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“He’s going.” She zeroed in on Cal. “We had a plan. A good one.” For everyone. She pointed her finger at him. “We’re sticking to it.”
Cal’s eyes widened. “But I changed my mind. I don’t want to go to university.”
“What are you going to do instead?” Mark asked.
She ground her jaw. Like he had a choice in the matter. He was not an adult. Not yet. She and Mark still had the final say in this.
Cal crossed his arms over his chest and shrugged. “I don’t know.”
Ali gathered her plate and cup and headed to the sink. There. Right there. Ali was the perfect child. Veronica wanted to give her the biggest hug right now. Instead, she took a deep breath and tried to calm down.
“So, you’re just planning to stay at home and do nothing?” She pulled out the carafe and poured herself more coffee. Shaking her head, she said firmly, “That’s unacceptable.”
“Isn’t it better I don’t go off and waste all your money paying for something I won’t even finish?”
He had a point. She shoved the carafe back into the unit. A rational, logical point. But what would that do to her dreams and plans? She needed to get a life, damn it.
“University’s a waste of time. It’s stupid. It’s for nerds like Ali.”
His sister whirled around from the sink. “Stop with the nerd comments, you lazy freak.”
Ali might be an exceptionally smart girl with nerd-like tendencies, but she was confident and comfortable with herself. Veronica had made sure she’d instilled that from the first day they moved in. She wasn’t going to have another wallflower clone of herself walking around. Ali could hold her own when it came to her brother. A trait Veronica admired. Sometimes, she wished she could be more like her little sister. Then she could tell Mark how frustrated she felt with her life.
“You knew about this?” She glared at Ali, who backed away toward the doorway.
“It wasn’t my secret to tell.” She fidgeted with the hem of her shirt.
“Damn.” They were good kids. Veronica and Mark had done a good job with them. They were independent. Could think for themselves. But lately, Cal had reverted back to his old ways. If he didn’t go to university, she was afraid all the great progress he had made would be lost forever.
Really? Or was it just that Veronica wanted the house all to herself so she could screw Finn? It was going to happen. The promise had been made last night. Except… Oh, God, now the privacy she’d so looked forward to would be impossible.
“Cal, university is not a waste of time,” Mark said. “Both of us went. Veronica has her own business now. I have a great job I love. It’s preparation for life and your future career.”
Did Mark not know that anything he said would go in one ear and out the other? Cal’s look of disinterest every time Mark opened his mouth bordered on disrespectful.
“It’s useless,” Cal retorted. “Do you know how many of my friends have older siblings that all say the same thing—if they could do it over, they wouldn’t go to university. They all ended up having to study something practical after they graduated just to get a job. So did Veronica.”
Anothe
r valid argument on his end. “Okay.” She regrouped. “Maybe university isn’t the answer, but you have to do something. Don’t you dare think you’re going to waltz in and out of here as you please without contributing to this household. I’ve been lenient this summer, but I don’t like what I’m hearing. You need a definite, approved plan.”
Cal gave the table a dirty look. She figured it was meant for her, but he knew better than to direct it her way.
“Veronica?” Mark stood and joined her at the kitchen counter. “Won’t you be late for work? Maybe we can talk about this later when we’ve all had a chance to think about it.” He turned, blocking his face from their siblings, and mouthed, “I’ll talk to him.”
She stared into her brother’s brown eyes for a few beats. How many times had she stared into those eyes and felt safe, protected, and supported? But over the last two years, those eyes had become those of a stranger. She missed him desperately.
“All right.” She peered around Mark’s stocky body and pointed at Cal. “You have a reprieve until this evening.”
Twenty minutes later, she banged on the back door of Carmel, Finn’s restaurant, with her fist. The gray steel rattled under her touch.
After only a few seconds, a young man of no more than twenty opened the door and looked at her inquisitively.
“I’m Veronica Whit—”
He snapped his fingers. “Chef told me you were coming.” He inclined his head toward the restaurant behind him.
She smiled and went past him. Walking through the back hallway, she passed the kitchen and bathrooms and tiptoed past Finn’s office. The door was ajar but she couldn’t see inside.
