Where You'll Find Me

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Anita was in the kitchen making lunch when Thomas and I arrived back at the beach house. After Thomas excused himself to go check on his dad, I found myself in the kitchen with my aunt sitting at the bar- that separates the living area from the kitchen-staring down at my hands resting in front on me on the counter.

Anita paused in her current task and looked at me. "You're back early. How was...meeting Edith and Jim?"

I stared at her while I contemplated how to answer. Finally I released a quiet breath and said, "It was heavy, emotionally speaking; kind of overwhelming."

Anita cast her eyes back down at the ham sandwiches she was making. There were four of them sitting on a plate next her and I knew they all couldn't be for her. Shane must have told her we were coming back. "I'm sorry," she muttered.

Her shoulders rose and fell with a heavy sigh and mine followed. I couldn't pretend anymore that this new revelation of Anita being my biological mother didn't affect our relationship. Although it had only been a day since I found out, I could already feel the difference. Anita and I have always had a fun, easy relationship. She was always laid back and easy to talk to. But now, I felt like I couldn't even say hello without things feeling strained. It was complicated figuring out how to talk to her now.

Of course I didn't blame her for everything that happened in the past. She only did what she thought was best for me, but that didn't make it any easier. It would still take a while to figure out our new relationship.

"They were nice," I added after a while.

Anita smiled tentatively. "I knew you would like them."

"Well, they are my grandparents," I said in a quieter note.

I watched the digital clock on the microwave tick the minutes by. I started to count them as Anita scrambled about the kitchen grabbing various things and taking them outside to the table. One, two, three, four, five, six. When Anita called everyone to the table, only Shane and I showed up. Thomas was still in his room, probably Skyping with his brother and dad. It made me feeling guilty I was taking him away from his family. I had to keep reminding myself that he wouldn't have come with me to California if he didn't want to.

I picked at my sandwich and a pile of grapes while Anita and Shane talked animatedly to each other about Courtney and the progression of her pregnancy. Nothing more was mentioned of my grandparents the rest of the afternoon. I suppose I should have told her about the baby bracelet, but right now it felt like something only Andrew and I shared, and Anita already had so much with him already. I'd tell her when I was ready.

By late evening, Thomas and I decided to go to the beach. It was crowded, but I didn't mind. I was just glad I was there.

"There's a wave coming in, come on, we'll swim in with it." Thomas took my hand and pulled me into the water and we swam out to meet the tide then turning so the wave could propel us toward the beach. We did that for a while until we decided to lay out our towels and get some sun.

Thomas's nose and ears were already turning pink so I recommended he put some sunblock on them and laughed when I saw what he looked like after he applied it.  Even with his features covered with the white lotion, it did nothing to diminish his good looks. I held up my phone to snap a picture and he smiled his wide smile at me. 

"This one is going straight to Facebook." I uploaded the picture and looked back at Thomas with a smirk, when he smeared a glob of sunblock across my forehead and down one check. I laughed loudly when Thomas snapped a picture and uploaded it to Instagram.