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Chapter 5
Theoceanwavescrashedin the background as we ate our incredible breakfast. The Hotel Cove was a historic hotel right on the beach, and the attached restaurant was famous for its breakfast. We sat outside next to a glass barrier overlooking the ocean. The weather was perfect, even better than a usual day in Southern California.
“I missed avocado so much,” Amy said, her mouth full of omelet.
“Andrealbreakfast burritos,” Lucas chimed in.
“What kind of food did you have in Georgia?” my mom asked.
“Biscuits and gravy,” Lucas said. “Which are delicious, but nothing like food from home. Even when I was in New York for eight years. I don’t feel like I got to fully enjoy it before we went out to Georgia.”
“He was actually in Georgia longer than he was back home in Canyon Cove,” Amy added.
How weird. I never realized how fast their relationship had progressed. But they had always been in love with each other, even without being together for eight years. Amy never really dated much, and I knew she had Lucas in her heart.
“What’s the plan from here?” my dad asked.
Lucas swallowed the last bit of his food. “Stella’s going to be recording her album here in LA. Most of my work is done, but she wants me there as an extra consultant.”
My dad raised his eyebrows. “That’s impressive.”
Amy beamed and rubbed Lucas’s shoulder. “I’m so proud of him. She was really impressed by his input and insights.”
Lucas smiled at Amy. “Well, Amy’s calligraphy is really taking off. Her Instagram following is huge! She has fifty thousand followers. She’s putting together a course that will teach calligraphy online and she’s going to start selling that.”
“Wow!” my mom exclaimed. “Things have really picked up for the two of you.”
Amy smiled, but held back. “Thank you,” she said quietly.
My mom furrowed her brow. “Why the hesitation?”
Amy’s eyes flicked over to my dad, then back to her plate.
Oh.
She felt guilty because of everything my family had gone through. Here she was, happily married and successful, and my family had the foundation ripped out from under us. Well, maybe not ripped out. The true foundation of our family was love and support. But we had been rocked by tragedy, even if we tried not to let it affect us on the outside.
My dad knew exactly what she meant, too, and reached over the table to put his hand on her arm. “Amy,” he said gently. “You are our fifth daughter. Your happiness and success areourhappiness and success. Please don’t keep yourself from being happy for our sake.”
Tears formed in Amy’s eyes. I didn’t think anyone had ever expressed that to her, especially not her own parents. “Thank you, Brent.” She quickly swiped under her eyes. “We’re really grateful that you opened your home to us. Don’t worry, we’ll be out of your hair in no time.”
He shook his head. “It’s no bother. We used to have this many people living in the house before Ivy moved out, anyway. There’s a reason we had so many kids.”
“And, contrary to what Amy’s father thinks, it’s not because they needed us to help work the farm,” I said.
Amy laughed. “He still can’t remember your name. Last I heard, he thought it was Fern.”
I burst out laughing. “I’m surprised he even remembered that I existed. At least it was something botanical.”
“He remembered my name,” Lucas chimed in. “He ‘never liked me.’”
Amy rolled her eyes. “Well, we don’t have to worry much about them anymore. I have no desire to see my family in the foreseeable future.”
“Not even Scott?” I asked, before I could stop myself.
Amy eyed me suspiciously.
Crap.
