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Amy laughed. “We’ll keep it to a minimum. Besides, we shouldn’t be here for too long. We got a lead on an awesome house by the beach.”
“The pictures look incredible,” Lucas chimed in. “We’re supposed to check it out on Monday.”
“Man, if only your mom could see you now,” I said, shaking my head. “Living in an amazing house on the beach is all Ruby King ever wanted for you.”
Amy rolled her eyes. “Too bad I’ve cut her off. I haven’t heard from her since the morning after the gala.”
“But I have heard from Rhonda Taylor,” Lucas said, opening the fridge. “Do you guys have milk?”
I pushed past him and pulled out the jug. “It’s raw milk. My parents are on a new kick. It’s expensive, though, so drink sparingly.”
Lucas eyed the milk suspiciously. “Am I going to get E. coli?”
I shrugged. “So far, we’ve all survived.”
After a moment’s hesitation, he poured a glass and took a sip. “Okay, that’s amazing. I’ll risk getting sick for the sake of milk like that.”
A smile formed on my face, a little giddy that they were back home. “So, what did Rhonda Taylor want?” I asked, redirecting the conversation. I was obsessed with the reality show “True Trophy Wives of Orange County” and loved their drama. “Did she want Stella to perform on an episode of ‘Trophy Wives’?”
“She actually wanted her to pretend to be her new best friend.”
I doubled over in laughter. Amy’s mother was cold and unfeeling, perpetually disappointed by her choices in life. She even set Amy up on a date with Ethan Taylor, Rhonda’s son, who we always thought was a narcissistic jerk but ended up being all right. But Rhonda Taylor was a different breed of delusional. A “Trophy Wife” of Orange County, she pretended to be everyone’s friend while trashing them behind their backs. It was highly entertaining to watch, but I’d never want to live that life.
“Did you mention it to Stella?” I asked.
“He did,” Amy said. “But in a more, ‘Can you believe this happened?’ kind of way, not a serious request. She thought it was hilarious but she’d potentially be willing to appear on the show.”
“She’s going to regret that,” I said. “But I’m sure she’s dealt with her fair share of crazy fans.”
“You have no idea.” Amy stifled a yawn. “Sorry, I’m kind of an old lady tonight. We’re still on East Coast time.”
“No worries. Did you want to go to bed instead?”
“No, no. Let’s watch something.” She headed over to the couch and stretched herself out. “Where are your parents?”
“They went out on a date. They knew we’d be home with Katy and took advantage of the evening.”
“Good for them. And your dad . . .?”
I sighed. “He’s doing as well as can be expected. He’s frustrated, but he tries to hide it from us as much as he can. I’m trying to pick up the work in the garden and around the house.”
Lucas nodded. He knew how much our personal garden meant to our family. It didn’t bring in any money; in fact, it was probably a financial burden. Soil, water bills, and maintenance costs piled up every year. But the memory of transforming our front lawn into a vegetable garden was one of the most pivotal core memories of my childhood. My parents built the vegetable boxes from planks of wood. The giant soil delivery truck dumped a mound of rich compost in our driveway, and we had the best time shoveling the soil into the boxes and picking which vegetables we wanted to plant. The garden was a central part of our family life, and even though my dad couldn’t physically keep up with it anymore, I felt a responsibility to our family legacy to maintain it.
“I can help out while I’m here, too,” Lucas offered.
“That would be awesome,” I said. “We need to switch the garden from summer to winter veggies soon, so if you can help out over the next few days, I’d really appreciate it.”
“You got it.”
The mood turned unusually somber. Time for me to lighten things up.
“Let’s get a movie on!” I said. “It has to be something that Katy can watch, though. She’s been a night owl lately.”
“No worries. There’s supposed to be a cartoon that just came out that’s good for adults, too,” Amy said.
“Yes!” Katy exclaimed. “It’s called ‘Down Under’ and we’ve watched it five times already.”
Amy realized her mistake and mouthedI’m sorry!
