing about flower petals. I need some realism here, please.”
“And I will take your friend his beer,” Mother said and walked back to the living room, carrying her own glass of wine and a beer for Shaun.
“Trial by fire,” I muttered.
“No, the trial starts now,” Autumn said.
I spun around. “You weren’t supposed to hear that.”
She guided me to the little kitchenette table. “Sit. Spill.” She sat down as well, elbows on the table, chin on her fists, and stared at me like I was about to tell her the greatest story in the world.
Boy was she going to be disappointed. I shook my head. “There’s nothing to spill.”
Summer tilted her head and glared at me. “You brought indonuts, Winter. You never do that. Ever. You evenateone.”
“And then this guy comes in and your normally chisel-square shoulders curl in like a teenager who just saw her crush. I almost thought you’d start giggling,” Autumn added.
“So spill!” They both said.
I sighed. “There’s really not much to it. We have had a couple dates,” I said, staring at the table and tracing the lines with my fingernail.
“You got laid,” Autumn said.
I glared at my baby sister. “Listen, you don’t have to be so crass about it.”
"That wasn't a denial," Summer said, and she looked back toward the living room.
Laughter pooled from Shaun and the others, and it sounded like he was having a grand old time with my mother.
Fuck.
I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what they were saying.
My sisters were bad enough.
"Listen, I’m grown, and my private life is private," I said.
"Spare us," Autumn said. "You got laid."
I groaned and drank more wine.
