Page 69 of Chronicles of a Rockin' Mess

“Costa Rica,” my dad answers.

“That sounds like fun,” Lark replies after she chews a few bites. I pull my attention away from Lark and look at my parents.

“Uh, when were you planning on going? Do you need me to check in on the house?” I ask.

“We were thinking next month. And no…we…” My mother trails off and looks at my dad.

“What?” I ask, setting my fork on my plate.

“We are looking at some condos near the beach,” my dad answers.

My jaw hits the table. OK, not literally, but I’m left speechless.

“Wow! Uh, really?” Lark interjects.

“Yeah. We think we need a change. We love our home. We love the memories, but lately…we feel like the house is keeping us in the past, and we want to move on with our lives,” my mom says slowly as she looks at me.

“But…what about Carrie’s stuff?” I ask, completely confused.

“We kept it there for us at first, but then we kept it there for you. I always see you standing by her door,” my mom points out. “I didn’t want to take that away from you.”

I shake my head in disbelief. “For me,” I ask, pointing a finger at my chest.

“Yes,” she whispers back.

“But…I thought…” I trail off because I’m speechless again.

My mom reaches across the table and puts her hand on mine. “We know how close you two were. You had such a hard time after she died. We all did. I just couldn’t bring myself to not have her in your life, especially if that was helping you,” she explains.

“Mom…I thought you all couldn’t let her go,” I say.

“We’ll never let Carrie go, Lincoln. But we’ve been ready to move on for a while now. She’d want us to be happy,” he says.

I swallow back my emotions that I feel are creeping up because I don’t want to have a breakdown in front of Lark.

“I’ll do whatever you need me to do then,” I say to my parents. “I want you to be happy. And don’t worry about me. I’m happy,” I add, stealing a glance over at Lark.

I look back up to see my mom’s teary-eyed smile. “I’m glad. I’m so happy for you, Lincoln. You deserve to be happy,” she says as she stands and walks around to me. I stand and engulf her in my arms. We hug and then my dad joins us. It’s a cheesy family moment. I hear Lark sniffle.

“Get in here,” I say to her, and she laughs as she stands and joins our group hug. I realize in that moment just how lucky I am. I have Lark. I have loving parents. I have good friends. And I have a career, that so many would give anything to have.

Chapter 29

Lark

“You ready?” Lincoln asks. After last night’s family revelations, he’s quiet today, but he kept his promise and has taken me to see Tiffany.

“Yep, ready as ever,” I reply nervously as we walk into a swanky office building. Lincoln grabs my hand and squeezes it while we wait in the elevator.

“It’ll be great, you’ll see,” he assures me.

The elevator dings and we walk down a corridor to Tiffany’s office. An assistant has us take a seat, and a moment later shows us back to Tiffany’s office as she offers us beverages, which we decline.

“Hi, Lark, so nice to meet you!” Tiffany says as she rounds a large glass and metal desk and outstretches a hand for me to shake. “Please, have a seat.”

Lincoln and I take a seat. Tiffany sits down on another chair instead of returning to her desk. Something about that endears her to me. She doesn’t think that she’s better than me.

“Lincoln has filled me in on quite a bit. And that track you sent! I loved it! Lincoln tells me that Roger is interested in meeting with you. So, why don’t you tell me about your career,” she says, leaning back in her seat as though she has all the time in the world.

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