Page 6 of Just the Tipsy
“Okay, fine.” I sigh and run my hand through my hair. “See you then.”
“See you then.” She gives me a kiss on the cheek.
I’m really happy for Wes and Rose. I really am. Especially because they’ve been into each other for a long time, not that they admitted it until a year and a half ago. But him getting engaged has thrown gasoline on the fire of Mom trying to get me to date.
I head into the back again, feeling like I just finished an hour-long surgery rather than a fifteen minute booster shot appointment.
Over the nextweek and a half, the engagement party grows from a thing that I forgot was on my calendar to something I can’t escape. Our family text chain is all about it — the food, the guests, the music — and for whatever reason, Mom needs all of our opinions.
The guest list that seems to include every single person in a ten-mile radius of Jepsen. If the engagement party is this draining, then I don’t even want to think about the wedding.
Two days before the event, I get home a bit early and hear my dog, Duke, and Wes’s dog, Murphy, playing in the backyard. By the time I’ve changed out of my scrubs and showered, both dogs are tuckered out, stretched out on the grass gnawing on opposite ends of a stick. Wes is sitting on the back patio, legs stretched out in front of him.
“Wow, you’re home early,” Wes says, checking the time on his phone.
“For once.” I sit down in the seat next to him and sigh. “Thanks for letting Duke out.”
“No problem.”
Duke realizes I’m here and hops up, trotting up the stairs to greet me. He puts his paws in my lap so I can pull his front legs up on my shoulders. I rub his back and let him snuffle my neck for a bit, like we’re hugging. I’m not sure when we started doing this, but getting a hug from him every day, especially after a long day, is just as comforting for me as it is for him.
“Work’s busy?” Wes asks.
“Yeah.” I say, letting Duke back down. “I haven’t even gone to trivia.”
“Damn, no trivia?” Wes raises an eyebrow. My best friends, Jeremiah, his twin sister, Jada, and I are reigning trivia champs at the bar our family also owns, The Copper Moon. We’re way too into it and I almost never miss it. Wes is the bar’s manager, but he usually doesn’t stay for the whole shift for trivia.
“Nope.” My phone buzzes and I see another text from Mom. “Why does Mom need all of us to weigh in on everything?”
“Yeah, tell me about it.” Wes leans back in his seat. “But Mom’s eating this shit up and aside from weighing in every once in a while, we haven’t had to do all that much. It’s not too bad.”
“I guess.” I scratch Duke’s back leg where he can never quite reach. “She’s been bugging me about a date, though. She keeps saying it’s been nearly two years, but she doesn’t get it.”
I stare off at Bianca’s house, not really focusing on anything in particular. I see her pass by a window for a brief second and my heart skips a beat.
“I know,” he says, his voice quiet. “I don’t think she could.”
He, along with Jeremiah and Jada, weathered the storm of me being a fucking wreck after the second breakup with Catherine. They’re the only three people I trusted with it all. Even now the rush of shame and self-loathing pops up in my chest, but I can stuff it down.
“I need to head to work, but go have a beer or something and mute your notifications.” He stands up and stretches, and finally, Murphy does the same before trotting up the steps. “Maybe Mom’ll get the hint and stop blasting you with texts.”
We both stare at each other for a beat and burst out laughing at the same time. But when Wes and Murphy head inside, my smile fades.
I can tell my mom no, and I have plenty of times. But some things she just can’t let go. Should I bring someone justto keep her off my back? With all the people who are coming, we’d probably only say hello to each other and have a short conversation before someone else takes her attention.
I stay outside for a few more minutes until I feel overly antsy.
“Want to go for a walk, buddy?” I ask Duke.
He’s half lab, half husky, and the husky part of him gives him an alarming amount of energy. He’s always down for a walk or a run.
I clip his leash on and guide him to the path that runs along our property and Bianca’s, toward an easy path into the woods. As we pass, I can’t help but glance up at Bianca’s house again. I mostly spoke to Miss Gloria when she brought Sadie into the clinic or when she needed help with something around the house.
The house looks a bit worse for wear, now that I’m looking at it up close, and there’s a tree in the small space between our fences whose roots are going to screw up both of our fences if we don’t take care of it.
The house is just a few steps behind me when the unmistakable sound of a bloodcurdling scream echoes from inside Bianca’s house. Duke and I sprint up her front porch steps without a second thought and I bang on the front door.
“Bianca?” I call out. “Bianca?”
