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Abby draws in a deep breath and stares at the floor for a moment before she responds. “How long is a while?”
My heart stutters a bit then pounds wildly. “As long as you want,” I reply quickly. “Stay a few hours. Stay the night. Stay—”
“Stay for the summer,” Claire interjects and Abby looks up from the floor, her beautiful brown eyes wide with shock.
“The summer?”
I almost want to be angry with Claire for suggesting something so crazy, but the look on Abby’s face is telling me that this might not be as crazy an idea as I thought.
“Yes, the summer,” Claire continues. “We’re headed to our beach house in Wrightsville soon and we’d love for you to spend some time with us there… before you go to college. I mean, if that’s what you’re planning to do. I’m not trying to be presumptuous.”
The corner of Abby’s mouth curls up again and she shrugs. “Yeah, I guess you can say I’m going to college.”
I tilt my head, trying to figure out what she means by this, but I don’t want to pry. “Abby—you don’t mind if I call you Abby, do you?”
She shakes her head. “That’s what everybody calls me.”
I already know this, from our dealings with the Jensens, but I don’t mention it to Abby. “Well, Abby, if you don’t mind, I’d like to call your parents and see how they feel about you being here before we decide to make plans for the summer.”
Claire’s head whips around and she glares at me. “She’s eighteen years old. I think she’s capable of making decisions on her own.”
I bite back a retort about how she’s still Brian and Lynette’s child, and I turn to Abby. “Do your parents know you’re here?”
She looks down at the floor again as she replies. “No, they don’t know where I am. I had an argument with them this morning, which sort of led me here.”
I want to ask what they argued about, but it’s none of my business. I just hope it wasn’t an argument about coming here to meet us.
“So, is it okay if we call your parents to tell them you’re here?”
Claire’s face is turned away from me, toward the front door. She’s probably cursing me in her head for potentially ruining this visit. But if we want to have any hope of spending time with Abby this summer, her parents have to be brought into the loop. They have cared for her, and her heart, for the past eighteen years. It only makes sense that their approval or disapproval will greatly influence her decision to stay. If she knows we’re willing to cooperate with her parents’ wishes, she’ll know we’re willing to do anything to keep her here.
Abby looks up at Caleb and he cocks an eyebrow at her. “Don’t ask me. You know I always tell you to be honest with your parents.”
Her shoulders slump a bit at Caleb’s implication, then she turns to me. “Okay, but…” She bites her lip as she digs for the courage to finish this sentence. “Can you talk to my parents for me? They… my dad said something very hurtful to me this morning and I don’t know if I can talk to him right now. Especially after everything I’ve learned here today.”
I clench my jaw tightly shut to keep from asking what Brian said to her. It’s best that I don’t know. The possibility of an extended stay hangs on my ability to reason with the Jensens. I don’t know if I can let Abby stay here knowing she’s going against her parents’ wishes.
Abby slides her phone out of her pocket and dials the Jensens’ phone number. She looks a bit apprehensive as she holds the phone out to me, but I take it without hesitation. I cast a warm smile in her direction as I bring the phone to my ear.
“Abby!” Lynette shrieks into the phone.
“Lynette, this is Chris Knight. Abby is here with us.”
“What the hell is going on? Tell her she needs to come home immediately! I cannot believe this! Get Abby on the phone!”
Abby’s brow is furrowed as if she were in pain, her gaze pointed at the floor. I could not be more angry with Lynette and Brian Jensen, but I have to remain calm.
“Lynette, Abby is right here, but she’s still a little upset over this morning’s argument.”
“That’s none of your business!” Her words are so shrill, my ear starts ringing. “How dare you call me? How dare you talk about her? She’s my daughter. Not yours!”
I grit my teeth as a surge of emotion overcomes me. I know Abby is not mine to claim. I know it’s not my responsibility to protect her from sorrow. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t feel like she’s mine.
“Please listen to me, Lynette. It’s not my intention to step on yours or Brian’s toes. Abby is… yours. But I think she’s old enough to decide if she wants to know us.”
Lynette’s sniffling makes my stomach writhe. There’s some shuffling on the phone, then silence, then…
“Hello?” Brian’s voice is deep and lumbering, just the way he looks.
“Brian, this is Chris Knight.”
“I know who this is. Where’s Abby? Put her on the phone.”
I put my hand over the cell-phone speaker and hold it out to Abby. “Your dad wants to speak to you.”
Abby shakes her head adamantly. “I don’t want to speak to him right now.”
I bring the phone to my ear again. “I’m sorry, Brian, but Abby’s a little upset right now. We told her she could stay here for a few hours or longer if she needs some time to let things mellow out.”
“A few hours or longer? What does that mean? Are you trying to convince her to stay with you? Is that what’s going on here?”
“No, that’s not at all what’s happening. She’s the one who came here. We’re just offering her a place to cool down.”
“To cool down? Did she tell you why she left in a huff this morning? Because Lynette and I refused to let her move in with her boyfriend this summer. Do you still think we’re the big, bad, villainous parents now?”
I squint my eyes as I look back and forth between Abby and Caleb. I have no idea how long they’ve been together. I don’t know what kind of guy Caleb is or how he treats her. But I can understand Brian’s trepidation. I understand his desire to not let go. I wouldn’t want Jimi moving in with her boyfriend after she turns eighteen in a year and a few months. But I highly doubt I could stop Jimi if that was what she wanted to do. And something tells me Abby is just as headstrong as her sister.
“Look, Brian. I don’t pretend to know the intricacies of your relationship with Abby or her relationship with Caleb. All I know is that she’s upset right now. And she came here to meet us. I think, after all she’s been through, that she deserves the chance to decide whether she wants to go home right away.”
Brian lets out a puff of laughter. “I knew when she went running, you’d welcome her in.”
“Is that a bad thing?”
“I’m not going to waste my time arguing with you about what’s good or bad for my daughter.”
“You’re right. I apologize for that comment. But you have to know how important it is for Abby to know that you trust her. You’ve done… you’ve obviously done an excellent job raising her. Why not give her the benefit of the doubt that you’ve raised her well enough to make her own decisions?”
I look up at Abby and she smiles. I don’t know if it’s because she thinks I made a good point or because she’s thankful that I agreed to speak on her behalf. And, truthfully, I don’t care. Because that’s the moment I realize I’ll do anything to keep that smile on her face.
There’s nothing but silence on the other end of the line for a moment before Brian finally replies. “If she’s too upset to talk right now, tell her to call me when she’s not upset. Is Caleb with her?”
“Yeah, he’s right here.”
“Tell him to make sure she takes her medication. And tell him… to bring her home as soon as she’s ready.”
My chest puffs up as it floods with warmth. “I’ll tell him. Thank you, Brian.”
He hangs up without saying good-bye. As amazingly happy and hopeful as I feel right now, I can only imag
ine that Brian must be feeling the opposite of those emotions. I wish I could feel more sympathy for him, but I’m actually more grateful. I’m grateful that he raised Abby to be the kind of person who would seek us out.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
I LEAN AGAINST the counter in the kitchen, the sunlight pouring through the windows, illuminating this moment, burning it into my memory. Abby and Caleb sit at the breakfast bar, watching Chris cook. Ryder is grabbing a heavy cast-iron skillet out of a drawer. Junior is somewhere upstairs, probably on the phone with his girlfriend, Livvy.
“Do you need some help with that skillet?” Chris says as Ryder attempts to lift it onto the cooktop on the island.
“Nope,” Ryder grunts. He heaves the pan onto the burner, then Chris high-fives him.
“Nice job, sous chef.”
“What’s next?” Ryder asks.
Chris launches into his best Julia Child impression and my heart swells when I hear Ryder and Abby laughing together. They even sound alike.
As Chris continues entertaining our guests by pretending to host a cooking show, I slip out of the kitchen and head to the study to call Jimi. Her best friend, Sydney, and Sydney’s brother Eric picked her up today to go to a creativity conference where they hope to network with some filmmakers. Eric is studying filmmaking at the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU. He’s home for the summer, so Jimi, who plans to pursue an acting career, sees this conference as an opportunity to see how the industry works.
The conference began at nine a.m. and Jimi said she’d be back by noon at the latest. It’s ten minutes to noon and I’m getting a bit antsy for her to meet Abby. I dial her number and she picks up on the third ring.
“Hi, Mom.”
