Page 85 of That Time I Kissed The Groomsman Grump
My mom points up at the hole. “Your father and I were just saying we might go ahead and leave the ceiling like this as a permanent memory of this time.”
“What?” I gape at her. “You’re seriously going to leave a hole between your closet and your living room?”
She shrugs. “We want to commemorate the week our only son got married, and our only daughter abandoned us for the West Coast.”
“You’ve got to be kidding,” I say.
Beau scoffs. “Of course they’re kidding.” He looks at my dad. “Youarekidding, right?”
My dad’s mouth twitches. “I’m sorry, Betty. I can’t do it.”
She slaps his backside. “You always were the worst liar, Dale.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.” He glances at the hole. “The truth is, Grant Bender talked to his brother about patching the ceiling for us. Apparently Preston is quite the handyman.”
Beau squints. “Preston Bender? Isn’t he the sheriff now?”
My mother puts a hand to her chest. “Yes. Preston’s a man of many talents. We have several of them in Abieville.”
My dad guffaws. “I didn’t know you kept up to date on our news, son.”
“Kasey and I live in California, Dad. We’re not in Siberia.”
My mother frowns. “We sometimes feel that far out of touch.” She sighs. “And now you’re dragging Natalie away with you.”
“Beau’s not dragging me,” I say gently. “Iwantto be near him and Kasey. And I promise to call you so often you’ll get sick of me.”
“Not possible,” she says.
“Awww.” I sling an arm around her shoulder. “But seriously. A lawyer who makes house calls and a sheriff who patches ceilings?” I grin. “I’m really going to miss this place.”
As the four of us head back out to the Blue Whale, Beau lingers behind, checking his phone. I slow down, letting my parents get ahead of us.
“Everything okay?” I ask, waiting for him.
“Yeah.” He nods, still scrolling. “I just got a notification of some new apartment listings, but it looks like these all require a two-year lease.”
I tip my chin. “Is two years a problem?”
He stops in the middle of the walkway and meets my gaze. His brows lift when he sees the question in my eyes. “Awww, Nat. I’m sorry. I thought Kasey told you. But I should’ve checked with her and made sure you knew.”
“Knew what?”
“It’s just that we’re really hoping to find some place that rents month to month this time. That way, if an opportunity comes up at some point, somewhere else…we…well…” His voice trails off.
“Oh.” I blink, blink, blink, finishing the sentence in my head. “So you’re not planning to stay in LA long-term?”
He grimaces, like he can’t believe I don’t already understand this. “That’s not a surprise to you, is it? Kind of like the Grahams doing wedding rehearsals different. You know Kasey and me. We’re rolling stones. Gathering no moss. The world is our oyster and all that.”
“Oyster.” I surrender to a laugh even as my stomach twists. “Isn’t that what Big Mama called you the first time you met?”
His eyes crinkle into a smile. “You’ve got a good memory.”
I nod slowly. “I do.”
And yet, somehow, I forgot my brother always wanted a life roaming the world. That Kasey signed on for that life with him—a husband-and-wife team globetrotting together. I’ve been so focused on our geography—as if a bond is all about location—I hooked my future to that goal.
I let our closeness be defined by mileage.
