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“Mom,” Emmett warned.
“Well, I mean, it’s been so long, sweetie—”
Emmett gritted his teeth. “Mom! Now’s not the time.”
“Oh, of course not. Young ears are listening.”
Emmett buried his face in his hands.
I stifled a giggle. It was time for me to cover him. “Hi there, Mrs. Shepherd. I’m Olivia.”
“Hi there. Lovely to sort of meet you.”
“You, too.”
Emmett folded his arms on the tabletop. “What were you calling about, Mom?”
“Well, you know it’s your sister’s thirtieth birthday in a couple of weeks, and I was thinking we should throw her a party. No surprise party or anything. But she wants to have her family and close friends around her for the special occasion. You know, since she’s been going through a rough time and all.”
“She went through a divorce not long ago,” Emmett mumbled to me.
I nodded mutely.
“So, I was hoping you might come up and celebrate with us. You can bring that crazy dog of yours with you. As long as he behaves and doesn’t try to eat Ginger,” Emmett’s mum huffed.
“I’m pretty sure Ginger would have Tank for breakfast, Mom.”
“Whatever, just . . . please, will you come? Sammy needs us right now.”
“Of course, I’ll come. It’s been too long since I visited Wayborough Shores. Work’s been nuts and a weekend away would be amazing.”
“It’s also the perfect time of year.”
Emmett laughed. “You don’t have to convince me. I’ll see you in a couple of weeks.”
They said their goodbyes and hung up.
“So, I guess that means Charlie and I will have your place to ourselves for a weekend?” I fiddled with the corner of the menu.
“You don’t honestly think I’d ditch you two, do you? You’re more than welcome to come with me. In fact, I want you to.”
“Where’s Wayborough Shores?” Charlie asked.
“It’s up north, kiddo. Up near the Oregon border. It’s where I grew up,” Emmett answered.
“Cool!”
“Emmett, if I find a job, I won’t be able to take off all a sudden. I’d want to make a good impression on my new boss.”
“What if you put it off for a few weeks?” Emmett leaned toward me. “You’ve worked flat out for your entire adult life. You’re allowed to take a break.”
“Yeah, Mom. We’ve never had a vacation before, and I’ve never been out of L.A. Please can we go away with Emmett? Please can you stay home with me for a while?”
My son had never begged for anything in his life. He knew the score; he knew why we could never go anywhere and why we had to sneak around about him staying home by himself sometimes. I knew it had taken its toll, and I had missed so much of his young life because I was busy trying to make ends’ meet. Now I didn’t have to worry about rent, or ungodly long hours. While I didn’t want to mooch off Emmett, I knew he didn’t see it that way. Now was my chance to kick back, enjoy life for a while, and hang out with the two men in my life.
“Alright. I’ll put off finding work for a couple of weeks.”
“The summer,” Emmett and Charlie said together.
