Page 137 of Anyone But Her

"I told him I love you more than anything. That's probably not what he wanted to hear but I wanted him to know how much you mean to me. The past few days all I've done is think about stuff and I realized that golfing, winning tournaments, the money—none of it matters without you. You're all that matters, Taylor. Without you, it's all meaningless."

"Luke, that's so sweet."

"It's true. Now go pack a bag. We're leaving in the morning. Six o'clock."

"For how long?"

"Just a few days, unless you want to make it into a vacation. We could drive up the coast, find a place to stay."

"Yes, let's do it! I'd love that!"

"I would too. So pack a little more. We'll make it a week."

"I love you, Luke."

"I love you too. I'll see you in the morning."

***

The next day we drive to San Diego. Having Taylor with me makes this so much better. I'm actually relaxed and don't even care what happens with my dad. I'm sure he'll tell me to leave, but when he does I'll have Taylor beside me and just having her there will make me feel like everything will be okay.

We get to my neighborhood and as we drive past the old, run-down houses, I say, "Not really like where you grew up, huh?"

"No, but there's nothing wrong with it. It kinda reminds me of the neighborhood where Birdie lives."

"Really? I guess I just assumed her family had money."

"They're not poor but they're definitely not rich. Her parents keep their house nice but the people around them don't. I think the house next to hers is vacant. The lawn is all weeds and one of the windows is broken."

"This is mine," I say, pointing to Albert's house. It's been painted and someone put flower pots on the front porch. With the fresh paint the house looks a lot better than it used to.

"It looks really nice," Taylor says. "I thought you said your parents didn't take care of their house."

"That isn't their house." I pull into my parents' driveway. "This is theirs. The other one is Albert's but I consider that my home more than this one. And now I own it so it actually is my house."

She looks at my parents' house which needs to be painted and has junk all over the porch. My parents use the porch for storage since they don't have room in the house.

"It's not that bad," Taylor says.

It's bad. She's just being nice.

"They may not even be home," I say as we walk up to the house. It's Saturday so they're not at work but sometimes they spend Saturdays at the casino.

I knock on the door.

My mom answers. She looks different. Her hair is back to her natural brown instead of being dyed blond and she's lost some weight. She looks better than I've seen her look in a long time.

"Luke." She sounds shocked. She probably thought I'd never show up here again.

"Hey, Mom. This is my girlfriend, Taylor."

Girlfriend. I've never introduced her like that. I like how it sounds.

"Hi." My mom glances at Taylor then looks back at me. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see you guys. And talk to Dad."

She smiles and her eyes get teary. "Luke."

---