Charlie
“So you’re all packed?” Mom passed me a cup of peach iced tea and took a seat beside me.
We were in her cluttered little kitchen, at the round wooden table that had been sitting in the corner ever since they’d moved in five years ago.
Five years. That was a record for them.
Mom and Dad had saved for years to be able to afford their own place. We’d jumped from one rental property to another, until finally in my senior year of high school, they’d found this place and had enough deposit to secure it. They’d be paying off the mortgage for at least another twenty years, but they owned a tiny slice of LA, and they couldn’t be more house-proud if they tried.
Dad was out in the garden, singing off-key while he weeded and pruned. It’d taken Mom all of five minutes to roll her eyes and turn the radio on.
“Comeback Kid” by Against the Current was keeping us company as I answered Mom’s question.
“I’ve got everything organized. The apartment needs cleaning, but I’ll meet Fliss there this afternoon to do that. And then we hand over the keys.”
“I bet she’s excited.” Mom wiggled her eyebrows.
I laughed and shook my head. “She’ll go crazy living in that Chaos zoo with everyone, but she’s in love.” I shrugged. “And you do crazy stuff when you’re in love.”
Mom gave me a meaningful smile and patted my hand. “Well, I’m glad you’re here for a few nights before leaving. It’s nice to spend some time with my girl.”
Emotion rose up and choked me. All I could do was blink and fight the tears.
My ever perceptive mother gave me a wink and changed the subject.
“So, you all set for the wedding on Saturday?”
“Uh-huh.” I swallowed and rubbed my eyes. “My last one. It feels weird. I’ve been doing so many lately.”
“You’ve been working yourself to the bone. I’m glad it’s coming to an end. It’s high time you started doing what you’ve been wanting to all along.”
“Yeah, well, I probably should have done it a couple of years ago.” I sipped my tea. The icy sweetness was delicious, the perfect partner on a hot day.
“You had to save your pennies first.” Mom’s salt-and-pepper curls shook as she nodded.
I tipped my head back and looked to the ceiling. “Aw, come on, we both know it was fear that held me back.”
“And hope.” Mom’s hand was back on top of mine, giving it a little rub and forcing more tears to pop onto my lashes.
My jaw trembled. “Fruitless hope. Just because I never moved on or slept with anybody else didn’t mean he wouldn’t. I can’t believe I expected it to be the same for him. I hurt him. I don’t deserve him, Mom.”
She disagreed with me on that point, but we’d argued enough and she knew better than to try again. Although my parents didn’t really want me with someone whose family would cause me stress, they did want me to be happy. When I told Mom about my road trip and confessed all my long-buried hope, she’d held me while I cried and maybe changed her tune on the whole me and Nixon thing.
Maybe if she’d realized just how much I’d loved him back in high school she wouldn’t have encouraged me to move to Montana.
But I couldn’t change the past…and neither could she.
Running her finger around the lip of her glass, she spoke softly, like I was five years old and she was coaxing me to my first day of school. “Sometimes we make mistakes and we can’t fix them. No one’s ever said life would be fair. But when something is meant to be, it does have an amazing way of working out. Look at Troy and Cassie. They got engaged years ago and one thing after another has held up the wedding.”
I let out a soft snort. It was true. First there was Felix’s skateboard accident. Two broken wrists, surgery, and months of recovery. The wedding was postponed until he was able to play guitar again. He was set on performing at their wedding, and they were happy to wait.
But then attempt number two was thwarted by that massive storm that flooded the wedding venue two days before the big event. Cassie figured it must be a sign and canceled everything. Troy wouldn’t let her back out completely and tried to convince her to get married in a courthouse. Apparently Felix went nuts, saying his aunt deserved the most beautiful wedding in the world. And so they were attempting a third time. They’d pulled out all the stops for this one. Everybody was praying and crossing their fingers that this would be it.
“Saturday is going to be a perfect day, because they’ve overcome the odds and stuck it out. They’re meant to be together.”
I gave my mom a watery smile. “So, who I am meant to be with, then?”
“I wish I could tell you.” Mom’s eyes gleamed along with mine. Blinking, she sniffed and sat up, resting her elbows on the table and leaning toward me with a confident smile. “I don’t know if it’s Nixon or not, but one thing I do know is that you have wanted to travel the world since you were a tiny tot. You were always dreaming about seeing every color and every country. That’s what you’re meant to be doing. And on Sunday, you will. You’ll fly, and you’ll find yourself all over again. This is going to be the making of you.”
“I just wish I wasn’t going alone.” I finally admitted the truth.
“But you’re strong enough to go alone. You can handle it, Charlotte.”
My nose wrinkled at the use of my full name.
Mom laughed and shook her head. “I would have put Charlie on the birth certificate if your father would have let me. From the second I laid eyes on you, I knew you were going to be different from all the other girls out there. You’re like a rainbow, and you’ve made our lives brilliant. You’re going to light up the lives of everyone you come in contact with. Make that your goal, sweet girl. You go light up the world.”