My Paper Heart (21 page)

As soon as saw me she squealed with delight and enveloped me in her tiny arms. I think her ginormous breasts crushed my belly button.

"My, my, Libby, look at you! I think the south has done you some good!" She put her tiny fists on the waist of her designer jeans and gave me the once over.

Compared to her I probably looked like a bag lady standing there. I was exhausted partly from crying all night, and partly since I had to be up so early. I was clad in nothing more than cropped sweat pants and a tank top. The belly that I had developed over the summer felt like it was protruding over my pants.

Then of course I had to stand next to the perfectly put together Barbie herself. She sure got dressed up just to pick someone up at the airport: jeans that probably cost more than I made in a week, heels, and a black cowl neck t-shirt. I was actually pretty sure this was her weekend wear.

"So where is this Louisiana boy you've been raving about?" She looked past me. "Is he back there carrying your luggage for you like a good southern gentleman?"

"Um…"  I bit down on my lower lip, looking down at my sister.

The truth was I turned on my phone as soon as they pilot announced it was safe to do so, hoping for a message from Blaine saying 'I missed my flight', or 'overslept.'  I didn't get either of that. I did get a text from him though, two words.

I’m sorry.

That was it. Not a phone call, not an excuse, just those two words. Not the two words that I was really looking for.

"Libby, this isn't like that Brady Bunch episode where Jan made up a boyfriend is it?" Beth cocked an eyebrow at me.

I couldn't help but smile at that one.

"No." I sighed and the smile erased from my face. "It's a bit more complicated than that."

"Well." She threw an arm around me, which was literally a throw since the top of her head barely reached my shoulders.

"We can talk about that on the hour ride it's going to take us to get out of the airport."

I shook my head and forced a weak laugh. Too bad the situation actually wasn't funny.

∞

"So he just didn't show up?" Beth shrieked while she tried to back her Mercedes out of the parking spot.

I explained, mostly everything, by mostly I mean, not much at all. I told her we had a fight, but I didn't exactly say what the fight was about and neglected to mention anything about the unreciprocated love.

"Nope, he just left me waiting." I fiddled with the buckle on my seatbelt.

We were definitely back in the city, this wasn't like small town New Orleans, and I never thought I would miss it so much. I was surrounded by sky scrapers and angry drivers, instead of the willow trees and slow talking locals.

But most of all I missed Blaine. I wanted him to be there sitting in the backseat of my sister's car. I wanted to look back and see him smile while I pointed and told him what every single building was that we passed. But instead I sat there in silence. Of course, the car wasn't completely silent. My sister not only liked to blare her music, but she also never knew a conversation she didn't like. Even if it was one that was basically with herself.

On a good day my parents' house was about thirty minutes from the city and forty-five minutes from the airport. Our neighborhood didn’t have the small European style houses of Louisiana. It was the same cookie cutter, suburban homes, and row after row of them.

After I graduated high school, my parents tried to sell our five bedroom house to move into a condo in the city, but with the economy the way it was, nothing was selling. So it was just the two of them, and of course their French Bulldog, in the big house. Our neighborhood was the same as many of the North Shore community homes. We enjoyed views of Lake Michigan and neighbors with homes in the millions. The homes were modeled after beach houses, since we were walking distance from the beach.

"Are you sure you don't want to go to lunch?  Or even just to come to the house to hang out?" Beth stared at me.

We had pulled into the cobblestone driveway about five minutes ago, but she had sat there trying to convince me to hang out with her. I really couldn't hide things from my sister very well. Even though we were five years apart, we were still very close. She was always a friend to me growing up. Even though she was always the popular blonde, she always made time for her outcast little sister.

"Yeah, I'm really tired Beth. You know I had to get up early to make it to the airport and all." It was partly true, I was tired, but more about the fact that I couldn't sleep the night before. I was also hoping that Blaine would call, text, or something. And if he did I didn't want my sister to be around.

"Alright, well Ben and I will be over in a couple of hours for dinner. Mom's ordering Mongolian!" She yelled out the car window as I got out.

Mom didn't cook. Googling a new restaurant was her idea of trying a new recipe.

I ran up to the front door and my sister didn't drive away until I was able to get in. I waved as I securely unlocked the door and pushed it open, thrusting my suitcase in ahead of me.

The cleaning lady had definitely already been there. The large crystal chandelier that hung above the foyer sparkled onto the hardwood floor and out the large windows. I think you could have fit Aunt Dee's whole house into our foyer and dining room. It was only two o'clock in the afternoon, my parents wouldn't be home until at least six.

I kind of wished I did have some company. The house couldn't have felt emptier. I shut the door and left my suitcase in the foyer as I headed toward the kitchen. It looked like my mom had remodeled again. This time I guessed that granite was the new black. Granite countertops and stainless steel flooded the kitchen. I felt like I was inside of an industrial warehouse, and with the size of my parents' kitchen it probably could have been one.

My stomach was rumbling. I opened the fridge, but just as I expected nothing but some condiments and leftover Chinese food. I grabbed a container and smelled its contents. It didn't seem like it was too old and I was sure that the cleaning lady would have thrown it out if it was. I popped the container, which looked like it had some sort of lo-mein in it, into the microwave and looked at my phone again.

Blaine hadn't called, texted, Facebooked, e-mailed, nothing. I thought about calling my mom and letting her know I was in, but it was Appeals Monday and I knew she would be busy.

I could hear rumblings from the laundry room. I knew my mom usually didn't let the dog out during the day, but I figured this was a special occasion. I went into the laundry room to see my little French Bulldog up on her hind legs in the cage. Her tongue was hanging out of her mouth as she whimpered.

Sally, the dog, was a thirteenth birthday gift from my parents. I had begged for a dog for years, but they always said it was too messy, but finally they gave in. When I first saw Sally, I thought she was the ugliest thing I had ever seen. But she grew on me, and grew even more on my dad. Once I left for college she kind of took over as my dad's dog and usually never left his side at night.

That didn’t mean she wasn't happy to see me. Once I let her out of the cage, she licked my face and pranced her way after me into the kitchen.

The timer went off on the microwave and I carried the container and a fork upstairs to what was my bedroom. Sally happily following behind me. My mom, or should I say the cleaning lady, had left it exactly as I left it. My sleigh bed was in the center as a focal point with a deep maroon comforter overtaking it. It wasn't the twin bed with the bubblegum bedspread that I had become accustomed to. I took a bite of my lo-mein as I headed toward my balcony.

We were lucky enough that each of our bedrooms had French doors that led to a small balcony. Of course there wasn't much room for anything else but two people to stand on the balcony. But I enjoyed getting somewhat of a sun tan out there for the past nineteen summers. I looked out and could see that the gardeners were out making sure every blade of grass was mowed and every flowerbed was weeded. It really wasn't fair that they were out there in the heat. I guess that was their job, and I felt like I was kind of abandoning mine. But I was here for a reason, not just because I got in a fight with Blaine, but for Kristi's wedding.

I walked back into my bedroom and set the lo-mein on the dresser, ironically next to the picture of my parents and me at my first day of school. I took my phone out of my pocket. I sent a quick I’m here text to Kristi and set my phone down.

I knew she would probably want to go out later, and I knew my parents would want to spend time with me. It really was great that so many people were glad that I was home, but all I could really think about was how much I wished Blaine was with me. So I fell asleep to dream of his blue eyes.

∞

I woke up to the sound of my mom's heels clicking on the hardwood floor in the hallway. I knew it would be a while before she got to my bedroom, but I decided I should at least try and get up.

Sally was already up before I could even lift my head off the pillow. She happily pounced off of the bed and her little paws padded on the wood floor while she waltzed over to my bedroom door.

My mom picked Sally up as she walked into the room. After not seeing my mom for a few months she looked different to me. She seemed to have a whole new glow about her, or maybe that was Botox. My mom, my sister, and I all had the same strawberry blonde hair. Except my mom, I noticed, had wisps of gray around her temples, the same shade of gray as Sally's fur.

I wondered if she noticed them, or if for some reason they matched her Dolce & Gabbana glasses to make her look distinguished. I honestly wasn't even sure that my mom needed glasses, but I think she thought people would take a blonde lawyer more seriously if she had glasses.

"Hey Libby. Beth called and told me about the boy." She sat down on the end of my bed putting Sally down beside her. "Dad said he's willing to go down to Louisiana and pull him here by his bicuspids if you would like."

I smiled a genuine smile at my mom. "No, that's fine, I think I can handle this one on my own."

She reciprocated that smile, showing her teeth that could only be the dream of any dentist. I honestly think that's why my dad married her. She had perfect teeth and he wanted to pass that gene down.

"Come on, let's go downstairs and see what we can decipher that might be good to order from this Mongolian restaurant."

She motioned her hands for me to get up. Life may be confusing, but always leave it to a mother to fix things with humor and food.

∞

Dad got home just as Mom, Beth, and I were getting the table set. Mom and I had to Google a lot of the food on the menu to see what it actually was and after that Mongolian food didn't seem as enticing as we thought it would be. But we settled on some buuz, which are meatballs twisted Hershey Kiss style into ravioli type pasta and steamed boodog, which was goat cooked with hot stones in it. Then we got added rice and a few butter cookies. I thought southern food was weird at first, but this definitely wasn't anything like gumbo.

"Well I see your mom tried a new restaurant." Dad smiled while he kissed Beth and me on the cheek.

Dad seemed to have a new radiance to him as well. I was wondering if they both went and got a two for one deal on Botox. My sister whispered that it was because they were having more sex since I was gone. I shuttered at that thought.

"So Libby, has Elsbury made a southern belle out of you yet?" My dad asked as he spooned some goat onto his plate.

I winced. Blaine always called me a southern belle. "Um, well I helped Aunt Dee make a praline pie once, so I think I’m on my way!"

"There are actually women in this family that cook?" Ben, my sister's husband, joked between mouthfuls of food.

Ben was quite a bit older than my sister, and his age really showed. Physically he was really fit. He worked out I think, more than anyone, and in fact he actually met my sister by taking her spinning class at the gym one summer. But even with his vast knowledge of all things NCAA he still couldn't hide that he just wasn't up on the times. This included his wardrobe. That man owned more pairs of white Reeboks and sweatpants, than anyone over thirty ever should.

"Aunt Dee is a really amazing cook." I beamed. "Probably the best in the whole Parrish."

"Yeah, it looks like you haven't missed too many of her meals either." My dad smiled.

My mom and sister froze. I don't think either of them were completely oblivious to the events of the past year. I remembered last Thanksgiving where my mom witnessed me eating an entire pumpkin pie, and then spend the next half an hour in the guest bathroom with the water on. But for some reason it actually didn't faze me. I just smiled back at my dad and took another huge bite of lamb. I wasn't scared of what fights could ensue or anything else my parents could throw at me.

"Well, we do actually have a reason that we gathered you all here tonight." My mom grabbed my dad's hand.

"Oh, us first!" Beth protested, pounding her fist on the table like a little kid.

"Alright Beth, I guess you first." My dad smiled, taking a big gulp of his water. I noticed he didn't have a glass of bourbon or scotch or any alcohol, odd. I was surprised that he didn't get angry either.

"Well." Beth beamed at Ben and grabbed his hand. "Ben and I are expecting a little bundle of joy!"

She looked back at us.

My dad almost choked on his water and my mom squealed with delight. Before I knew it, everyone was jumping around the table and hugs and kisses were flying about. I honestly had no idea that they were even trying, or hell, that he could still shoot straight. I found out her due date was in March, so she was about a month and a half pregnant. She had been keeping it in for that past couple of weeks so she could wait until everyone was together to tell us.