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Looked like they were going to talk some. She didn’t want to rush out the door.
Though this was a friends-with-benefits situation, he didn’t think they had to have sex and then leave each other’s side. That would make this feel even cheaper than it was and she was sick of not feeling as if she was enough in life.
“If you’ve still got water, that is good. I don’t drink much more than that.”
“Because as a kid you didn’t have a lot offered around you?” he asked.
“No,” she said. “And a lot of times we couldn’t even drink the water where I lived.”
“Really?” he asked.
“Really. Are we talking or am I leaving once my water is done?”
He handed her the bottle. She opened it and took a small sip. “You can stay as long as you like.”
“Then I was born in Madagascar.”
She wanted to see the look on his face. His reaction.
Most thought it was cool. Others thought she was kidding.
“Seriously?” he asked. His face was comical. “I haven’t been further than North Carolina.”
She burst out laughing. “Seriously.”
14
Overly Dramatic
Brooks felt like a fool saying he’d never been further away from home than North Carolina. He probably came across as a hick to Ivy who had traveled the world and he’d only ever been in a plane once.
“Guess you’re an old pro at flying.”
“I hate it,” she said. “I’d rather do anything than fly.”
“Really? That had to make life hard.”
“Among other things. Dahlia, she gets motion sickness. So as much as I cried through flights as a kid and white knuckle gripped people’s hands as a teenager and adult, it could have been worse. Some of the flights we had were on puddle hoppers old enough my grandfather could have been a kid in them. We had some interesting family flights. My oldest brother, Mark, is just staring out the window trying to block us out. Dahlia, she’s next of the siblings. Her head is in a paper bag the whole time. Jasmine is trying to calm me while I’m screaming we are going to crash. Then Chase, he’s five years younger than me. He was on my mother’s lap while she soothed him.”
“What was your father doing?” he asked.
“Reading some medical journal normally.”
“He didn’t help calm you or couldn’t give something to Dahlia for the sickness?” Didn’t seem right in his mind.
“He was busy. We’d heard it enough. And we’ve also been told plenty of how fortunate we were for the life we had.”
“I’m not sure I would have felt that way,” he said.
“We didn’t,” she said. “Thanks for saying that. Most think I’m being overly dramatic.”
“I’m sure you are about some things in life, but I can tell this is something that you’re not.”
“No,” she said, taking a sip of her water. “My sisters can tell you all the same stories. Different points of view, but if you connect the dots you get the same picture.”
“That your mother cared for five kids while your father was gone for long days?”
“Yes. My mother, I want to say she is a saint. She follows my father everywhere and has no problem living in the conditions we were in. Trust me when I say they were better than those my father treated but nothing like living in America.”
