Page 18 of Sterling Stone

At one point, I even believed the elusive thing I was chasing was a dream. Then I realized I’m living that dream. I travel. I paint. I meet interesting people. What a grand life.

But I want that one person. The right person. For me.

I nod my approval at Kai’s selection, before calling out to another student. “Looks good, Ariel.” The young woman looks like the mermaid princess who is her namesake. She gives me thumbs up as best she can with a paint brush in hand.

They are such a great bunch of young adults. Their futures lie ahead of them. Their hearts open to possibilities. Their minds sharp. Their creativity endless.

I remember that energy.

Out to save the world, I’d told myself then. Have real adventures, not the false ones Mama called our aimlessness.

But now, I just want to save me.

7

July

[Stone]

My sister has been dating my former best friend behind my back, and it comes as quite a shock to learn they are in love.

Cortland Haven is twelve years older than Vale, and I am overly protective of her, having raised her from birth.

Not to mention, Cortland committed the betrayal of all betrayals when we were younger, and I was at my most vulnerable. I don’t trust him, but I trust my sister. She’s had her own difficulties in life, but she has a good head on her shoulders, being a single mother to the most amazing eleven-year-old, my nephew Hudson.

Another child I’ve felt responsible for since birth, as Vale and I have shared a house since Hudson was born.

Family is important to me. I’ve made them the center of my world. The one commitment I embraced, instead of steering away from. They are my sun, and I’m simply a planet circling around them, trying to keep them safe and warm and protected from things that might burn.

And because family is sacred, a long time ago, I instituted a mandatory Sunday evening meal that fluctuates between afternoon barbecues in warm months to football days in the fall and casual dinners in the winter.

Our newest tradition began when our younger brother, Ford, decided to move home. He cleared an overgrown meadow on our property to make a baseball diamond. Now, we have our own little Field of Dreams right here in Sterling Falls, West Virginia. Because his birthday is close to the Fourth of July, we celebrated his special day with our first family baseball game a year ago. This is our second season. Over the course of twenty-four months, our family has grown, like the wild weeds once occupying this once-ignored field.

“You okay with this?” Clay asks, questioning me about the newest relationship in our family.

He means Cortland and Vale.

“Guess I’m going to have to be,” I say, squinting toward the lovebirds in the driveway just outside the fence line where they are awaiting extra visitors to this year’s game. Observing them, I note their contrast. Cortland is tall and dark, though his hair is graying just like mine. Vale has long, honey-colored hair, like our mother’s, with the signature blue eyes of all the Sylvers.

While I like to keep things just the seven of us and our newly expanded family members, reinforcing my protective nature, Vale convinced me to allow some additions to this year’s festivities. People who we need to remember helped us, once upon a time.

Like Mary Haven, Cortland’s mom.

“Don’t know that I even understand what is happening lately,” I whisper, meaning the attraction between Cort and Vale.

He fucking helped me change her diapers.

Clay chuckles beside me and claps my shoulder. “Love, man.”

At that exact moment, my sister kisses my former best friend.

Forcing myself to look beyond Vale and Cort, I stare at the house behind them. The two-story Cape Cod with dormer windows and a wraparound porch is in its best form. It took years to restore the white clapboards and replace the worn roof. Years before I had the means or money to do internal fixes, like a better furnace and an updated kitchen. But beyond the line of vehicles that make the driveway look like a used car lot, the house stands tall and glistening, almost prideful.

Like it might be smiling at me. Pleased with me for opening my yard to people who haven’t been here in more than two decades.

“Guess I’d better get this over with,” I grumble to Clay, about greeting our additional guests as another car pulls up.

Outside of Cortland and his mother, I hadn’t expected Cort’s spitfire younger sister, Trinity, or his laidback brother, Clinton, along with his little girl, but at this point, the more the wearier.