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“In the end, he couldn’t see my logic, and he ended up pushing you away. I tried to help, but you wouldn’t take it because you thought it was coming from him, and you girls were just as stubborn as your father.”
At that moment, Andrea remembered her mother giving her a wad of cash as she prepared to leave home and to call if she needed anything. She also remembered that she hadn’t taken the money but had left it on the bed when she left.
“I wish I had done more, though, and for that, I am sorry, sweetie.”
Andrea’s heart broke as her mother’s tears flowed down her face. “I’m sorry too, Mom,” she apologized. “I should have accepted the help you gave, but now I see that I was too proud to accept it and too proud to return home,” she confessed as she embraced her mother tightly. The two continued to cry and find solace in each other.
When the crying had subsided, the two pulled apart and smiled at each other. Andrea felt as if a weight had been lifted from her chest, and she was happy her mother had initiated the talk.
“Let me show you something.” Her mother rose from the bench and walked back over to the rose bushes, but this time to a rose bush separated from the others.
The blooms were bright orange with pink on their outer circumference. They were extremely beautiful. Andrea wondered how she’d missed them before.
“Your father planted these about six months ago. They were supposed to be my surprise this year. I wasn’t aware they were here because he cordoned off the area so that I wouldn’t see them. But after his death, I came here and removed the barricade.”
Andrea rubbed her mother’s arm comfortingly.
Becky turned to her daughter with seriousness in her eyes. “He was planning to surprise me with not just this, but with your presence. He wanted you girls to be here for my next birthday to celebrate with me and to enjoy this.” Becky opened her arms, gesturing at the expanse of the garden.
Andrea was floored by the revelation that her father had been taking steps to resolve their issues for some time now. He had wanted to reconcile his family, and deep down, the thought warmed her heart.
When the two made it back to the house, Cora had made it back from the inn. She’d gone to resolve an issue one of their guests was having. Their mother went upstairs to her room to rest.
“So, I saw you and Mom coming from the rose garden,” Cora started conversationally. “Did you guys get a chance to talk?”
“We did,” Andrea confirmed. “It turns out our family’s major problems have stemmed from misunderstandings and pride.”
“Hmm.”
“You know I was thinking about taking the boat out on the water. Want to come with?” This had been one of the things Andrea was itching to do since her return, and she hoped her sister was game.
“Yes, that sounds like a great idea,” Cora readily agreed.
They both headed for their rooms, changing into their swimwear and throwing on sundresses. The two then made their way to the backyard, down by the dock.
Andrea loved the feel of the water spraying against her face as she revved the engine and the boat glided effortlessly through the liquid blue. She liked the fact that she could enjoy doing these things freely that others had to pay for at a resort.
After some time of cruising through the blue-green waters, the sun began to heat up the sky. Andrea brought the boat to a stop on the south side of the Camano Islands, and the two sisters removed their sundresses before making a splash in the clear waters.
Andrea was truly enjoying the coolness of the water as the sun above their heads provided the perfect balancing of temperature.
Half an hour later, the two became tired of swimming and made their way back on the boat. After running fresh water over their skin, they applied the sunscreen they had brought and just lazed on the deck of the boat.
Andrea told Cora about the conversation she’d had with their mother and how much it felt as if a weight had been lifted off her.
“I realize now I can’t blame you for what happened to me. You were just a kid yourself, and I was naïve and not at all thinking straight,” she confided.
“My life was back on track. But then... I- I...”
She’d explained how she’d been living with her friend Amanda for some months and how she’d gotten a job, but she still couldn’t find the words to tell her sister how that job had led to her making the biggest mistake of her life.
“I made so many mistakes, Cora.” She sighed, putting her head in her hands.
“Drea, it’s okay. You don’t have to finish the story now,” Cora soothed.
“No,” Andrea halted her sister. “I do. I need to get this off my chest.”
Her mind flashed back to a day she would never forget, and that always reminded her of how naïve she was. She remembered everything about that day as if it was just yesterday, from the pink sundress she wore and her white sandals to the way her heart beat erratically as she made her way up the driveway of the expansive mansion before her. She remembered being let in to wait by the foyer as the maid went in search of her employer. She remembered giving the maid the slip after being told he wasn’t in. She was sure that was a lie which was confirmed the moment she raised her hand and knocked on the door at the far end of the upstairs east wing.
She remembered the look of surprise on his face before it turned to annoyance. She remembered hearing the laughter of a female coming from inside the room as he used his body to expertly block the slight opening in the door. Andrea remembered hitting him as her tears fell. Even though they hadn’t been involved for long, she’d thought they were headed somewhere, but just like in the same fashion it started, it ended— like a whirlwind.
She should have known from that night that she wasn’t anything special to him— he’d left her the day after their first time together, and she’d awoken to a few bills on the bedside table for her to get a cab home. She’d learned from the housekeeper that he had left to start filming and wouldn’t be back anytime soon. For the next two months, she’d called him nonstop without success.
As she stood before him with tears streaming down her face, he had offered no apology but instead had blamed her for being so gullible as to think that he wanted anything from her apart from what they had shared that night. That evening, she left feeling lost and despondent. When she got home, she went straight to the bathroom and released all the content of her stomach before crumbling on the floor and crying herself to sleep.
That day, the stained glass shrouding her vision had fully shattered into a million pieces. Her naivety had caused her to give up the most special thing she had, and there was no way to go back in time to stop herself from making the mistake she’d made. Still, out of it came something so precious, something she could never ever think of parting with.
