Page 42 of Script
Time for that game face, Cameron.
It wasgood to be back home in Scottsdale enjoying the serenity of a post-dinner cocktail on my parents’ back deck.
I missed Finn, but I tried my hardest not to let it get in the way of my family time.
Kelly was beside me on a glider, Lyle and his lovely bride-to-be were sitting by the pool, swishing their naked toes in the water, and Mom and Dad were seated by the brick chimney sipping wine as Dad filled me in on life at the office. He was one of the top podiatrists in Scottsdale. Mom was a cosmetic dentist. To say they were well-off would be putting it mildly. But it hadn’t always been this way.
There had been lean times when they were just getting started in an affluent neighborhood that didn’t always take kindly to those of Mexican heritage. My mother’s family was from Guadalupe, and my father’s people from the United Kingdom. Mom liked to tease that at least two of her kids looked like the Escarra clan. Lyle, well, Lyle had the fair complexion that my father’s side of the family also had. He claimed it set him apart from his siblings, then asked for the SPF ten thousand sunscreen. Kelly, Mom, and I were dark-haired with skin that tanned with very little of the burning that Dad and Lyle suffered through.
They were now very comfortable in life, and all of their kids were successful in their own careers. Life was good for them, and I always felt a calm when I came home.
“… unwrapped the bindings to check on his ulcers when I discovered—”
“Morty, please, must we discuss foot issues over wine?” Mom asked, interrupting my father’s recounting of one Mr. Axel North, senator from the great state of Arizona, who at the age of ninety-two was having issues with his diabetic feet.
“You told Cameron about the porcelain veneers you did for the soda pop heiress,” Dad argued, without any real vinegar.
“Yes, and that was to remind all of our children and their soon-to-be wives that soda pop is terrible for your teeth. Acidic drinks can eat through your veneers.”
“Yes, Mama,” the three of us said by rote.
I did my best to not overdo on soda or coffee, not just for my pretty white teeth, but for my waistline. I did indulge more than I should, but so far, the coffee and sugar hadn’t gotten the better of me or my veneers. There were upsides to having a mom who fixed teeth for a living. So far, all of my veneers hadn’t been tested by a puck, stick, or too many cups of caffeine. It was only a matter of time though…
“Personally, I think coffee is repugnant,” Lyle called from the pool, his arms locked behind him, head tipped back to watch the stars blink to life overhead.
The backyard of my parents’ home was landscaped to match the surroundings. Lots of cactus and native flowers in low, rocky gardens, a pool with a splashing waterfall, and a covered patio with imported tiles and stonework walls that complimented the outside fireplace. The inside of the house was airy, open, and very much influenced by our Spanish culture. As were many of the mansions in this neighborhood.
“Did you know naturally brewed herbal tea is full of antioxidants? Carmine brews us a pot of purple tea daily. Perhaps you two should try brewing your own teas instead of wasting money buying those silly foamy coffees out all the time. Fiscally speaking, paring down eating out will save you at least a thousand dollars a year, which you could then invest in a solid IRA that will make your financial advisor proud.”
Kelly and I rolled our eyes. “Lyle, I don’t have a financial advisor, but if I did, I would tell him he had a better chance of seeing Jesus Christ than he did of prying my coconut milk iced macchiato out of my hands.”
Carmine laughed. Lyle sighed at his fiancée, as only a banker faced with a sister who liked frivolous coffee expenditures could.
“Since I can’t talk feet, I’m going to go sit with the girls. Cameron, it's beeeeen a while since you visited the hives,” Dad said, pleased at his bee pun.
I gave my little sister a peck on her smooth cheek, rose, and joined my father for a slow walk to the hives. Mom and Carmine started talking wedding, which brought Kelly into the conversation as she was the maid of honor. Carmine had claimed Kelly as her sister and me as her twin brother as we were the same age. She had no siblings, and her parents had died young, which was why my father was walking her down the aisle next year. We all adored Carmine. What she saw in Lyle was a mystery for the ages. Love is blind, as they say.
Whoevertheywere.
I wondered what they would say if they could witness the mess that I’d stumbled into. What words of sage advice would the mysterioustheypass along to a soul who had shunned any kind of relationship, and now, without warning and one smile at a time, was balancing on the edge of a ravine as deep as the Grand Canyon.
“… how full the frames are. I’ll be putting the supers on the hives within the next two weeks.”
“Uh-huh,” I replied as my sight lingered on the setting sun. The western part of the yard was alive with flowering plants and honeybees making one last journey out to collect pollen before calling it a day. It had been a day of packing as fast as I could, then jumping on the first available flight to get me out of LA. Even being a state away didn’t seem to be helping though. I could still see Finn’s eyes in the dark blues of the evening sky.
I wish I’d asked him to come with me.
“Of course, if that were to happen, then your mother and I would have to sprout wings and grow stingers.”
My mind was on Finn, as always, as I wondered what he was doing tonight. I’d sent one fast text when I had arrived, but that was it. I wanted to send more though, and that was the whole problem in one big, closeted nutshell.
“I’ve always thought about what it might be like to sting the neighbor’s wife. She has enormous pollen baskets.”
“Yeah, me too.” Then what he said sank in, and I threw my father a befuddled and shocked glance.“Whatdid you just say about Mrs. Wilcox?”
“Ah, there you are!” he joked, giving me a soft nudge in the side as we took our seats in the two Adirondack chairs Dad had put out in this massive, and busy, flower garden. “I knew if I kept talking you’d drift back to the conversation in time.”
“I’m sorry, Dad.” I shoved my fingers into my hair as I exhaled though my mouth.
