place, but I’ve let Mom’s death change everything. She wouldn’t be happy about that. Besides, I need to make my own money because I don’t want to burden Dad.
“When do I start?” I ask, bracing myself for Nat’s explosion of happiness.
“Oh my God, are you freaking serious?”
“You’re going to have to be patient with me. I’ve watched you waitress for two years but actually doing it myself is an entirely different thing.”
“You’ll be fine,” she squeals. “Besides, Knox is going to be kind of rusty himself so it will be a good time for you to start.”
I feel the blood start to drain out of my face at the mention of her brother’s name. “Knox is going to be working there?”
“Just for the summer until he figures out which college he’s going to. I have to admit that he was instrumental in finally swaying Mom and Dad to hire you,” she admits.
My palms start to sweat and I’m glad I’m sitting down. “Knox wants me to work there?”
“He said it would be fun, the three of us together again. I’m sure it won’t last for long though, as soon as he starts whoring around again, he won’t have time for us,” she jokes.
How could I have been so stupid to agree to this without ever considering that Knox might work there? It would have been hard enough trying to hide this secret from Natalie all summer without Knox around but now I’m supposed to work closely with him every day and not let it slip out.
As I try to falsely match Natalie’s enthusiasm, I realize that I’m not really worried about the secret coming out. I’m worried that I’ll let it happen again.
******
After Natalie leaves, I realize that it has been a few days since I showered and I’m quite ripe. I strip down and step into the shower. As soon as the hot water rushes down my body I wonder how I could have forgotten how good this feels.
A million thoughts are buzzing around my mind as I lather up my hair and body. Most of them are about Knox. How in the world am I going to work so closely with him after the night we had together? I can barely stop myself from thinking about his strong hands running down my body right now.
I squeeze the remaining body wash into my hands and mentally remind myself to tell Mom I need more. Then I remember.
Mom is gone forever. She won’t be making any runs to Target to get me more body wash. All the tiny things she did every day that I barely noticed are now going to be continuous reminders that she is gone. I want to cry but I know that I can’t spend the rest of my life crying. I turn off the water and step out of the shower, feeling better as I resolve to quit sitting around feeling sorry for myself. I have to figure out some of the stuff that needs to be done around here to make Dad’s life easier. Mom did so much for us, I only wish I would have noticed it when she was alive.
I slip into a comfortable T-shirt and yoga pants and throw my wet hair into a ponytail. I head downstairs and grab a pad of paper and a pen from next to the phone to start a grocery list. I scribble down body wash as the first item then start going through the refrigerator and cabinets trying to figure out what we need. It doesn’t take me long before I realize I have no idea what I’m doing.
The doorbell rings and I cringe, not in the mood to deal with any weepy-eyed neighbors even though they mean well, I just can’t hear someone tell me for the millionth time that they are sorry. I consider ignoring it when Dad yells down from upstairs.
“Ripley, can you answer that? I’m getting ready to take a shower. I ordered us a pizza.”
My heart seizes in my chest knowing that we only order pizza from Mozzarella. I realize I’m being stupid. What are the odds that Knox would be delivering our pizza when he probably hasn’t even started yet? I make my way slowly to the door, wishing our solid oak front door was glass. I flip on the outside light and ease open the door to find Knox standing
“When do I start?” I ask, bracing myself for Nat’s explosion of happiness.
“Oh my God, are you freaking serious?”
“You’re going to have to be patient with me. I’ve watched you waitress for two years but actually doing it myself is an entirely different thing.”
“You’ll be fine,” she squeals. “Besides, Knox is going to be kind of rusty himself so it will be a good time for you to start.”
I feel the blood start to drain out of my face at the mention of her brother’s name. “Knox is going to be working there?”
“Just for the summer until he figures out which college he’s going to. I have to admit that he was instrumental in finally swaying Mom and Dad to hire you,” she admits.
My palms start to sweat and I’m glad I’m sitting down. “Knox wants me to work there?”
“He said it would be fun, the three of us together again. I’m sure it won’t last for long though, as soon as he starts whoring around again, he won’t have time for us,” she jokes.
How could I have been so stupid to agree to this without ever considering that Knox might work there? It would have been hard enough trying to hide this secret from Natalie all summer without Knox around but now I’m supposed to work closely with him every day and not let it slip out.
As I try to falsely match Natalie’s enthusiasm, I realize that I’m not really worried about the secret coming out. I’m worried that I’ll let it happen again.
******
After Natalie leaves, I realize that it has been a few days since I showered and I’m quite ripe. I strip down and step into the shower. As soon as the hot water rushes down my body I wonder how I could have forgotten how good this feels.
A million thoughts are buzzing around my mind as I lather up my hair and body. Most of them are about Knox. How in the world am I going to work so closely with him after the night we had together? I can barely stop myself from thinking about his strong hands running down my body right now.
I squeeze the remaining body wash into my hands and mentally remind myself to tell Mom I need more. Then I remember.
Mom is gone forever. She won’t be making any runs to Target to get me more body wash. All the tiny things she did every day that I barely noticed are now going to be continuous reminders that she is gone. I want to cry but I know that I can’t spend the rest of my life crying. I turn off the water and step out of the shower, feeling better as I resolve to quit sitting around feeling sorry for myself. I have to figure out some of the stuff that needs to be done around here to make Dad’s life easier. Mom did so much for us, I only wish I would have noticed it when she was alive.
I slip into a comfortable T-shirt and yoga pants and throw my wet hair into a ponytail. I head downstairs and grab a pad of paper and a pen from next to the phone to start a grocery list. I scribble down body wash as the first item then start going through the refrigerator and cabinets trying to figure out what we need. It doesn’t take me long before I realize I have no idea what I’m doing.
The doorbell rings and I cringe, not in the mood to deal with any weepy-eyed neighbors even though they mean well, I just can’t hear someone tell me for the millionth time that they are sorry. I consider ignoring it when Dad yells down from upstairs.
“Ripley, can you answer that? I’m getting ready to take a shower. I ordered us a pizza.”
My heart seizes in my chest knowing that we only order pizza from Mozzarella. I realize I’m being stupid. What are the odds that Knox would be delivering our pizza when he probably hasn’t even started yet? I make my way slowly to the door, wishing our solid oak front door was glass. I flip on the outside light and ease open the door to find Knox standing
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