Page 8 of Sweet Love at Bayside
“I don’t see what the big deal is. It’s a few weeks of your life, Des. Is that really too much to ask? You’re a teacher, so you have summers off anyway.” Violet sat cross-legged on the Oriental rug in the middle of the living room, her hands in praying position, head bent slightly forward, eyes closed. Her black tank top hung loosely off her heavily inked shoulder, her coal-black hair was tousled, and she still looked insanely sexy.
Vi was a vixen. A girl with no inhibitions. She did what she wanted, when she wanted to, without worrying about repercussions.As long as I’m not hurting anyone else, why does it matter? Thatwas her moral compass. She was definitely their mother’s daughter. Whereas Desiree was guided by right, wrong, and the firm decisionnotto become her mother.
And at the moment she was a little jealous of Vi’s ability to let things like this roll off her back. How much easier would it be to live stress-free like her?
“The big deal is that she lied to us. I thought she was dying. Do you have any idea how hard it was to go forty-eight hours thinking the mother I hardly know might be terminally ill?” She didn’t bother addressing her summer schedule. It was true that she didn’t teach during the summers, but she liked to catch up with friends, visit her father in Connecticut, and come up with new ideas for the next school year.
Violet pushed to her feet and stretched her arms over her head. “I know exactly how that feels, only I had to live with it forfivedays before I got here. And it wasn’t Lizza I was worried about.”
A spark of guilt hit Desiree. She had been pleasantly surprised that her sister had rushed to the Cape for her, even if she had also been annoyed with their mother for using her as an excuse.
“Then why didn’t you return my emails? Or call and ask me what was going on?” Desiree hated confrontations, especially when her feelings could get hurt. She escaped into the kitchen, spilling coffee on her tank top in her effort to try to outrun the uncomfortable emotions. She set the mug on the counter with aclunk, soaked a dish towel, and scrubbed at the stain.
“I was traveling.” Violet leaned her butt against the counter.
“That isnota reason. It’s…I don’t know what it is. Is it easier to travel that distance and worry than to pick up a stupid phone? Seriously, Vi. One phone call is all it would have taken. It’s like you don’t see how you’re just like her, or how frustrating it is for me to try to deal with you two.”
“Don’t be so high and mighty.” She snatched the dish towel from Desiree’s hand and added a spot of dish soap, surprising Desiree when she began scrubbing the stain. “You’re like her, too.”
“No, I’m not. I’m the antithesis of her.”
Violet laughed. “Sometimes I forget that you reallydon’tknow her.”
“And whose fault is that?” Desiree snapped.
Violet stopped scrubbing, her shoulders slumping. “We’re fighting again. We’re always fricking fighting.”
Desiree shifted her eyes away. She hated when Violet used the F-word, even in its gentler form. “Is it any wonder? We don’t know each other atall, we’re nothing alike, and we’re bonded by a mother who wanted nothing to do with me.” Tears welled in her eyes, and she turned away. “It doesn’t matter why you didn’t call. What matters is that we’re stuck, and I’m not dumping this place on you.”
Violet set the dish towel on the counter. “I don’t mind doing it myself. It’s not like I have a great life to go back to.” She crossed her arms, erecting the barrier she’d honed as a child. “I broke up with my boyfriend, which was why I didn’t call. I wasn’t exactly in a good mental place.”
Guilt wound through Desiree. She set her hand on her sister’s shoulder, fighting the urge to pull it away. She was an affectionate person by nature. She and Emery hugged all the time. How could it be so hard to touch her own sister?
Violet moved out of reach.
At least she wasn’t alone in her discomfort.
“I didn’t even know you had a boyfriend,” Desiree said. She’d always assumed Violet wasn’t into commitments of any kind, like their mother. “I’m sorry. Were the two of you serious?”
“As serious as I can get. I really liked the jerk.”
“Then why did you sleep with that other guy last night?” Desiree had heard the guy leave at around four o’clock in the morning, when she’d been lying awake, still thinking about Rick.
Violet gave her an incredulous look. “To forget Andre, of course.”
“I don’t get that at all, but I’m not judging you. I just…”Can’t fathom doing it.“I don’t understand how having sex with someone else helps you to forget how much you like a person.”
“No, little sister. I don’t imagine you would,” Violet said, full of snark and attitude, as she poured herself a cup of coffee.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You’retoogood. The proper preschool teacher, who always says and does the right thing.” She shook her head and sipped her coffee.
“I’m nottoo goodfor anything,” Desiree said angrily. “I curse, and I do the wrong thing.”
Violet lifted her eyes. “Mm-hm.”
“I do.” She stormed across the kitchen. “I say ‘damn’ and ‘hell’ sometimes. And I say…” She couldn’t get the damn F-word out of her mouth.
