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Chapter Nineteen
Letty
As soon as I’m inside the house, I arm the security system, something we rarely do until bedtime, but I promised Shades I wouldn’t take any risks. The house is quiet, so I kick off my shoes and climb the carpeted steps that take me upstairs to my bedroom.
“Loretta? Is that you?”
I frown at the sound of my mom’s voice. “Mother? What are you doing here? I thought you were battling the blue hairs at church.”
Her tinkling, melodic laughter sounds from the oversized master suite that is my parent’s bedroom. “It was a battle I easily won, dear.”
I peek inside the bedroom and find it empty, but I step inside because I know she’s inside the spacious walk-in closet that holds all of her and Dad’s clothes, shoes, jewelry, and other accessories. I find her in the closet, her Louis Vuitton luggage open and half-full, her matching garment bag nearly full. “What’s all this?”
She looks over at me with flushed cheeks and a wide grin. “A business trip. Your father has meetings with some money men in New York, and he wants me to tag along, maybe catch a show and eat some five-star food.”
She flashes another smile, this one girlish, like her crush finally asked her on a date.
“That sounds like a fun time. How long will you guys be gone?” I’m happy that my parents are still in love, still affectionate, and still enjoy spending time together, but of all the weeks to leave, this is the one I want them to stay.
“Oh I guess about a week. You know how these things go. Lots of presentations and pitches, negotiations, and huge sums of money. Your father might convince them in a day or two, or not until the end of the week.” She leans in with a conspiratorial smile. “Truth is, I’m hoping it takes the entire week. I need a vacation.”
I give her a huge smile for purely selfish reasons. If they’re gone, maybe Shades will come see me.
“I hope that means I’ll be the recipient of a fabulous gift like a new bag or maybe a stunning pair of shoes?”
She laughs. “I’ll see what I can do. Now back to packing. How many dresses should I take?”
I smile and sit on the plush ottoman on Dad’s side of the massive closet. “I say take three or four and buy more as needed.”
“What a wonderful idea!” I watch her busy herself with packing items carefully as if this is the most important job in the world, and I realize that for her, it is.
Mom’s an intelligent woman, college-educated in her own right, but she chose to give up whatever career ambitions she had to raise a family and keep our home. This is her job, and she’s very good at it, taking care of me, Dad, and the house. No one I know does a better job.
That’s why she’s so hard on me, I realize in that moment. She wants me to have the life I want, the one I deserve, whether that means a career-woman or a homemaker.
“Mother, what would you have done if you weren’t the world’s best homemaker?”
She smiles. “You’re buttering me up, Loretta, for what purpose? You’re a little old to throw a party when your parents are out of town.”
I laugh because even now, that’s not who I am. “I’m not buttering you up, Mother. I just realized why you take such pride in everything you do.”
She looks up at me curiously. “And what reason is that?”
“Because it’s your job. Your calling. That’s why I’m curious what you would have done professionally.”
“I had dreams of becoming a fashion designer, attending runway shows, and designing new clothing lines, that sort of thing.”
“Really?”
“Oh yes, I was quite the fashionista in my day.”
“You still are,” I tell her honestly. She possesses a better sense of style than me. Always has. Then again, she has the body to pull off the latest fashion trends, while I do not.
She stops folding and refolding a set of pajamas and eyes me curiously. “What’s going on with you, Loretta? You’re…I don’t know, contemplative today.”
I shrug. “Just thinking about the sermon. Pastor Braden’s words really resonated with me today. Forgiving perceived slights and accepting people for who they are.”
“And you forgive me for being so hard on you?”
