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Going to be late.
No context, no nothing. Just four words that annoyed me. I had a life, too. Did he think he could just change his schedule willy-nilly, with no explanation, and not act the least bit remorseful? In fact, he knew I was seeing my family that night because I had mentioned it the day before over dinner.
“It must be so nice to be so close to your family,” Wesley had said.
“A blessing and a curse.”
He chuckled. “As all family is.”
His lateness was a reminder that I was putty in his hands. To be shaped and used to his will. And I had to let it happen…no ifs, ands, or buts. A quarter of a million dollars will do that to a person.
When he arrived home, he muttered an apology, barely looking in my direction. I had to admit, it broke my heart the slightest bit. Between sharing wine and talking about dating to the celebration we had the previous night over my successes with Danny, all the way to that tiny look I caught this morning before he walked out the door, it felt like we had moved the meter of our relationship a bit more toward friends. And if I was honest with myself, I’d hoped maybe even more.
Of course, though, Wesley Taves had a habit of subverting my expectations. Before I made it to my car, he rushed out from inside with a bottle of wine and handed it to me. “I’m sorry to keep you late, Cara. Give my regards to your family.”
“Oh, this is…really nice. You don’t have to do that. It’s no big deal.”You’re a big liar, Cara.
“Please. I insist. It’s the least I can do.”
I clutched the wine to my chest and smiled at him. “Thank you.”
Now, Wesley’s bottle of wine sat in the passenger seat as I pulled up to my parents’ house in Oceanside. As soon as I was parked, I snatched the bottle and bolted for the front door. It was unlocked. Everyone was already seated for dinner and their plates were mostly finished.
“Sorry I’m late!”
Katie was the only one who looked happy to see me. “Hey, Car!”
I went to her and kissed the top of her head. “Hi, honey.” I went then to both my parents and gave them kisses as well. “Sorry, I got held up with work.”
“It’s okay. Glad you made it.” Mom patted my arm, but I could tell by the thinness of her lips that she was only saying it was okay to make things nice.
Dad, on the other hand, was not willing to make those concessions. “Dinner’s cold.”
“Oh, I don’t mind. I can throw it in the microwave or…” I glanced down at my full plate that had already been made for me. “Or I can just have it cold. Totally fine.” I remembered the bottle of wine in my hand. “This is from Wesley.”
“Ooh! That looks expensive.” Katie immediately pulled out her phone to Google the wine.
I sat down and began to eat quickly so as to catch up to where they were at in their dinner schedule.
“Did Wesley get held up at work?” Mom asked carefully.
Katie interjected before I could speak. “A hundred fifty dollars! He just gave this to you, Cara?”
I swallowed a big bite of pork chop and potato. “Mmm. Yeah. An apology for being a little late tonight. You know, he’s got a new project underway that’s taking up a lot of his time. He usually keeps a pretty good schedule.” Unwilling to answer any follow-up questions, I turned the conversation to Katie. “How’s school, Katie?”
“Oh, it’s great. I ditched my last business plan. I’m starting on a new one and I’m having so much more fun with it.”
“I liked the last one! What was it again? It had to do with sustainable wool and —”
Katie waved her hand toward me to cut me off. “The market just isn’t interested in sustainable wool at this point. Too expensive.”
I laughed. Katie was still in college but always trying to create her magnum opus of business plans. She was interested in fashion and trends, as evidenced by her ever-changing wardrobe. Lately, she had been focused on neutrals. Everything was tan, khaki, or gray. Very effortless and elegant. I wished some of my baby sister could rub off on me. Maybe dressing more maturely would pique Wesley’s interest a bit more. “So, what is it now?”
As I scarfed down food, Katie raddled off some business jargon regarding fast fashion and making slow fashion more accessible to consumers.
“That’s so cool, Katie. You’re so smart.”
“Oh, shut up.”
