Aunt Addy cocked her head to the side. “Like I said, not much.”
I put my hands on my hips. “I completed my date and my tour of a new city.”
“Dates.”She emphasized the word. “You were supposed to go ondates. And Spring Hill barely counts as a new city!”
I lifted my finger in the air. “But it counts!”
Monica leaned forward. “Oh! While you were out, a package came for you.” She tapped the box on the table. After I picked it up, she continued. “You know, if you’re looking for someone to go on a date with, there’s a man who started at the agency four months ago who is around your age and single. He’s a travel nurse, so he’s only here for two more months.”
“No thank you,” I told her, taking a seat on the other side of the couch with my box in my lap.
“No thank you to dating or no thank you to Pierre? Because he’s really quite handsome,” Monica declared.
“No thank you,” I replied, feeling my aunt’s eyes on me. “I’m just not interested.”
“You know why she’s not interested?” Aunt Addy chimed in.
“Oh yeeeeah!” Monica feigned surprise, reacting dramatically. “Lamar!”
I rolled my eyes at the two of them. “I’m changing the subject.”
“When was the last time you talked to him?” my aunt asked. “You like him. He likes you. His parents like you. I’ve never met him, and I like him. What am I missing?”
My eyes bounced around the room, going from picture to picture to avoid looking at them. “Our schedules just didn’t align. He’s busy. I’m busy. But it’s okay. We’re friends.” I jumped to my feet. “I’m hungry. Are y’all hungry?”
I heard the two of them giggling as I rushed to the kitchen with my package. Away from their prying eyes, I smiled at the name above the return address.
Anderson.
Opening it carefully, a gift box with the words “Thank You” emblazoned on the top was inside. I removed the lid and found a card placed delicately on a bed of tissue paper.
A place for all the stuff you don’t say.
I gasped when I saw the brown vintage journal with a rope closure. The beautiful journal that I’d coveted in Spring Hill weeks ago, the one I would’ve never purchased for myself because of the price. Lamar had it sent to me as a thank-you. Clutching it against my breasts, I let my head fall back.
Ohmigod!
“Jazmyn!” Aunt Addy called out.
“I’m coming,” I yelled, putting the journal back in the box and taking it to my room.
Hours later, Monica had gotten Aunt Addy ready for bed and left for the night. I was sitting in the chair in the corner of her room, laughing at something she’d said.
“Okay, on that note, I’m going to bed,” I told her as I rose to my feet.
“Before you go to bed, I want to talk to you about something,” Aunt Addy said, her jovial expression changing slightly.
“What’s going on?”
“We had so much going on in July that I didn’t notice. But now I realized I haven’t heard you talk on the phone—not to Lamar, not to your friends, nothing. Why aren’t you talking to anyone?”
I hesitated, looking down at my hands before taking a deep breath and answering, “I just felt like it was important to be here for you. Yeah, maybe I put everything else on the back burner, but I wanted to spend every minute I could with you before…”
She reached out for my hand. When I took it, she said, “I appreciate that so much. I really do. But you have a life.”
My eyes started watering. “You’ve always been my inspiration, my role model, and the person to make sure I’m good. I can’t imagine my life without you.”
She paused. “I know you love me, and I love you more than you could possibly know. But your world will not end when I’m gone. You don’t have just me. You have so many other relationships. That’s why I don’t want you to avoid your friends, Lamar, or any of the others in your life.”
