Page 21 of The Hometown Dilemma
Seconds later, Sylvie made her entrance. Tanned to within an inch of her life, her once dark hair was now bleached blonde, whether by the sun or the hairdresser I couldn’t be sure. She wore a maxi dress with a cropped cardigan over it, more suited to the Florida sunshine rather than the changeable weather of Abbott Ridge. But Mom never did things as she was expected to.
We both jumped off the couch and went to her. She pulled us in for an embrace, kissing the tops of our heads.
“Cami, when did you last get your roots done? I would have thought working at Serenity you’d be able to get them sorted at any time!” She held my sister at arm’s length, and I gritted my teeth, waiting for my own physical assassination. Sylvie turned on me. “And Jaime, you’re obviously not getting to the gym as much as you did in New York. I thought being home you’d have more time to exercise.”
I sucked in my lips, biting back what I wanted to say. “I’ve been busy with work,” I said, instead.
“Ah, yes. And how is that going?”
“Jaime’s been working at Moira Channing’s. She’s doing a project to help Moira sell her house,” Cami chipped in. I could have hugged her.
Sylvie raised a brow. “Really? Moira’s planning to move? I must give her a call while I’m here. We should get drinks.” She turned to me. “Then I can see what you’ve been doing for her.”
As of right now, I hadn’t been doing anything. But I wasn’t about to burst my mother’s bubble that I was making a success of my business.
Jerry bustled into the living room carrying two large suitcases, a huge duffel bag slung over his shoulder. Anyone would have thought he and Mom were moving back in, not coming for a short visit. “I’ve got everything out of the cab, honey. Where do you want it?”
“Take it up to my room. I’ll be there in a minute.” She winked at him, and I dreaded to think what was going to happen behind closed doors once they were alone.
“Sure thing.” With a grin, he headed off up the stairs.
Mom swept out of the room in the direction of the dining room. Cami and I followed close behind, nervous to leave her on her own.
She ground to a halt just inside the door. “What on earth…?”
“I needed somewhere to use as an office.” Defending the mess on the table by the window and the boards propped up around the room, I strode across to shield my work.
Sylvie sniffed. “Work? It looks like an explosion in a paint factory.”
“We don’t use it, Mom,” added Cami. “It made sense for Jaime to have somewhere quiet where she can design.” She threw me a supportive glance.
“And what if Jerry and I want to entertain this weekend?”
I inhaled slowly. “I can put things away. Who do you have coming over?”
“Nothing’s confirmed yet. But it would have been nice to come home to a tidy house, rather than this mess.” She faced me. “Will it take you long to clear up?”
Biting the inside of my cheek, I shook my head.
“Good. Then that’s settled. Put this back to normal and we’ll talk about what we’re doing for dinner this evening.” As she was about to leave, she looked back at us. “I need a lie down after the journey. See you in a while.”
Cami shut the door. “Breathe, sis. I know she’s a total nightmare and moving everything out of here when we’ll probably go out to eat is a waste of time, but…”
“It’s easier to do it to keep the peace.” I twirled my hair around my fingers. “I knew she’d hate it.”
“Here, let me give you a hand.”
Soon, the dining room had been returned to its previous sterile state. I’d moved the table back to the middle of the room and every trace of my designs had been removed. Everything was piled back into the corner of my bedroom, including all the work I’d done for Moira Channing.
I realized all my hopes were pinned on getting this job, then following up with her contacts and working on projects for them. Perhaps it was time to think outside the box and come up with a new set of clients to approach. I couldn’t rely on Austen to furnish me with new prospects every time.
We ended up having dinner out at the Silver Spoon, a fancy restaurant in downtown Abbott Ridge. I’d been there a few times, mostly on dates, but Mom still seemed to know everyone there.
“So, Cami, are you and Wade still together?” Mom asked as we sampled their delicious lemon parfait dessert.
Cami’s spoon froze in mid-air. I imagined she wasn’t about to tell Mom about her current dalliance with a football player years younger than her. But would she lie and say she and Wade were still a couple to keep the peace? Struggling to keep a straight face, I glanced over at her.
“No, um, we broke up. A while ago, actually.” She slipped the dessert into her mouth, no doubt hoping it would be enough to shut her up.
