Chapter Fifty-Two
Josephine
I lugged my backpack through my parents’ house, confused about how I was somehow leaving Texas with fifty extra pounds of luggage. I’d taken a trip to Sally’s Thrift Shop the day before and had left with a pair of kickass cowboy boots for $5, but they weren’t that heavy. It was probably the five boxes of homemade cookies my mom had insisted I take back to New York with me. Twist my arm, why don’t you?
“Josie? Are you headed out?” my mom asked, popping her head out of the kitchen.
I glanced up from my bag to see her scanning over me, worry clouding her gaze. We’d had a long chat about my choice to get plastered the other night. I’d assured her that I wasn’t a crazy alcoholic, and she’d forced me to promise that I would be honest with her if I ever did have a problem. I’d all but promised to provide her with weekly blood screenings just to ensure her that I was okay. Even still, I knew she wasn’t wholeheartedly convinced that I should be going back to New York.
“Julian is going to swing by and pick me up after he gets Lily.”
She nodded and gripped a tea towel between her hands, staring hard at my torso.
I leaned my bag against the wall and stepped forward to give her a hug. I’d already said my goodbyes to my dad the night before. He couldn’t stand to see me driving away. It was easier for him to pretend I was just going off to a sleepover or something like I was still in high school. Big softie.
My mom gripped the back of my shirt and I pressed my face into the crook of her neck. I leaned my cheek on her shoulder and inhaled her scent.
“Take care of yourself, okay?” she said.
I nodded and stepped back, trying to keep my feelings at bay.
“It’ll be better now that Lily is coming with me. We’ll have a little family in New York.”
She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. I knew she was putting on a brave face.
“I’ll try to visit more often too. Maybe I can come back down for Christmas?”
She sniffed and glanced away. “That’d be great.”
I heard a car pull up onto the gravel drive outside and I glanced through the front door to see Julian’s rental car. I reached down for my bag and gave my mom another quick hug.
“I’ll call you when we get to New York,” I promised, starting to head for the door.
“Jos—”
I turned back over my shoulder.
She wrung the tea towel through her hands and swallowed hard.
“I want you to know that your dad and I are really proud of you. Not many people around here are willing to go after their dreams the way you have.” She met my gaze and smiled. “I think at first we took it a little personal—the fact that you wanted to leave this town so badly. It was all you used to talk about, but now I finally understand that this place has never been big enough for you.”
My fingers loosened their hold on my bag and it clanked to the floor.
“Just promise me that you’ll keep your head on straight. We raised you as a Texas girl.” She pointed at her chest. “Make sure you always keep that in your heart.”
I bit down on my lower lip, confused by the tears clouding the corners of my eyes. I clenched my teeth and blinked, considering how profoundly her words had hit me. In the back of my mind, I’d been holding out for her acceptance and blessing for the last few years. I’d known I was taking the path less traveled, but I’d still held out for the day when my mom would finally understand.
“I just want you to be happy,” she said as I stepped forward and wrapped her up in another hug.
“I know that. I promise I won’t let you down,” I whispered against her chest as tears slid down my cheeks.
The doorbell rang three times in quick succession and then I heard Lily’s voice on the other side of the door.
“Let’s go, Jos! The plane leaves in four hours and it’s going to take us at least two hours just to get to the airport.”
Her shouting was punctuated by more pounding and when I turned around I saw her face squashed up against the glass, trying to see inside. Such a scoundrel.
My mom laughed and held me back at arm’s length.
“You’d better get going,” she said.
I nodded and tried to compose myself as best as possible. I hadn’t been expecting that speech from my mom. I’d prepared myself to leave without my parents’ blessing once again, but it felt so much better walking through the front door knowing that I was making them proud.
I walked to the edge of the porch and squinted to block the sun shining overhead. The jasmine around the perimeter fence of my parents’ house was swaying in the breeze, filling the air with a sweet aroma. Lily ran to the car, opened up the passenger door for me, and then popped the trunk. Julian stepped out of the car and held his hand up to his brow to shield his face from the sun. When our eyes locked, he grinned and shook his head. The message was clear: Your best friend is a maniac.
Lily ran toward the porch, cursed me for being so slow, and grabbed the bag out of my hand so she could take it to the car.
“Don’t you realize how close I am to finally moving to New York City?!” she asked. “Hurry your ass up!”
I laughed as she tossed my luggage into the trunk.
Julian rounded the back of the car and dipped down to give me a quick kiss. The scent of his body wash momentarily masked the jasmine as he wrapped his arm around my back. I wrapped my arm around his neck and held myself against him for a moment, immersed in the feel of him.
“I can’t believe I let you buy us plane tickets,” I whispered before stepping back.
“Consider it a going away present from Lorena Lefray Designs. Besides, I bought them with points. It’s not a big deal.”
Our original plan had been to ride the Greyhound back to New York, but Julian had quickly put the kibosh on that idea. (Telling him about Gladys might have had something to do with that.)
A loud honk pulled me out of my moment with Julian. When I turned toward the car, Lily was leaning across the front seat with her hand poised over the center of the steering wheel.
“Let’s go you love birds. I’m about to leave you both behind!”
She slammed her hand down on the horn again, this time for a solid ten seconds.
“Stop it! We’re coming,” I shouted.
Before she could honk again, I rounded the front of the car and pushed her into the backseat, far away from the horn. She had the audacity to give me a cheeky smile.
Julian slipped into the driver’s seat and pulled back out of the gravel drive. I saw my mom standing in the kitchen window, watching us back up. I waved as we hit the end of the drive and she waved back, offering a final goodbye.
“Do you have to buy a pass for the subway or do you carry quarters around all the time?” she asked, leaning forward.
“You get a reloadable card. Definitely don’t carry quarters around with you,” I said, visualizing a weighed down Lily pulling mountains of quarters out of her pockets every time we took the subway together.
“Oh okay. That makes sense.”
“What are you planning on doing for work?” Julian asked, peering back at her in the rearview mirror.
She picked at her thumbnail as she stared out the window with narrowed eyes.
“Eventually I want my blog to be able to support me, but I know that I’ll have to get a full-time job for the time being.”
Julian glanced toward me. “Blog?”
I smiled. “Yes, Lily has a blog too, but it’s all about food.”
She beamed in the back seat. “It’s an ‘everyman’ food review blog. I post lists like ‘Where to Get the Best Burger in Texas’ and stuff like that, but I want to switch gears when I get to New York and really start to review more restaurants.”
“Have you told her about Dean?” Julian asked.
Lily leaned forward. “Who’s Dean?”
“One of my friends from college. He’s a restaurateur in New York and I’m sure he’d have room for you at one of his restaurants if you don’t mind serving.”
Lily pinched the back of my arm. “How could you have kept this information from me.”
“Ow!” I yanked my arm away and flashed her a death stare. “To be honest, I did it on purpose. You and Dean are going to be like oil and water. I already know it’d be a disaster if you worked for him.”
Julian laughed. “Can’t say I don’t agree. Dean’s pretty headstrong.”
“Yeah? So what? I am too.”
Julian and I exchanged a knowing glance. We both knew the facts: Dean and Lily were both annoyingly good-looking and annoyingly stubborn. The chances of them getting along were slim at best. The chances of them tearing each other’s clothes off at first sight were much more likely.
“Honestly, it sounds like fate that you have a friend in the restaurant industry. Promise me you’ll put in a good word for me?” Lily asked.
Julian nodded. “I’ll see what I can do, but you should know that Dean’s a smug bastard.”
I peered back at Lily out of the corner of my eye.
She wasn’t the least bit deterred by Julian’s warnings. On the contrary. She was leaning against the back seat with her arms crossed and a confident smile across her lips. She looked like she was plotting something diabolical and I didn’t want any part of it.
“I’m sure I’ll be able to handle him,” she said. “Besides, most guys are all bark and no bite.”