Four Kicks - Stephanie Brother Page 0,9
apartment door.
“Hey, do you have a minute?” Bianca’s standing outside, wearing leggings and an old stretched-out shirt, but still looking effortlessly gorgeous.
“Sure, c’mon in.” I hold the door open wide and, after a glance behind her, she enters and flops down on the loveseat, which is the only place to sit aside from my bed or my little two-seat dining table. “What’s up?”
She eyes my outfit, a blue sundress I’ve only worn once before. “You headed out tonight?”
“Yeah.”
She arches a brow and frowns. “Rusty’s?”
“No, not Rusty’s. It just so happens that I have a date.”
Her eyes widen and her tone is mocking. “Wow, an actual date.”
“You make it sound like I never go on dates.”
“Who are you going out with?”
I busy myself looking through my tiny purse, wanting to avoid eye contact. “David.”
“Your ex David?” I detect judgment in her tone.
“Yes, he’s separated from his wife.”
She nods, looking toward the window. “I heard.”
“So what did you come up here for?”
Bianca’s brow furrows and she frowns. “I wanted to talk to you about Mom and Dad. Well, about the store, really.”
“Yeah?”
“I overheard them in the kitchen this morning. Apparently, they’re late on two different loan payments.”
Now my frown matches my sister’s.
“They were arguing about the addition of the clothing shop. Dad still thinks it’s a good idea, but Mom was saying she regretted it. They both agreed it hasn’t paid off and it added to their debt.”
“But the clothing business isn’t seasonal like the rest of the touristy stuff. I agree with Dad.”
She stands suddenly and follows me as I head toward my closet. “It doesn’t really matter who’s wrong or right. What are we going to do? Couldn’t they lose the store if they can’t make payments?”
“Yeah, they probably could. I had no idea things were that bad. I have been thinking about getting another job. You and I could cut back to part-time at the store and make extra money on the side to help out.”
“We should do that.”
“I’ll start looking tomorrow. Right now I need to finish getting ready. David will be here soon.”
Bianca nods, still frowning. When she leaves I finish putting on my makeup, taking extra care as I do. I’m not nervous about the date, but there are some little fluttery feelings in my belly that I wouldn’t have if I were getting ready for a night out at Rusty’s.
I try to remember the last time I saw David. I think it was about six months ago that I ran into him at the gas station. We had one of those brief “How are you? How’s your family?” conversations. He looked really good, and remembering his tall athletic frame sets my stomach to fluttering again.
I feel like I’m back in high school getting ready to go out with him, but I shake that thought away. We’ve both changed and grown. He’s been married, for god’s sake. He is technically still married. But wouldn’t it be a fairy-tale love story if we got back together?
David is right on time when I meet him out front. He’s in khakis and a nice button-down shirt, and he opens the car door for me. It feels special and strange at the same time.
“You look really nice,” he tells me when we’re both in the car.
“Thank you. So do you.” He smells good, too – a citrusy scent that tickles my nose.
“I thought we’d go into Whitman. Is that all right?”
“Sure.” His car’s interior looks freshly cleaned and his hair is carefully styled. I’m flattered that he also seems to have taken care in his preparations for our date. Memories of going with him to his senior prom come to mind but I distract myself with the scenery outside.
When he’s quiet for a few minutes, I ask, “So how have you been?”
“Good, I’ve been good.” He glances over, smiling, but then his face goes serious. “Well, I’ve been okay. It’s not been the best of times, honestly.”
“No, I guess it wouldn’t be.”
“When you get married, you don’t expect to get divorced.” His eyes are back on the road. His mouth is drawn in a tight line.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
He’s quiet for a moment before shaking his head, a hint of a grin returning. “No, let’s not.”
So, instead, we talk about things happening on the island, about his work as a math teacher at the high school, about our siblings and our parents. Though I do more of the heavy lifting as I always did with David, the