Page 160 of Promising You

“Madison broke up with me because she didn’t want me sacrificing my future to be with her. She didn’t want me staying in Illinois, going to a college I didn’t want to go to, just so we could still date. And she was right. I’m way happier going to Moorhurst, living in Connecticut.”

“But you said she wants to get back together with you.”

“Yeah, because she’s not as worried about the long distance thing anymore. Now that we’re both doing what we want to do, she feels better about the relationship.”

“Won’t it be hard to only see her a few times a year?”

“We’re both busy, so even if we were in the same town we wouldn’t see each other much. Besides, it’s not healthy to spend all your time with one person.”

There he goes again. Trying to send me a message about Garret. Putting down our relationship. I turn to look out the side window, hoping Carson will get the hint that I’m not happy with his comment.

The car gets quiet and I watch the sun rise over the open fields that line the interstate. I’m more awake now thanks to large amounts of coffee and the emerging daylight.

Carson messes with the radio and finds a station that sort of comes in but not really. It’s almost impossible to get a station in these rural areas. He gives up and turns the radio off just as his phone starts ringing.

“Hey, Mom,” he says when he answers it. “We have about an hour left.” He’s quiet as he listens. “I don’t know. Do you want to ask her?” I feel Carson nudging me. “My mom wants to talk to you.”

I turn to see him holding the phone out in front me. I stare at it, confused why Carson’s mom wants to talk to a total stranger. I mouth “why” at him but he just smiles and pushes the phone at me.

I take it from him. “Hello.”

“Hi, Jade. This is Carson’s mom, Judy. I can’t wait to meet you. Carson’s told us a lot about you.”

“It’ll be nice to meet you, too.” I have no idea what to say to her.

“We can talk at the house, but I just wanted to ask what you’d like for breakfast. I’m making pancakes, eggs, bacon, and some other things but if you want something else, my husband can run to the store quick.”

“No, don’t worry about it. Whatever you have is fine. That all sounds good.”

“Are you sure? Because it’s really no trouble. We want you to feel welcome, so don’t be shy. If you want something, just ask.”

“Really, I don’t need anything, but thank you for offering.”

“If you think of something, just call. We’ll see you soon.”

I hand the phone back to Carson who listens as his mom continues to talk. “Yeah, she is nice.” He smiles at me as he says it. “Okay. Love you, too.”

That’s odd. Carson tells his mom he loves her? After a phone call? Does he always do that? I’m not at all used to that type of family interaction. I don’t even understand it. I never had anything close to a loving relationship with my mom. And I’ve never heard anyone in Garret’s family say that they loved each other.

“My mom already likes you.” Carson picks up his coffee and takes a drink.

“She doesn’t even know me. We talked for like two seconds.”

He puts his coffee down. “Well you won her over in those two seconds.”

“You seem to really get along with your mom.”

He shrugs. “I get along with both my parents.”

“That’s unusual.”

“Not really. A lot of people get along with their parents. Doesn’t Gar—” He stops. “Never mind.”

“Good catch,” I say, laughing. “Anyway, your mom is way too concerned about breakfast.”

“She loves having company. She’ll have a big buffet set up when we get there. She always makes too much.”

An hour later we arrive in a neighborhood in Carson’s hometown. The street is lined with short, stick-like trees that look like they were just planted last fall. The houses look nearly identical—large, two-story homes with three and four car garages. The exteriors are either gray or beige stucco combined with stacked stone. Each house is set far back from the road with large lawns which are currently covered in snow. The driveways are neatly plowed with sharp edges that could only come from a snowblower. I would know. I used to shovel the sidewalk growing up and it never looked that neat and clean.

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