Page 92 of Guava Flavored Lies

Lauren’s heart lifted. “So does that mean you’re coming to the wedding?”

Her mother groaned. “Or you can have two weddings.”

Lauren darted to her mother and tackled her in a hug. “Thanks, Mami.”

“Don’t thank me yet. I said I’d try.” Her mother squeezed her back. “If Sylvie is anything like her nightmare of a mother, I’m not going to be able to stand her.”

When her parents recovered from the shock of Lauren’s dating news, they moved on to discussing the other axis-shifting revelation. As Lauren left the living room to get something from her childhood bedroom, she noticed that her mother didn’t sound nearly as shocked as her father.

Had she known all along? Her mother was an only child too. She’d been her father’s confidant. His right-hand woman. It wasn’t impossible that he’d made a deathbed confession about this big secret.

As she padded down the long hallway toward her old room on the opposite side of the house, she locked the thoughts away. Part of her didn’t want to know anymore family secrets. At least, not for a little while.

Apart from the Destiny’s Child posters no longer taped to the wall, the room looked like it always had. A grand four-poster bed painted white and an antique writing desk gave her childhood room a princess-like quality.

From the mostly empty closet, Lauren retrieved one of the boxes she was storing there.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Lauren opened the box. Moving aside the stacks of photos and old ribbons, she found what she was looking for — her high school yearbook.

Spending time with Sylvie had made her nostalgic for those times. She flipped the pages of the hardcover book until landing on Sylvie’s senior picture. She was stunning, her shoulder-length hair loose and ironed straight. Her honey eyes bright and fascinating. She’d always had a shocking amount of passion and drive. It was no wonder she was voted most likely to run the world.

Lauren ran her fingertips over the image of Sylvie’s shoulders exposed by the strange black drape they’d all been made to wear for the photo.

What would things have been like if they’d decided to stop fighting fifteen years ago? Would they be married with three kids? Would they have been a fling that fizzled out? If only there was a way to revisit history. To rewrite it.

As she thumbed through the yearbook, an idea sprang to mind. It would take a few phone calls to execute it, but she was confident she still knew the right people.

Two hours later, she texted Sylvie.

Lauren: Are we still on for tonight?

Sylvie: Obviously.

Lauren: Are you up for anything?

Sylvie: I mean . . . within reason, Lauren. It’s not like I’m in the mood to go cow tipping!

Lauren laughed. Miami Lakes was probably the only non-agricultural town in the county where cows were randomly hanging out on swaths of empty land. A relic of the town’s beginnings as an enormous dairy farm.

Lauren: I’m sorry, ummm does that mean that there are times you ARE in the mood for accosting sleeping cows, Sylvia? If so, I don’t know if we can keep seeing each other.

Sylvie: OMG shut up and tell me where we’re going.

Lauren: It’s a surprise.

Sylvie: So what am I supposed to wear?

Biting the inside of her cheek, Lauren’s mind started churning through possible responses. She wanted to be careful not to spoil the surprise. There was something she wanted her to wear, but telling her would give away her plan, or at the very least, invite more questions Lauren didn’t want to answer.

Lauren: Wear anything you like.

Sylvie: You’re so helpful. Can you at least tell me whether I should be dressy or casual?

Lauren: Dressy. Can you be ready in an hour, or do you need more time?

Sylvie: Can I be ready in an hour to go to some unknown location where I can either wear anything I want or put on something dressy??? Yeah, I guess so.

Lauren’s laugh escaped her expanding chest. All she could do was hope that Sylvie liked the surprise. She could easily see it blowing up in her face, but she got the sense that Sylvie was interested in re-writing history too.

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