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“My babies are back,” she says, her voice trembling. My heart breaks. I need to try harder to call her more and send her some photos every now and then. It can’t be easy for her to have a completely empty house all of a sudden, especially since Dad works such long hours. I hug her tighter before stepping back. Mom pulls us into the kitchen where she already has all our favorites waiting. There’s carrot cake for me, lemon bars for Kate, and a chocolate cake for Emilia.
“Oh my gosh, you shouldn’t have,” Emilia says. I can tell she’s feeling just as emotional as my mother does and my heart warms. Sometimes it takes being away for a little while to remember just how lucky we all are to have Emilia in our lives. She’s the only one that calls Mom every day, and she’s the first to thank her for everything she does for us. It makes me feel both grateful and guilty.
I watch Emilia as she busies herself in the kitchen, getting us all plates and cutlery. I’m so accustomed to it, it doesn’t even occur to me we should be the one serving her. Kate digs into her lemon bar and hums happily.
“Come and sit,” I tell Emilia. She looks at me, startled, and then moves to join me at the high chairs by the kitchen counter.
“So, how is college?” Mom asks. She stares at Kate and Emilia, her eyes wide with excitement.
Kate chuckles and leans in. “So much fun, Mom. I’ve gotten to know so many new people and LA is so cool. It’s so different to Woodstock. Honestly, it’s amazing.”
Emilia nods in agreement. “It’s been really good so far. Classes are great. I’m learning a lot and I’m having a lot of fun too.”
Mom looks relieved and nods. “How did all your tests and deadlines go?”
Kate shrugs, but Emilia nods seriously. “I think I did well,” she says, smiling tightly. I know she’s worried about her grades and her scholarship.
I drop my arm to the back of her chair and brush my fingers over her shoulder. “I’m sure you did well,” I murmur.
Mom smiles at me, her eyes glittering with happiness. It’s clear she’s happy to see Emilia and me on good terms again, and part of me feels guilty for even remotely risking her happiness.
“Milly told me you’re tutoring her,” she says and I nod. “Yeah, she’ll be fine. She barely needs my help.”
Mom glances between the two of us, and her relief is palpable. I know she was probably worried we’d have another tension filled holiday, but that won’t be the case this time. Even though Mom never called me on it, she must have known that I was heartbroken after I came home to find Emilia dating Landon. I’ve barely come back home since then, using the distance as an excuse. It wasn’t a total lie, but it certainly wasn’t the main reason. I guess it was a combination of things — every time I came home, I was reminded of what could have been. Every time I was here, I’d miss Emilia that much more. It was just easier to stay away.
“I’m making lasagna for dinner. Please tell me you’re staying for dinner, Milly.”
Emilia looks at my Mom and shakes her head. “I’m sorry, Helen. I promised my dad I’d cook for him and we’d have a nice little catch-up.”
Mom’s eyes soften and she nods in understanding, but I can tell she’s disappointed. “Maybe tomorrow, Mom,” I tell her. “Maybe Emilia can join for dinner tomorrow.”
Thankfully, Emilia nods in agreement. She gets up and moves toward the sink with her plate, but my mom takes it from her. “It’s okay, honey. You’re probably tired, why don’t you go get some rest?”
Emilia nods and turns to grab her suitcase. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow,” she says.
She walks out and Kate moves toward the hallway, probably eager for a shower and some rest. I follow her up the stairs and stop her before she makes it to her room.
“Let’s have a chat,” I tell her. Kate looks up at me with wide eyes and I tilt my head toward her bedroom. She seems nervous as we walk in, as though she knows she did something wrong. I sit down on her bed and cross my arms.
“You’ve been avoiding me,” I tell her. Kate grabs her desk chair and sits down. Her hands tremble and she clenches them. My little sister has always hated confrontations with me and I’ve always done my best to prevent them from happening, but this time I’m too worried to stay silent.
“What were you doing with Jake?”
She looks away, as though she can’t face me, and shrugs. “Nothing really. We were just hanging out.”
I frown at her. Jake is a classic douchebag rich boy. All he ever does is skip classes and smoke weed or whatever else he can get his hands on. The only reason he hasn’t been kicked out yet is because of the amount of money his parents donated.
“Jake doesn’t just hang out, Kate. Don’t bullshit me. What was so important that you stood up Emilia? Tell me you weren’t doing any type of drugs with that asshole.”
Kate bites down on her lip nervously and shakes her head. “Emilia told you about that? I was really just hanging out with him and lost track of time. I promise, I wasn’t doing drugs or anything. I spoke to Emilia and she said it was fine and that things happen. I promised to treat her to lunch when we get back to make it up to her.”
I run a hand through my hair in frustration. “That’s not the point, Kate. I’m worried about you. What the hell are you doing? You’re always partying and now you’re becoming friends with all the wrong people. What’s up with that? I expected so much more from you.”
She looks at me with wide eyes and then looks down in despair. “I know, Carter. I did go overboard, I know. I’m sorry. It’s just that I don’t have a scholarship like you and Milly, so I didn’t really feel like I needed to make myself miserable trying as hard as you two do. I just wanted to have some fun. It’s been so freeing not being in Woodstock anymore.”
I sigh. “I know how you feel, Kate. Trust me, I do. I’m not asking you not to go out at all. I’m just asking you to at least try to maintain a balance of some sort. You can have fun and still excel academically too. You just need to try to find that balance. Promise me you’ll try that, okay?”
She nods at me, her head bopping up and down. She seems sincere, and that’s good enough for me.
