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“Yeah,” I responded, for lack of anything else to say.
“You know, when we were girls, we used to talk about what we’re going to do. The lives we were going to lead,” she said, sounding wistful.
“Tell me about it,” I said.
She smiled, her eyes crinkling at the corners and the blue in them sparkling. “We were gonna start a girl group and take the world over.”
“You sing?” I raised my brows in surprise, trying to remember a time when I’d heard Carol sing.
“Not one bit,” she responded with a laugh.
“Did she?” I asked, feeling a pang of sadness that I had to ask a question like that about my own mother.
“If you can believe it, she was even worse than me.”
I laughed, and Carol joined in.
“But that didn’t matter. Because when Crystal put her mind to something, she could do it.”
I went quiet, then shook my head.
“What is it?” Carol asked, her brows dropping.
“I wish I were like that,” I said quietly.
I hated saying the words out loud. Hated even more that they were true.
When I looked at Carol, I expected to see pity in her gaze, but I saw nothing of the sort.
“I don’t ever want to hear you say anything like that again,” she said, her voice low and stern.
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t care what Raphael James has been telling you all these years. You can do anything. Anything.” Her voice was low, but it was impossible to miss the ferocity in it.
I smiled at her. “I’m sorry I don’t share your confidence.”
“I am too,” she whispered.
She reached across the table and grabbed my hand, squeezing it tight enough to almost hurt.
“Honestly, I hope your life is easy, easier than it’s been up to now. But whatever may happen, remember how strong you are, how smart, how tough. Remember that you are Amethyst Rose James, and that means something.”
She squeezed my hand again, then sat back, her expression shifting to the one that was so familiar.
“But what do I know?” She shrugged. “I’m just an old lady.”
“I don’t see any old ladies here,” I responded, smiling.
“That is the correct answer, my girl.”
I laughed, then took a sip of my drink.
“No coffee?” she asked as she peeked into my cup.
I sobered, then shook my head. “Not today.”
“That’s not like you.”
