Every morning I was met with an ambush of questions.
“What are you up to today?”
“Did you empty the dryer?”
“Do you want to go to a yoga class later?”
“What are you thinking for dinner?”
It was sweet, and I loved them, but it was exhausting.
“I am watching,” I said while still not looking up from my phone.
“You kids and your technology,” my dad huffed.
I rolled my eyes. “Dad, I’m hardly a kid.”
“You’re still a kid to us.”
Before I could reply, there was a commotion at the front door. I jerked my head around to see a mess of long blonde curls tangled in the straps of a duffel bag.
“What in the world—” My dad stood up.
“Frances,” my mom exclaimed and raced to the door.
My sister, Frankie, threw her arms around our mother. They embraced as if it had been years since they'd seen each other instead of months.
I got off the chair to hug my sister. “What are you doing here? Why aren’t you in Atlanta?”
She hugged me hard before replying. “With everything going on, I just wanted to be with family for a few days.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “You mean you felt bad for me when mom told you what happened, so you decided to drive down to take pity on me.”
She shoved my shoulder. “Excuse me for wanting to be there for my only sister.”
In truth, I was happy to see Frankie. It had been too long, regardless, and a friendly face amidst the mess that was my life was much appreciated. However, anytime I did see my sister, I was always reminded of how put together her life was. Sometimes it made me feel inadequate.
Yes, I was successful in my career, but Frankie was the youngest marketing VP in her company's history. Yes, until recently, I had my own place, but I rented and lived only miles from where we grew up, while Frankie moved to Atlanta and owned her own condo. The only thing we had in common was that we were both single. But even then, she one-upped me because her relationship status had always been her choice. She liked her independence and couldn’t be bothered with the idea of marriage.
“You two okay with bunking together?”
I grinned. “Of course, let’s get you settled.”
Grabbing her duffel bag, I led the way into the room we’d now be sharing.
As soon as we walked in, Frankie shut the door behind her and perched on the bed.
“Alright, spill. I need all the details. I know you’ve been evading my texts.”
I sighed. She didn’t waste any time. “I told you it was over with Garrett. I’m not trying to hide anything.”
“According to Mom, there’sa lotmore to the story. I can’t believe it took me driving all the way down here to get you to talk.”
I groaned, joining her on the bed. “What did she tell you?” I asked.
“Just that your asswipe, shit for brains, boyfriend cheated on you, and you moved out.”
“Mom didn’t tell you who with?”
