I ignore her comment. “Please say Mom and Dad aren’t bringing more family.”
“They mentioned something about Harlow wanting to come. She hasn’t seen you play here yet.”
“She isn’t missing much.”
“Grady, you can’t win every game.”
I walk past her into the kitchen, which opens to the large living room that has a gas fireplace and huge windows facing the beach. I fill the kettle and turn it on, grabbing two mugs and a chamomile tea for me and a package of hot chocolate for her. “Back to the doctor stuff. You found out months ago, and you still haven’t told anyone?”
“Harlow knows and now you.” She walks over to the windows and looks out, folding her arms and rubbing them. “I want it. I just… I discussed it with Grandma and Grandpa in the summer, when I applied. I was kind of trying to set the stage to segue into the conversation about me going away for school. As soon as I broached the idea of becoming a doctor, before I even mentioned that I had applied to schools, Grandma says…” She pauses, and I know she’s going to do a voice, mimicking our grandma. “Shel, baby, you have a job. It’s fine, and you’re good at it. You should concentrate on finding a doctor to marry, not becoming one.”
I don’t have to ask which grandmother she’s talking about. I know it’s my mom’s mom, Gram Nance. Grandma Donna would have given Shelby the stamps to mail the applications. “And I’m guessing Gramps was equally unsupportive.”
She snorts. “He told me to be realistic.”
“Were they jerks like this to Mom, too?” I question for what isn’t the first time.
“I bet they were, but you know, Mom, she has an incredible ability to block out negativity. Probably because she was raised by them,” Shelby says as the kettle boils and I start to fill the cups.
“Tell Mom and Dad tonight, Shel. And accept the offer,” I tell her. I pick up the mugs and carry them out of the kitchen. “Let’s be honest, the only person the grandparents are proud of is Isaac.”
“Ah, yes, Pastor Isaac.” I roll my eyes as she flashes me a grateful smile for the hot chocolate she takes from my hand. “The ironic part is he fucked off to Georgia and hardly ever calls them. Meanwhile, you’re the one who takes them to and from medical appointments all the time, and weeds their garden in the summer and picks up their prescriptions.”
“Mom will have to do all that now.”
“She can handle it,” I assure her. “Or I can call Isaac and tell him he has to come back to Maine. I’m sure there’s a church that needs his style of bullshit.”
“Grandma would gasp if she heard you referring to God as bullshit,” Shelby warns, but she’s smiling. She isn’t a church-goer either. Thankfully, Mom never forced us to go, and the Garrison side of our family is what I would call spiritual but not religious. But my mom’s parents and that entire side are really into religion. My only cousin, Isaac, who is my mom’s only sibling’s kid, became a pastor.
“Not God,” I correct my sister. “Religion.”
“They don’t see the difference.”
I smirk. “They also think that you’re sinning because you haven’t fulfilled your womanly duties of procreating and that Mom let God down when she married a dude who owned a… what did Grams call it?”
“A den of sin,” Shelby says, referring to my dad’s business, which is the most popular bar in Silver Bay.
We both smile at each other over our mugs. She pulls her phone out of the back pocket of her jeans and seems to get lost in it for a second as she scrolls, looking for something in her email, but she says to me, “By the way, Kerry and Lauren are going to the game too, and they want to see you afterward.”
I groan. Kerry and Lauren are Shelby’s friends from high school. They’ve been hitting on me since tenth grade. Honestly, if I were straight, I might have dated Kerry. She’s cool, but Lauren’s a Mean Girl. I don’t know why Shelby still talks to her. Shelby lifts her eyes and pins me with a stone-cold stare. “Fine. Whatever. I’ll put their names on the list at will call, and you can bring them to the VIP room after the game. Maybe they’ll find someone else to sexually harass.”
She snorts and then turns her phone screen toward me. The acceptance letter for med school is on her screen. “Shelby, seriously, you’re a fucking rock star. I’m proud of you.”
“Thanks. I’m gonna accept right now.” She scrolls some more and taps the screen a few times, and then she lets out a little squeal. “Done!”
“Congrats, Doc Garrison.” I clink my mug to hers and we both take sips. “Is that why you’re all dressed up? To tell me your news? Or is it because of the Mean Girls you’re meeting at the game?”
“Shut up. They aren’t mean. They’re fine.” She scoffs. “Anyway, I’ve never cared what they think of how I dress. But your reaction is exactly what I was hoping for. So… Conner mentioned Landon Casco is single now?”
Oh no. No. No. Abso-fucking-lutely not.
“I wouldn’t call him single.”
I wouldn’t? Why did I say that?
“Conner said that the girlfriend moved back to California?”
“Yeah.”
