Chapter Twenty-Eight
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Smoothing down her black pencil skirt, Dizzy checked her white blouse for coffee stains after she placed her cup in the dishwasher. She was going to the Anderson building and she was sure to see Easton today, so she wanted to look as put together as possible. She didn’t want him to think she’d tossed and turned all night, barely sleeping because they’d fought.
That’s why she’d used a ton of makeup. To cover the dark circles. She might know how terrible her night was but he didn’t have to.
“You’re all dressed up,” Tami remarked, joining her in the kitchen. Dizzy’s mother was dressed in casual sweatpants and a Grateful Dead t-shirt, her hair pulled up on top of her head. She looked much younger than her chronological age, but then she’d always acted and looked young. “Where are you going?”
Irritation rose up but Dizzy slapped it down quickly. Her mother didn’t mean anything by the question. She wasn’t the type to ever check up on her daughter, even though it kind of came out that way. Tami wasn’t the mothering type, worried about her child. Dizzy could have stayed out all night when she was fifteen and her parents would have simply put it down to expressing herself.
This also wasn’t the moment to start a conversation about judging people and Easton in particular. She didn’t have time to hash it out with them. That was another thing that had kept Dizzy from sleeping. She needed to deal with Tami and Louis. If they were going to stay here for any length of time, they needed to be cordial to her friends.
“I’m heading over to Anderson Industries with Zach.” Dizzy nodded toward the stairs. “He’s getting ready now. We’re all gathering there to wait for a call from the police after they question Trip.”
Leann had already left earlier for a meeting so Zach had stayed with Dizzy, not wanting her to be left alone now that Trip had been contacted by the police. They’d called him last night and invited him in today for what they were calling a discussion. Zach was afraid that it might set off Trip so now Dizzy had to have a babysitter all the time instead of just at night.
Tami walked over to the back windows and lifted the curtain to look out. “Does he think Trip is dangerous?”
More irritation. This was becoming a habit. But the longer her mom and dad stayed away the more used to living without them Dizzy became. “Of course he thinks Trip is dangerous. He killed a woman, Tami. He’s a murderer and I’m the lone witness. Isn’t that why you came home?”
Her reply had come out harsher than she’d planned but her nerves were on a razor’s edge lately.
Tami turned and frowned, her gaze running up and down her daughter. “Yes, that’s why we came back but clearly you need to relax. When you return, we’ll light some candles and meditate. It will clear your mind and spirit. You could try a juice fast as well. Flush the toxins out of your system along with all of that negative energy you’re holding onto.”
“Primal scream therapy.” Dizzy’s father Louis joined them, placing his plate in the sink. “I haven’t done it in years but this just might be the time to try it. Get everything out of you. You’ll feel like a new person.”
Dizzy certainly wanted to scream at the top of her lungs, and her parents were inviting her to do so.
“Good idea, Louis,” Tami exclaimed. “We should all do it. I’m still stressed from our hideously awful travel from overseas. Let’s do it now.”
Not with Zach upstairs taking a shower. He’d think a mass murder was taking place in her home. “Not now. Can you wait until I get back? We can do it then. And that meditation sounds pretty good too. I think it would help to quiet my mind.”
Louis frowned at the coffee pot. “Caffeine isn’t good for you, Dizzy. I hope you don’t drink this often.”
Only every day. It helped maintain her sunny personality.
Luckily, she didn’t have to answer out loud because Zach stomped downstairs, talking into his phone. He hung up when he saw her, tucking it into his jacket pocket.
“Are you ready to go? That was Jason and they’re gathering in Easton’s office to wait. Our spies are saying that Trip just arrived at the police station.”
Her heart accelerated and she took a slow breath. This was it. She’d been hoping and praying for the cops to talk to Trip and it was finally happening.
After bidding goodbye to her parents, who were still fussing over the coffee pot and debating the evils of caffeine, she followed Zach out to his car. Taking a backward glance at her home, she could see Tami and Louis standing at the front door waving. It was then that it hit her and she began to laugh. She hadn’t even realized it until now.
“Care to share what’s so funny? I could use a laugh.”
“Me. I’m funny. You know, Zach, I’ve always thought of myself as so strange and different than everyone else. They call me eccentric and weird, and I’ve taken pride in that label. But this morning I realized that I’m really not anymore. Sure, I’m not what you’d call normal either but I’m not nearly as kooky and peculiar as I thought I was. Heck, I’m practically boring.”
Over the years Dizzy had changed, become the person she wanted to be instead of who her parents were. All that time while she was growing up they’d cloaked their efforts by acting like they were teaching her to think for herself and not follow the crowd. But in reality, they’d wanted her to be like them.
And they had succeeded in teaching her to be an individual and think for herself, but that lesson had consequences. She wasn’t going to be what they thought was right either. She’d decided to be something different. Not quite what others would call normal but not quite outlandish either. She was somewhere comfortably in the middle – happy with who she’d grown into.
Could Easton meet her somewhere in this land in between? Did he even want to?