White Cloud

1- Prologue

"We have some news."

When my first cat died when I was nine, my father put a large hand on my shoulder, looked me dead in the eye and said that exact sentence, followed with "Cheetos died". Just like that. I didn't know how to react to learning that my cat died because I didn't understand what death really meant when I was nine. All I knew was that my cat was gone forever and my father was looming over me because he's so tall and the only warning that I had was that he had news.

When my second boyfriend broke up with me, I was fifteen and it was brutal. He had called my home phone number, got ahold of my mother and asked her to break up with me for him. And how did that conversation start when I got home to speak with my mom? "I have some news." She sat me down on the old couch in our large living room and told me that Ryan thought that I was too boring, too prude.

My point is that I've had a few hardships in my life and my parents always love to break their bad news with that one stupid sentence.

So over the years that I've gotten to know my parents, I've learned that that's not a good sentence to hear, especially when it's coming from my parents as they're sitting together on the couch looking very solemn. My mom's blonde hair is messy, which it never is, and her big blue eyes are watery and looking up at me, watching me with pity. My dad, being so much taller than her, has one of his long arms wrapped around her shoulders, his brown eyes also watching me carefully to gauge my reaction. I prepare myself for the worst so that I'll stay calm when the news comes out. I'm no stranger to the 'we have some news' speech so I'm sure that I'll be able to keep my emotions in check.

"Okay," I respond slowly, pulling my brother with me as we both sit down on the loveseat perpendicular to the couch. In my mind, I start going through all of the worst scenarios.

They're getting a divorce.

One of the dogs died.

Dad's business is going down.

"I know that this is going to be hard for you both to swallow," My dad starts talking. He's stalling, which isn't usually his style. This isn't just a "Cheetos died" sort of situation, which makes me even more worried than before. My brother, Dylan, is quiet beside me which is rare so clearly, he's worried too. He's only twelve though so whatever this catastrophic news is, I'll have to be there for him. As the older sister, it's kind of my job. "But in the end, we both think that this will be beneficial in the long run."

"Are you getting a divorce?" Dylan speaks up, saying what I was thinking. He's very impatient though, so I guess I should have expected him to say something before our parents could actually get it out.

"What?" My mom sounds astonished by the accusation. "Sweetie, no, absolutely not. We're not getting a divorce. Just listen to your father finish."

"Right," Dad clears his throat and I blink at him, just wishing that he'd tell us what's going on. "Okay, well the thing is that the business hasn't been going so well lately and a few weeks ago, they offered me a buyout. An extremely generous buyout. After a lot of thinking about what to do with the money, I've chosen what I want to do and your mother agrees that this is a smart move for the family. I've invested the buyout money into a hotel."

I blink at him, not really knowing what to say in response to that. He's buying a hotel? There aren't many hotels in our area. It's not really a tourist-y area, the only hotels are mostly used for businessmen (and women) travelling for work. That's not a very exciting idea, and it's definitely not something that needs to be said with the "we have some news" opener. There has to be more to the story, so I stay silent and wait for him to get on with the catch.