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I can hear a lot of noise and talking in the background. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything at the conference.”
“Nope. We were just leaving. Do you need us to pick up anything on the way home?”
“No, thank you. I just need you to come home quickly.”
“Why?”
I’m silent for a moment as I try to maintain my composure, but I’m so overjoyed just thinking the words. It’s impossible to say them aloud and not feel overwhelmed.
“She’s here, baby… Abby came.”
Jimi’s silent except for the occasional loud sniff.
“Jimi?”
“I’m here,” she whispers, and I can hear her better now that the noise from the conference has faded away.
“Are you okay?”
Another loud sniff, then she clears her throat and responds. “Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just… really happy for you.”
“For me? What about you, honey? You finally get to meet your sister.”
“Hold on, Mom. I have another call coming in.”
She clicks onto the other line before I can respond, then she comes back a minute later. She sounds composed now. No more sniffing or thickness in her throat.
“Mom, that was Jenna. She wants me to help her with her UNC app before we go to the beach house. I have to go.”
“Wait a minute. Did you not hear what I just told you? Abby is here and she wants to meet you.”
“I can’t, Mom. I promised Jenna I would help her with the application before I go to the beach house. Dad told me we’re leaving tomorrow. Am I just supposed to let one of my best friends screw up her college application?”
“You said Jenna was getting on your nerves and you were glad she doesn’t drive so she can’t visit you at the beach house. Those were your words!”
“Mom, I don’t have time to argue about this. I promise I’ll try to finish up quickly.”
I shake my head in dismay. “If you miss this opportunity to meet Abby to help Jenna, you will always regret it, Jimi.”
“I’ll be home as soon as I can. Bye, Mom.”
I end the call feeling confused and angry. She seemed overwhelmed with emotion when I told her Abby was here. Then she answered that call and everything changed. It’s as if she spoke to someone who convinced her that meeting Abby was a bad idea. My chest hurts at the thought that someone else could have that sort of influence over Jimi.
She’s always been a bit of a daddy’s girl, but she’s also fiercely independent. She got her driver’s license two days after her sixteenth birthday because she was desperate for more freedom. And she completed her college applications all on her own, getting accepted into both NC State and UNC along with a few other universities, like her top pick USC. All she has to do is submit her fall-semester grades to each university this coming January, and she’ll have her pick of seven different college campuses.
So, naturally, all of her friends have been asking for her help with their college applications. But I never expected she would choose to put off seeing Abby to help Jenna, a girl who supposedly flirted with Jimi’s boyfriend before they broke up three months ago. It makes no sense.
I head back to the kitchen in time to find Chris teaching Abby how to truss a chicken. Ryder is showing Caleb how to work the computer touchscreen on the wall by the breakfast bar. Of course, Ryder shows him how to work the TV function by putting on the Disney Channel.
I sidle up next to Chris and nudge his shoulder with mine. “Jimi’s not coming until later.”
Both he and Abby turn their heads to gape at me. “Why?” he asks.
“She’s helping Jenna with her UNC application and she doesn’t want to be a bad friend and ditch her.”
Abby’s dark-blonde eyebrows scrunch together in confusion. “Is she uncomfortable with me being here?”
“What? No, of course not. She’s just become the go-to girl for all her friends who are rushing to get their college applications submitted. It’s… unfortunate, but she seems to think we’re leaving for the beach house tomorrow. Did you tell her that, honey?”
Chris grabs the salt and pepper off the counter behind us and sets them down in front of Abby. She follows his lead and begins sprinkling the seasoning all over the chicken.
“I may have mentioned that we would be going to the beach house tomorrow, but that was only if… if we had nothing going on. Abby is here now. We’re staying here as long as we need to.”
Abby holds up her hands and Chris points her to the sink where she can wash the chicken juices and seasoning off her fingers. “You don’t have to stay here on my account. Caleb and I have really enjoyed meeting you all, but we don’t want to ruin your plans.”
“You’re not ruining our plans,” Chris insists. “You are the plans. The reason we were going tomorrow night instead of tonight is because we decided last weekend that we would wait one more week to see if you would show up.”
“Aw, that’s why, Dad? You lied. You told me it was ’cause of the storm.”
Ryder never forgets anything we tell him.
“I didn’t lie,” Chris says with a grin. “There was a storm… in Florida.”
Abby smiles as she dries her hands on a kitchen towel, but her smile is barely hiding her disappointment. “Well, maybe Caleb and I should get going so you all can pack and get ready to go to the beach.”
“No, you don’t have to go,” I reply hastily. “In fact, why don’t you stay the night and you can go with us to the beach house for a few days?”
Chris narrows his eyes at me then turns back to Abby. “We don’t want you to feel pressured or obligated to stay. But, of course, you are welcome to stay as long as you want.”
“You should come with us to the beach house!” Ryder’s eyes are wide with excitement. “The beach is right there and last year there was a shark in the water and everyone was taking pictures of it with their phones and this one lady screamed and everyone thought she was bit, but she wasn’t.”
“I… I don’t know. I mean, I don’t want to impose.”
“Don’t be silly. You’re not imposing,” I insist.
“But I don’t think I’d feel comfortable without Caleb.”
“He can come,” I reply.
“Yeah!” Ryder agrees.
“Why are you so happy?” Junior says, walking into the kitchen with his nose buried in a text conversation.
“Abby and Caleb are coming with us to the beach house!” Ryder replies.
“Settle down, Ry. Nothing is decided yet,” Chris says, taking the remote away from him so he can turn off the TV.
Ryder crosses his arms and glares at Chris, but Chris glares right back at him. After a moment, Ryder smiles. “Thanks for turning the TV off, Dad. It was rotting my brain.”
Chris shakes his head. “Go upstairs and take a shower. Now.”
“You guys are coming to the beach house? Sweet!” Junior says, taking a seat on the stool next to Caleb at the breakfast bar. “Maybe you can give me a driving lesson in your car?”
Caleb chuckles. “You got a permit?”
Junior waves off the question. “A mere technicality.”
Abby stands across the breakfast bar from Caleb, their eyes locked, and I can feel them silently communicating, gauging the other’s reaction. He nods slightly and she nods back.
“Well, I guess as long as I have my meds and my parents know where I am, it should be okay for a few days,” Abby begins, turning away from Caleb to face Chris and me. “I mean, neither of us have been to the beach in a long time.”
“Do you like the beach?” I ask.
She smiles at this simple question that still seems to say so much about how desperate I am to know her. “Yeah, I love it, but because of my heart condition, it’s not good for me to engage in a lot of physical activity. My parents used to take me swimming at the aquatic center all the time, but they thought the waves and currents of the ocean were too unpredictable to be safe.”
