Chapter 10
For the next few days, Will treated me like a queen. I was still pretty wiped, so it was kind of nice being waited on hand and foot, much to Amber’s dismay. I found that out when I overheard her talking to our father on the phone one day when she thought I was asleep.
“But Dad,” I heard her say. “She needs to get over herself and make a move. Do something,” she said. “I know we’re twins, but where does my responsibility end and hers begin? Well. Yes, she’s contributing to the household. She wrote me a check just the other day, but I haven’t cashed it…I don’t know. It just doesn’t feel right. Fine. I’ll cash it. But I don’t know how much more of this I can take. I mean, Ashlee is one thing, but having Will over here all the time is seriously putting a damper on my own relationship. I mean, I haven’t had a guy in the house this much besides JR, since I lived with his father. I know. I don’t mean to dump this on you, but can’t you take her for awhile? Either that or Elle and I are going to have to go away for the weekend just to get some time to ourselves. And that’s not fair, is it?”
I decided that I felt guilty enough as it was without adding eavesdropping to the list of my sins, so I slipped out to the back yard to have a smoke and think. That was where Will found me, lost in thought when he stuck his head over the fence.
“Hey Spongebob.”
“Hey Patrick,” I popped right back at him, just like we were back in grade school.
“Whatcha thinkin’?”
“Thinkin’ about blowin’ this popsicle shop.”
“Yeah? Where to?”
“Home.”
“Home?” he said. “Like Frisco?”
“Yeah,” I said. “Home, like San Fran. The City. The Ice Cube by the Bay. The Big Queasy. Don’t call it Frisco.”
“Come here and help me over.” He pushed himself up from the ground on the other side and sort of fell on me as he dangled by his hands.
“You’re not as young as you used to be, sport,” I said. “Next time you might want to try the gate.”
“Hey Ash! Can you tell your boyfriend that we do have gates? Climbing over the fence lowers the property values,” my sister called from where she stood in the upstairs window.
“See?” I shot Amber the finger, but thankfully she wasn’t looking. “Seriously, Will, I need to get out of Amber’s hair,” I sighed. “I overheard her talking to Dad today and she actually asked if I could go stay with him and my stepmother.”
“Come stay with me,” he said.
“Yeah, right,” I said. “Your mother would just love that.”
“Actually, she would, I think.” Will grinned. “Sam works so much and Mom’s been feeling deprived. You can be a new daughter figure. And we’ve got the spare bedroom.”
Was I really thinking about doing this? I didn’t want to leave, but it sounded like I was becoming a burr under Amber’s saddle and I wasn’t ready to go back to my lonely loft in the City.
“Say yes, Ash,” Will said.
“Say yes, Ash,” I heard my sister whisper from where she stood in the bedroom overlooking us on the ground floor.
“Say yes, Ashlee.” My mother’s voice bubbled up from where she lay at the bottom of the pool.
“Fine. Yes,” I said, exasperated. I knew when I was outnumbered. With that, I went upstairs to pack.
“Is there anything I can get for you? Here, let me help you do that,” my sister offered, then had my folded laundry tucked into my suitcase and my bag in my hand before you could say Versace. “Now, don’t worry about a thing. I’ll come visit at least…” She mouthed four, three “…no, twice a week and you are always welcome for dinner, if you call ahead of time. Bye!” she said as she pushed me out the door and into Will’s waiting arms.
We looked at each other and had to shake our heads and laugh. God I loved and sometimes hated my sister. But isn’t that the way it always is with family?
MoonRise Page 10
