Page 42 of Totally Off Limits

“Doesn’t he have other plans, dear?” Paul asked, lifting a glass of white wine to his lips.

As Rebecca prepared to speak, Layne suddenly stood. From where she sat, Sierra could feel his nervous energy.

What the hell was going on?

Although his eyes said nothing, Sierra imagined he was going to make an overly dramatic plea to not make such a big deal over it—something designed to get him even more attention than he would already be basking in.

But she couldn’t have been more wrong.

“I have something to tell you guys.”

Rebecca’s face changed visibly—from the way it was usually cold, chiseled, and in control to something worse. It was frozen, as if she needed to wear a mask to hide what was inside. But they all knew. Their mother had impossibly high standards and it was often hard to hit the mark. Sierra knew it had to be especially painful because their precious Layne, the golden boy, the wunderkind, was about to disappoint them.

It was in the air.

Rebecca said, “Faith, Hope, and Grace, why don’t you take Mia to the kitchen and show her the new snow cone machine?”

Hope jumped up. “We can make her one, right?”

“Yes…but take her out on the deck.”

Grace asked, “Can we have one, too?”

“Of course, we can.”

“We need to clean up our—”

“Don’t worry about cleaning up. We’ll get it later. For heaven’s sakes, Layne. Sit down. You have our attention. It can wait another moment.” As he obeyed, his face as wooden as his mother’s was icy, Rebecca then turned to Grandma, sitting to the right. “Mother, did you want to stay here or go with the girls?”

Grandma, half deaf and looking tired today, said, “Where are we going?”

“We’re getting snow cones, Grandma, and then we’re going outside.”

“That sounds nice.”

Grace walked over and helped her grandmother out of her chair, handing her the walker against the wall behind them. The rest of them—including Sierra—knew it was best to stay quiet. She felt like she, too, should leave but it was as if she were invisible to her mother. That wasn’t exactly true—but she got the feeling that she mainly wanted to keep Mia from learning that her grandmother had a harsh side and the triplets could do a good job of distracting her. Sierra already knew full well what her mother was like, so why bother shooing her off?

After what seemed like an eternity, the triplets, Mia, and Grandma had finally shuffled off to the kitchen. Again, Sierra wondered what difference it would make if they were in the other room—but when she heard the four girls giggling, followed by the sound of ice crushing shortly after, she understood.

When Rebecca spoke, her voice was low. “All right, Layne. What’s on your mind?”

Sierra snuck a glance at him but still wasn’t able to read his face. He could have been one of those living statues on a city street, his expression was so still. But, when he got ready to talk, his eyes flooded with emotion. Sierra felt almost guilty being there, but leaving now would make it even more obvious that she was perhaps privy to something he didn’t want her to be.

Ah…the fall of the golden boy. That should have felt supremely satisfying, but seeing Layne’s face change shape, mirroring how her insides felt most of the time when dealing with her mother, took all the wind out of her sails.

Still, it wouldn’t hurt the little prick to get knocked down a peg or two. Maybe itwasnice to have a ringside seat for that. Mealtime, though, was officially over.

After clearing his throat, Layne jutted out his chin momentarily as if steeling himself. Then he looked first at their mother and then toward Paul. “I won’t be graduating this semester.”

“What?Why?” Although Rebecca temporarily lost her calm visage, her voice giving the tension away more than anything else, their father was silent as he stared at Layne, almost as if he couldn’t understand what the young man had said.

Layne shifted his eyes to his hands folded on the table. “I changed my major last year.”

At last, their father spoke. “Youwhat?”

“I changed my major.” Now Layne looked up, finding some source of strength inside himself, confronting his parents for perhaps the first time ever. “I tried physics and I know now that it’s not for me.”

“You tried it for a couple years, Layne. That’s not enough time to give your education.”

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