AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Cooper’s dad sits at an outdoor table on the wide deck with a beer and a citronella candle in front of him. He stands as we walk towards him, and Cooper leans in for a hug as he says hello.
“Dad, I want you to meet Quinn. Quinn, this is my dad, Robert, but everyone calls him Rob.”
“Hi, Mr. Jackson, it’s so nice to meet you,” I say.
“It’s nice to meet you too, Quinn. Please, call me Rob,” he says as he leans in and gives me a hug just like Alice did, which makes me smile. I’ve never been around people who hug this much, and it’s actually really great.
“How are you liking Sonoma? You’ve been here a month, right?”
“Yes, a little over a month now. It’s exactly the same as when I was little but also completely different, now that I’m experiencing it as an adult. I love it.”
“That’s right. I forgot Dan and Carla were your grandparents. They were great people.”
“Yes, they were. I miss them, and living in their house has made me feel even closer to them.” Rob gestures towards a chair for me to sit in, and we all sit down around the table.
“I’d ask you to tell me more about yourself, but Alice would have my hide if you told me things and she wasn’t here to listen,” Rob says with a chuckle.
“I wouldn’t want to get you in trouble. Why don’t you tell me how you dealt with Levi as a kid? I’ve gotten to know him while he’s been doing renovations at Paint and Paper,and he’s a nut.”
Rob and Cooper bust out laughing, which makes me smile because they look so similar. They have the same light brown hair, facial structure, and amber eye color. Even their smiles are similar. The only difference between them is Rob has a little grey streaked throughout his brown hair, making him look distinguished, and a few wrinkles around his mouth and eyes.
“God, that boy was a handful. One minute, he was tearing through his mama’s flower garden, and the next, he had a fistful of flowers for Alice to make up for it,” Rob says with a chuckle. “He always knew exactly what to say to get out of trouble, unlike this one.” He jabs his thumb towards Cooper.
“Were you always in trouble?”
“No, Levi always got me in trouble because he’d convince me to do something stupid, and then I’d feel guilty and tell Mom or Dad,” Cooper says.
“Hey, my ideas were always brilliant. You just couldn’t handle breaking the rules,” Levi says as he bursts through the back door and comes to sit at the table. He kisses me on the cheek, slaps Cooper on the shoulder, gives his dad a quick half-hug, and finally slings himself into the last chair. “You were such a goody-two-shoes.”
“You’re just mad I stopped taking the blame for you.”
“You’re damn right. I started getting into trouble when you didn’t do stuff with me.”
Rob rolls his eyes at the boys. “Quinn, do you have any siblings?”
“No, I don't, unfortunately.”
“Robert Jackson, don’t you dare ask her personal questions when I’m not around,” Alice yells from the open door making her husband scrunch his shoulders and direct a sheepish grin towards me. Alice walks out onto the deck and towards the table with a little smirk on her face telling me she’s not really mad. “Dinner is ready if you boys want to set the table while Quinn and I get drinks.”
We all stand up with our marching orders and head inside. Alice and I fill water glasses while the guys put dishes onto the table. We all sit down with Rob at the head of the table, Cooper on his left, Alice on his right, me next to Cooper, and Levi next to Alice.
The whole scene is fascinating to me. We didn’t do things like this when I was growing up. My parents were normally too busy to sit at a table for this long, so we either had quick meals together or I ate with my nanny while they went to dinner parties with colleagues.
I listen to the Jacksons banter back and forth with an ease that I’ll never have with my parents. The oddest part is I never felt unloved by my parents. They maybe didn’t make time for me in this way, but they never made me feel as if I was unwanted. They took me to their labs and shared their passions with me, but we didn’t have the same type of familial bonding the Jacksons have.
I think that’s part of why my parents don’t understand my move to Sonoma. They raised me in the hopes I’d have a similar passion for science and medicine, and when I didn’t, they graciously adjusted to my desire to be a lawyer, knowing I’d be able to support myself.
Now that I’m no longer a lawyer, I’m sure they worry that I will have no way of earning a successful income, and I can only imagine how hard it could be for a parent to see their child move so far outside of what they hoped for them. It’s something to consider the next time I talk to my mom.
“Quinn, I heard my husband ask you about siblings. You don’t have any?”
“No, it was just me growing up.”
“That must’ve been lonely sometimes.”
“At times, yes, but my parents brought me with them to the universities or clinics they worked in, so I was always around other people.”
“Are your parents still traveling?” Levi asks.
