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“I know, right?” I say, angrily putting my seatbelt on. “She makes me crazy. How could she do this to us? She ripped our family apart!”
“Was she and your dad close growing up?”
I shrug. “Of course. They were married.”
“But did they seem like they were in love?”
“Yeah.” They got along fine enough, but I never saw them holding hands or kissing. But that’s just how marriage is. You become friends over time. Doesn’t mean that you have to blow it all up as soon as a handsome guy in a suit walks by.
“She wanted to sit down and talk with me about it,” I say, plowing ahead. “Explain some stuff. I couldn’t. Instead of meeting her, I called my friend who was traveling around Australia, working in hostels and other odd jobs here and there, and asked if I could come meet her, so that’s what I did.”
“Did you tell your mother you were leaving?”
“I told her when I had landed in Sydney.”
She whistles low. “That’s cold.”
“She brought it on herself,” I say. “Trust me, she deserved it for what she did.”
“Still, two years,” Makayla says, shaking her head. “That’s a long time to disappear.”
I feel my cheeks getting red as I look out the window. “I emailed her a few times,” I say, feeling a little bit guilty. Our exchanges were always short and tense.
“Hold up, did you miss the wedding?”
The guilt increases. “Yeah, but it wasn’t a big deal. They just went to a courthouse and had a dinner after.”
“A wedding isalwaysa big deal to the bride and groom,” Makayla says, giving me a look like I should know better. “Even if it’s just at a courthouse.”
I look out the window at the buildings whizzing by.
I do regret not being there for her.
But at the time, I just… I just couldn’t be there. My heart was broken too.
“How’s your dad doing?” she asks as she changes lanes.
“He’s great,” I say, perking back up. “He has a new girlfriend who he’s absolutely in love with. They’re so cute together. They came and visited me in Perth. I’ve never seen him look so happy.” Even when he was married to my mom.
“So, you’re spending the Christmas holidays with your mom who you’re fighting with,anda stepdad you’ve never met?”
“Andwith my new stepbrother.”
“Oh shit, there’s a stepbrother too?”
“August. I’ve never met him either.”
“What’s his deal?”
I shrug. “I just know his name.”
We talk the whole drive up to my new stepfather Brandon’s cottage. It’s a beautiful secluded wooded area, I’ll give Brandon that. We chat as we drive along the long winding roads with the massive cottages spread far apart—each one sitting on the large stunning lake.
It’s snowing lightly—those big fat flakes of snow that take forever to come down—dusting the trees and bushes with white powdery snow. It’s gorgeous. I didn’t realize how much I missed the seasons while living in Australia until now.
By the time we arrive at 15 Swell Lake Road, Makayla knows pretty much everything about me and isveryinvested in knowing how things will turn out.
“Text me tonight,” she says when we’re parked in front of Brandon’s massive log cabin. It’s sitting on a hill surrounded by forest and overlooking a spectacular ice-covered lake.
