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“Drinking is not always the answer, Georgie,” I say, shaking my head while dumping creamer into my coffee.
“It’s always the answer.” She eyes me while taking a bite of her bagel. “By the way, where are the happy couple?” Georgie looks around the dining room, ignoring my comment.
“They had to catch an early flight to Hawaii,” I explain.
“Jealous,” Georgie groans.
Feeling the tightness in my stomach when I think about going back to work tomorrow, I sigh. Usually I try to get ahead of the week by checking email and getting organized over the weekend, but with the wedding, I couldn’t do that. Tomorrow will be a long day.
“There are my beautiful girls,” my dad says, grabbing my attention as he approaches the table.
“Aw shucks, Benjamin, you spoil me.” Georgie waves at him bashfully while I palm my face. Georgie looks at me offended. “What?” she says, pretending outrage. “I’m part of the family.”
“Right you are, Georgie.” My dad smiles at Georgie who gives me a smug look. “I’m heading out. Gotta pick up Fritz from the sitter.”
“Are you okay to get home yourself?” I ask.
“I’m not an invalid, Lake,” he says, glaring at me, and Noelle laughs.
“Oh look, she can hear us. Glad I didn’t say anything inappropriate,” Georgie gripes and narrows her eyes at Noelle.
“As if that’s stopped you before,” Noelle quips, rolling her eyes at Georgie.
“You come visit me soon,” my dad says to Noelle. “I want to know what classes you’re going to pick for freshman year.”
“That’s a year away,” Noelle grumbles, setting down her phone.
“First year of college is important. Got to start off on the right foot. It’s never too early to start planning, or you won’t get the good professors,” he says sharply.
“I’ll come by soon,” Noelle says sweetly.
“You save all the sweets for him, and I just get all the sass,” I say jokingly to Noelle.
“That’s how it’s supposed to work, Lake,” my dad teases before waving goodbye. Watching as he leaves, I spot Adrian entering the dining room with ruffled hair, and back in his jeans and t-shirt. The suit was very nice, but it doesn’t fit him as well as casual does. He catches my eye from across the room, stopping momentarily, a slow smile spreading on his face before walking over to the table where Ianna and her kids are sitting. Immediately, the younger one jumps in his lap and gives her older siblings a very satisfied smirk. Ianna leans over and whispers something in his ear that makes him laugh.
I think about what my dad said to me last night;Beth found ‘it’,now it’s your turn. I don’t have hopes for that because I know people, and all they do is disappoint. It’s a risk that doesn’t have a high percentage of return.
“We need to get going soon, too,” I say, taking a sip of my coffee. “Are you all packed?” I ask, pulling an earbud from Noelle’s ear to get her attention.
She rolls her eyes, snatching the earbud from me.
“You better get to it,” I say. “We have to check out in an hour.”
She grumbles while getting up from the table and acts like her legs are made of lead.
“I’m asking you to pack, not solve world hunger,” I say to her back as she drags her feet towards the exit of the dining room.
“Gen Z,” Georgie gripes as she hooks her thumb in Noelle’s direction, shaking her head.
“Areyoufinished packing?” I ask Georgie pointedly.
She looks down at the table guiltily and sighs. “Vacation’s over.”
“I need more coffee before we head out.” I grab the leftover food and plates from the table. “I’ll meet you back at the room.”
Getting in line there are a few people ahead of me, and I tap my foot impatiently as they peruse through the complimentary breakfast. I’m staring at one of the paintings that line the wall, the back of a horse as it walks away, its owner, a cowboy, holding the lead rope. All I can think of is how that horse doesn’t know where it’s going. I don’t know why I focus so much on it. Maybe it’s because of everything that’s happened in the last couple of weeks, or maybe it’s because of everything that’s happened in the last twenty years.
The couple behind me starts whispering, and it pulls my attention away from the painting. I hear the woman say, “I was on my way back to the room last night and I heard moaning.”
