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“Oh! Did you have enough room in the dresser for your things? And the wardrobe? Did you find enough hangers? Do you need more?”
Her thoughtfulness and concern made me smile. “I found everything and there was more than enough room.” I sat down and began heaping eggs and bacon on to my plate.
“Oh, good. It’s so nice to have you here, dear. If you need anything, just let me know, all right?”
Uncle Oscar folded his paper and pushed his chair back from the table. “Well, I best get to work. Lots to do with Liam gone.”
I froze with my fork partway to my lips. “What’s that, Uncle Oscar? Did you say Liam’s gone?” This had been what I’d wanted, only now it didn’t feel right. Did they somehow know we’d kissed? Did Uncle Oscar fire him because of me?
“Not to worry. It’s likely only for a few days. His mother’s not well, you see. Had to go home for a bit to take care of her. I’m sure he’ll have it all sorted soon enough.” He gave me a kiss on my cheek and opened the door to the hallway. “Have a good day, you two.” He slipped out into the hallway and the door swung closed behind him.
“Did you get enough?” Aunt Vivian asked, inspecting my plate. “There’s more warming on the stove if you’re hungry.”
“This is plenty. Thank you.” I scooted my chair a bit further under the table and let the morning’s news sink in. Liam had left. He’d gone home and hadn’t even bothered to tell me or say goodbye. I reminded myself that he didn’t owe me anything. A few kisses in front of the fire didn’t make him my boyfriend. Also, I was going to have to tell him it could never happen again, anyway. So what if he hadn’t said goodbye.
“Are you all right, dear?” Aunt Vivian asked, snapping me out of my thoughts.
“What? Oh. Yes. I’m fine.” I took a bite of scrambled eggs.
“You look flushed. Are you sure?”
“Yes,” I said, swallowing. “Thank you for breakfast, Auntie. Everything is delicious.”
“My pleasure, dear.” She leaned across the table. “Now, we must get out of the house today. With Liam gone, your uncle will probably want me to fetch his files. But I plan on spending the day with you. I was thinking we might do some sightseeing. So, I propose we get out of the house as soon as you’ve finished breakfast. After I show you around a bit, we can drive into town and maybe find some lunch and do some shopping. Then we’ll be home in time for dinner. What do you think?”
I nodded but didn’t respond because I’d just taken a bite of buttered toast.
She continued, “I haven’t forgotten your promise, you know. You said you’d tell me what happened yesterday to make you so upset. But I can always make sure we have enough fun to take your mind off things, if you’d prefer. What do you say?”
“That sounds good.” I didn’t really want to talk about my conversation with Connor. I didn’t want to think about any of that. And of course, I wasn’t going to tell her about kissing Liam. My thoughts drifted back to last night while she continued telling me about the different places where we might stop for lunch. I wondered if Liam would return before my visit ended. It was nearly Christmas, and his mother was sick. He’d probably want to spend the holidays with his family. It was entirely possible that I might never see him again.
My stomach churned, and I lost my appetite. Somehow I kept getting mixed up with the wrong guys. I pushed the remaining scrambled eggs around on my plate while my aunt talked.
“You don’t have to finish it, dear.” My aunt took a sip of tea and set her mug down on the table.
I blinked. “What’s that?”
“Your breakfast.” She nodded at my plate. “If you’re not hungry, just throw it on the compost and let’s go.”
“Oh. Okay.” I stood and walked over to the sink with my plate. Liam’s absence might provide me an excellent opportunity to show Uncle Oscar how valuable I could be to him. A new plan started to take shape.
“Are you sure you’re okay, dear? You’re not getting sick, are you?” She followed me to the sink and held the bin open for me as I scraped my plate.
“No, Auntie. I’m fine. Just a little preoccupied this morning, that’s all.” It was time to snap out of this and get to work.
“Yes, well, I should say you have reason to be.”
Her comment pulled me away from my train of thought. “What do you mean?” She couldn’t possibly have guessed I’d been making out with Liam.
“Deciding where to go to graduate school is a big decision,” she said. “And if you get into Oxford, moving to England, away from your family. It’s a big change.”
“Oh,” I said. I set my plate in the sink and washed my hands. “I didn’t get accepted to Oxford. I got the email last night. I’m on the waitlist.”
“I’m sorry, dear. Have you talked with Oscar yet? Perhaps there’s some way he can help.”
I smiled. “Thanks. He’s been so busy, we haven’t had time to talk. But I’d like to talk to him when we get back.” I turned to face her as I wiped my hands on the dish towel.
“Of course! I’m sure your uncle would be happy to tell his friends at Oxford about his fantastic, intelligent niece. Don’t count yourself out yet. After all, I have a personal, selfish interest in you getting accepted.” She placed her hand on her hip and grinned at me.
