Page 65 of Hunt for the Roses
Kyle.
I feel tears well up behind my eyes, and I turn to lay on my back to stare at the ceiling. I think of how I’ve betrayed Kyle, and how careless I’ve been to dishonor our relationship. I suddenly feel the familiar tightening of my invisible shackles around my wrists, and I start to wonder if I’m meant to escape them at all.
Thursday, July 21, 2022
I haven’t seen or spoken to Dane since Saturday, and it is now Thursday night. To be honest, I’ve purposely been avoiding him, and I intend to keep it that way until I feel ready to face him with a clearer and stronger mind. To my dismay, I can sense he’s doing the same.
Thankfully, I won’t have to consciously avoid Dane tonight because I am going by my parents’ house for a family dinner. When I pull up to the driveway, I head up to the front door on the wrap-around porch and ring the doorbell holding the tray of brownies I made for dessert.
My mom opens the door. “Hi, honey!” she exclaims as she hugs me.
“I’ve missed you,” I say while in her embrace.
I enter the house to greet my dad, Ronnie, and Cheryl, and dinner is ready by the time I am there with the table already set up. I place my brownie tray on the kitchen counter for later, and we all take our seats as soon as we’re done with greetings.
When we all start digging in, I am the first to speak. “How are the light fixtures working in the restaurant? Did Ronnie drop the ball at all?” I joke.
“Really?” I hear Ronnie say, and I throw him a smirk.
“So far, so good,” my dad responds.
“I bought the materials for you to put together those centerpieces you showed me on Pinterest,” my mom tells me.
“I would have ordered them, you didn’t have to do that,” I say.
“We’re about a month out. You need time to get them done,” my mom answers.
I finish my bite of pot roast and swallow it before speaking. “Mom, they’ll take two or three nights maximum to get done.”
My mom waves me off. “Oh, whatever. You know I like crossing things off my ‘To-Do’ list.”
“To be fair, that was my ‘To-Do’ list item,” I counter.
“That wasn’t being done,” my mom adds.
I purse my lips. “Okay. Not exactly, but I swear I was going to order them this week.”
“Uh-huh,” my mom says.
“Mom, I love you, but you get stressedwaytoo easily,” I say as I take another forkful of pot roast.
My mom holds her palms out. “Why does everyone keep saying I’m like this?”
“Because you are,” Ronnie chimes in.
“What is this? ‘Gang up on Mom Day’?” my mom asks.
I smile as I finish my bite, and it seems we’re all having a good laugh about the conversation.
“How’s your summer vacation been Ari?” Cheryl asks.
I take a sip of water. “Pretty eventful, actually. Luckily, the weather has been perfect for me to enjoy being outside.”
“Yeah, this is definitely one of the mildest summers we’ve had in a while,” Cheryl says.
“Yeah, Kate and I have been able to enjoy sitting outside at some waterfront restaurants. We actually just went to The Block a couple weeks ago. It’s a fairly new steakhouse, and it was really good,” I respond.
Cheryl turns to Ronnie. “Guess we’ll have to go.”
