“So…you don’t care where I go to school just as long as I do?”
She nodded. “Exactly.”
“And what if I don’t want to be a lawyer?” I asked. “What if I want to…go into jewelry design?”
This time Mom hesitated. “Well, I’d much prefer you graduate with a degree that will get you a good job, but I know I can’t force my idea of success on you. If you want to be a jewelry designer, a poet, a deep-sea diver, I’ll support you in whatever your dream may be. I’ve already made the mistake once of not doing that. I’m not going to do it again.”
I tugged my earlobe as I considered my mom’s apology. Part of me wanted to wipe my hands clean of her. After all, she’d stolen four years from Rose and me, time that I’d never get back. Butthe fire I’d felt raging inside me earlier had dwindled to an ember. Because no matter what she did, she was still my mom. What had Alec said?Sometimes the people who mean the most to us, like our family, do things that make it difficult to love them, but we do anyway because that’s what love is.
Rose broke the silence with a snort. “A deep-sea diver… Really?”
My lips twitched into a small smile. “Yeah, isn’t that dangerous?”
Mom laughed and pointed a finger at me. “I hope you know this doesn’t mean you’re off the hook.”
Before I had a chance to respond, Rose gasped. “Holy shit.” She was staring at Mom’s hand, and when I looked, the ring on her finger sparkled in the light. “Mom, are you engaged?”
Chapter 19
My last days of summer dragged on longer than the past two months had combined. I was grounded until further notice, which meant house arrest and no friends whatsoever. The only place I was allowed to go was work, and after my shifts, I had to come home immediatelyor else.
Rose stayed in LA until Wednesday to act as the buffer between Mom and me. It was surreal having her home, like I’d woken up inside a memory from before she disappeared. I knew her time with us wouldn’t last forever—she had a job and Nicoli to get back to—and when she returned to Seattle, it was like being wrenched away from a perfect dream.
But Rose gave me her word she’d visit soon, and until then, I made do by calling her every night. Yesterday, we’d spent over an hour on the phone, with Rose recounting some of her exciting travel adventures. Like the time she ran with the bulls in Spain or the week she spent sleeping in a hammock on an Amazonian riverboat. I wished I had as thrilling an experience to share with her, but the most interesting thing to happen to me was meeting Alec.
A knock on my bedroom door made me jump.
“Honey, what time do you get off work tonight?” Mom asked.She was dressed for a night out: red dress, killer heels, Brazilian blowout. Her favorite necklace sparkled at her throat, and as she stood in the doorway surveying my room, she slipped in the matching earrings, one golden hoop at a time.
I was hunched over by my closet, shifting through a pile of dirty clothes. My waitressing apron had to be around here somewhere… I needed to be at the Electric Waffle in thirty minutes, and I couldn’t be late. Miss Daisy had let me keep my job even though I missed my shift while in Seattle, but I was on a probationary period.
“I’ll be done around eight,” I said as I spotted one of the long, black ties poking out from underneath my dresser. I grabbed the garment and straightened up.
“And what are the rules?”
I forced myself not to roll my eyes. “Go to work. Come home. Go nowhere else.”
“Good.” She nodded in approval. “If you need anything, I’ll have my cell. I love you, Felicity.”
“Love you too. Have fun.”
Tonight was the first time since my grounding that my jailer was leaving me unsupervised for an entire evening. To save money, Mom had decided to skip throwing an engagement party. She still wanted to honor the event, so Dave was taking her to a fancy hotel where they could have their own private celebration. Which meant I had free rein of the house until tomorrow, although Mom would probably call every hour on the hourandhave one of the neighbors check on me. Because clearly I was going to do something evil like plot world domination.
Basically, things between the two of us were still tense.
I wasn’t ready to forgive her for tearing Rose out of my life, and even when that day came, it would take a long time for our relationship to heal. But I was doing my best to be civil. I knew Mom wanted her upcoming nuptials to be a fresh start for all of us, a way to become a family again and move forward. I wasn’t going to sabotage that. I just needed time.
When she was gone, my comforter flew back and Asha sat up in bed. “Man! That was way too close. This whole grounded thing is cramping my style.”
“Maybe she’ll loosen up next week when school starts,” I said, although I seriously doubted it. Mom was treating my transgression like a capital offense, one that would only be forgiven when I finished serving my time. Anticipating freedom anytime soon was wishful thinking on my part.
Despite how frustrating and foreign being grounded was, there was an upside: it gave me time to focus on myself. Instead of moping around the house, I’d created an account on Etsy and spent hours designing jewelry. I didn’t expect to become the next Tiffany & Company, but who knew? Maybe I’d turn enough of a profit to help pay my tuition. Or at the very least, my books.
Taking Oliver’s suggestion to sell my work hadn’t occurred to me right away, but after spending my first night home lying awake in bed and stewing over what happened between Alec and me, I knew I needed a better distraction than ACT prep. Jewelry was an easy answer.
“Hopefully. I’m sick of sneaking in through the window.” Ashastood and made her way over to my desk. The magazines featuring me and Alec leaving the masquerade were still stacked in a pile, and she paged through the one on top. “So…talk to anyone interesting lately?”
God, she was relentless.
