I twirled the dandelion in my fingers.
Still unable to decide what to wish for, I blew on it anyway. The breeze caused some of the fuzz to blow back into my face and it tickled my nose. I sneezed, then I laughed.
That's what I get for wasting a wish.
As I climbed the steps to Beverly's porch, I saw a small yellow piece of paper taped to the screen door. It flapped in the breeze as I read what it said.
Come on in.
The hinges creaked as I pulled the door open and stepped into the living room. The familiar smell of Bengay and cupcakes filled my nose.
"Surprise!" a bunch of voices said in unison and I jumped.
My mouth hung open as I took in the faces smiling at me. Beverly, Ernie, and Karen were standing by the dining room doorway, while Hank, Colton, and Travis stood in front of the couch.
A variety of balloon animals had been placed around the room, and multi-colored streamers hung from the ceiling fan.
"What's going on?" I asked pointlessly. Obviously, they were throwing me a party. But why?
"We thought we'd give you a proper send-off," Beverly beamed.
"A going-away party?" My voice cracked on the last word. This was the last thing I'd expected. I was completely blindsided. I guess that's why they called it a surprise party.
After a round of hugs from everyone, I excused myself to the bathroom.
I shut myself inside and turned to grasp the edge of the pink sink while I tried to get my emotions in check. Unwelcome tears filled my eyes.
A grand gesture like this should've made me happy. And it did, but it also made the thought of leaving that much harder.
The funny thing was, it had always been a secret dream of mine to have someone throw me a surprise party. Every year when my birthday came around, I'd hoped for it. And now, here I was, getting exactly what I'd always wanted.
Everyone just wanted to show me how much they cared, but it was too much for me to handle.
After grabbing some toilet paper, I mopped at my face and blew my nose. A quiet knock came at the door.
"I'll be out in a minute," I called while fanning myself with my hands, hoping the cool air would take away the red splotches on my face.
A second later, the door swung open and Travis stepped in, shutting it behind him.
"What are you doing?" I asked incredulously. "I could have been pooping!"
"You're not pooping." He chuckled.
"But I could've been."
His expression softened. "What's wrong? You hate surprise parties?"
"I wouldn't know." I shrugged. "No one's ever thrown one for me before. I guess it just made me a little emotional."
"Come here." Travis hugged me and I wrapped my arms around him. I ran my hands over the hard muscles of his back and buried my nose in his chest, breathing in his comforting scent.
After a couple minutes, I felt prepared to go back out there.
"Ernie grilled hamburgers and hotdogs," Travis told me with a smile.
"Mmm, hotdogs," I said, and he laughed. If anything could get me to come out of the bathroom, it was food and he knew it.
While we ate, we all sat outside on Ernie's back patio in a circle of mismatching lawn chairs. I didn't miss the way he openly flirted with Beverly. I think she even blushed once or twice, which was too cute, because Beverly never blushed.
She made an appreciative sound as she finished her food. "Ernie, that was the best fucking burger I've ever had."
Colton choked on some of his soda, and Travis slapped him on the back until he got his coughing and wheezing under control. I laughed so hard that I ended up making a very unattractive snorting noise into my napkin. I forgot some people weren't used to hearing elderly women drop the F-word in casual conversation.
After all our plates were empty, Travis handed me a pink envelope and everyone watched while I opened it. It was a card that said ‘Good luck!' on the front along with a picture of an otter that looked like it was waving.
It made me laugh, because how cute is that?
On the inside it said ‘You otter know we'll be thinking of you!' and it was signed by everyone.
"Thank you," I told them while hugging the card to my chest. "You guys are awesome."
There was a collective "you're welcome" and "we'll miss you" from everyone, and they started gathering their cups and plates to take inside. Travis took mine, leaving me alone with his mom.
"We sure are gonna miss you," she said as she took the chair next to me.
"I'll miss you, too. You have no idea how much."
"I always wanted a daughter. I love having a son but I wanted a daughter, too. I wanted it all. After my husband died, I found out I was pregnant," she said and my mouth opened in shock. "I never told Travis. I've never told anyone. I miscarried early, around seven weeks. It was too early to know if it was a girl or a boy, but I always felt like I knew it was a girl."
Tears glistened in her eyes and I blinked rapidly when I felt my own eyes burning.
"I guess you're probably wondering why I'm telling you this," she said.
I couldn't speak past the tightness in my throat, so I just nodded.
"You may have noticed I'm a little desperate for Travis to settle down, and my reasons aren't completely selfless." She laughed lightly. "It's been so great getting to know you. I've never seen Travis this happy and he has such a big heart." She paused. "I just wanted you to know that you'll always have a place here. With us."
Then she hugged me.
It was the kind of hug where you could tell the person really cares. She hugged me like she meant it.
"Thank you," I managed, my voice scratchy.
"By the way." She pulled back. "You and I are having a girls' day after the party. Are you up for some shopping at our favorite thrift store?"
I laughed. "I think you know the answer to that question."
She ran her hand over the side of my head in a motherly gesture before going back inside.
I sat back in the chair and thought about everything Karen just told me. My heart broke for her and what she'd been through. And it meant a lot that she decided to share that deep part of herself with me.
She'd turned to alcohol because she'd experienced something tragic, and it made me wonder if that's what happened to my mom. Maybe she had a good explanation for leaving the way she did.
And while Karen's story was sad, it also gave me hope. If she was able to overcome addiction, that meant my mom could, too.
TRAVIS
I stood in Beverly's kitchen, watching my mom and Angel from the window over the sink. From what I could tell, it looked like they were having a moment.
The sunlight reflected off of Angel's hair, emitting a glow around her head. I smiled because my first impression of her had been dead-on. Somehow, I'd known she was going to be important to me, even before I ever talked to her.
A hand landed on my shoulder. "So, your girl goes to Cali this weekend."
I glanced at Colton and gave him a tight nod.
"Listen," he started. "I'm sorry if I gave you shitty advice in the beginning. I didn't really think about how hard it would be for you when she left. I'm not exactly an expert on the topic."
I smirked at him. "You might not always know what you're talking about," I agreed, "but you were right about one thing. She's the best thing that ever happened to me."
"You gonna do the long-distance thing?"
"There isn't any other option," I said with complete certainty. "When I think about being without her … It makes me feel like I'm drowning. I fucking need her."
Colton was silent for a few seconds as he thought about my honest words.
"I wish I could say I knew what that felt like, but I don't," he said, and I could hear the envy in his voice.
"It'll happen to you someday. Speaking of that, what the hell are you doing with Tara anyway? I heard you guys arguing this morning," I admitted. "I don't know what it was about, but you deserve someone better."
Colton looked unsure. He'd always been a cocky son of a bitch. He was one of the few people I'd ever known that could pull off cocky, yet loveable at the same time. But I'd seen some of that slip away in recent months. I wondered if Tara and their toxic relationship was taking a toll on his self-esteem.
Instead of answering the question, he deflected the conversation back to me. "Do you love her?"
My gaze went back to Angel and I gave another nod. "Yeah." Colton didn't ask for details, but that didn't stop me from gushing about it like I was on some damn talk show. "I'm in love with her. She just fits, you know? And it's crazy how we met." I laughed at how absurd it was. "I picked up some random girl off the side of the road and she turned out to be my soulmate."