Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 91490 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91490 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
I blow out a breath. “I don’t think she’ll buy it. She’d want to know what, and then she’d be working out how much it would cost. You’d end up having to buy her the damn thing out of what little money you have left at the end of the week.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” Marion says. “But I have to complete the applications and the essays. There’s a lot of admin stuff I wasn’t really prepared for.”
“I know,” I say. There’s no way I’m letting my mom’s need to control Marion stop her getting to college. “Maybe say that some of your friends are going to Applegate Lake for an overnight camping trip in the summer, and you want to go but you need to buy supplies. A tent and stuff. So you get the second job to—wait! I got it.” I interrupt myself. “Ask if you can give her less of your paycheck at the end of every week, just until the summer. Tell her about the trip and how you can’t afford it unless she lets you keep more of your salary.”
“She might just kill me.”
“When she goes crazy, suggest you can get another job. But say you want to keep the money from the extra hours because you can’t fit many more in.”
There’s silence on the other end of the phone before Marion says, “She’ll think she’s so generous for not taking a cut, and she’ll be relieved she doesn’t have to give up any of my paycheck.”
“Exactly,” I say. “We’re beating her at her own game. Manipulating her to get what we want.”
“It could work. It’s worth a shot.” She squeals. “I knew you’d have a solution. You always figure everything out.”
Her words take me by surprise. I’ve never seen myself as a problem solver. If you listened to my mom, you’d think I was the root of most of the world’s problems. “Thanks, Marion.”
“I mean it. I miss you so much. Mom… she’s worse since the whole wedding thing. She’s constantly complaining.” Then she bursts out laughing. “And the other day she suggested Lydia date Frank.”
Her words are like a slap to my face. “You’re kidding. Lydia and Frank?”
“Don’t worry. I don’t think Frank has any interest in Lydia. But that’s her latest scheme.”
We’re all just pawns in Mom’s game of chess to secure her own future. I don’t know how I put up with it for as long as I did. I hope Lydia and Kitty find their way out. Or their way to me, like Marion has.
“How does Lydia feel about that?”
“She’s going along with it. What choice does she have? I think the first thing Mom wants to do is get her a job at the garage.”
Going along with it? My heart starts to ache at the thought of Lydia dating a man over twenty years older than her, just to keep Mom happy.
Lydia has a choice, just like I did. I only hope she realizes it before her wedding day.
THIRTY-ONE
Rosey
I stash the newly laundered napkins in the perfectly designed cubby and step back, pleased with myself. I’ve spent the last week learning the details of working in Blossom, because I’ve been moved from Autumn. It’s a promotion. Kind of. I’ll do half my shifts here and help out during special events, which comes with bonus pay. It’s nice to be doing things on different days. I’ll get to work with different people, meet different guests. I’m aware that I might not be here forever, but for now, I’m… happy.
I figure it will take some time to work out what I want to do with my life. Maybe I’ll stay on as a waitress at the Colorado Club. But talking to Marion about her college applications has made me ask questions of myself I’ve never asked before. I don’t know what I would have done after high school if I’d had the chance to choose. Would I have wanted to go to college? I knew it was never an option, so I never even fantasized about it.
Maybe I’ll go to veterinary school. Or become an English teacher. I’ve never thought about the possibilities because the future wasn’t ever my decision. My mom said I would be a good receptionist because I was pretty. So that’s what I did. Even when I stood in front of the mirror on the day I was supposed to get married, I don’t think I understood all the choices I’d have in front of me if I left Oregon. I never thought of what was possible. Just what was impossible: marrying Frank.
As if my thoughts summon him, I see a figure in the doorway that looks exactly like Frank from the back. But it can’t be.
Since my shift just ended, I head in that direction. When I get just a few yards away, the figure in the doorway turns—and I come face-to-face with my ex-fiancé.