Page 145 of Sunday Morning

“Have you given him a blowjob?”

“Shh!” I covered her mouth with my hand.

The tequila was making her get louder.

“I heard that,” Gabby said.

“We are done talking about me. How’s Erin? Did you get all your school supplies?”

“Yes. I have a hundred number two pencils and a Trapper Keeper. Do you swallow it?”

“You’re done.” I snagged the bottle and cap from her. “Gabby, let’s dip our toes in the water,” I said, returning the bottle to the box and kicking dirt and brush over it.

“I’ve heard it tastes salty,” Eve said with a giggle.

“Eve Marie Jacobson!” I pushed her off the tree trunk, and she rolled onto the ground laughing.

For the next hour, we splashed in the shallow water andgiggled, and for the first time in months, the world felt a little right again.

Hand-in-hand, we headed back to the house in the dark, knowing Mom and Dad wouldn’t be happy with any of us, but we were in it together.

“We’re going to miss you,” Eve said, resting her head on my shoulder.

“So much,” Gabby said, squeezing my hand a little tighter.

“I’ll miss you too. But I’m not that far away. As long as Dad doesn’t ban me from the house, I’ll come back to visit.”

“Maybe I can talk them into going to Nashville to watch you sing,” Eve said.

I laughed. “Good luck with that. Can you see Dad listening to loud music that’s not a hymn?”

We laughed together.

“When are you leaving?” Gabby asked.

“I don’t know. I think as soon as we find a place to live.”

A deep ache gripped my heart, yet my tummy felt a flutter of excitement. It was the good kind of fear.

My sisters fought over who was going to use the shower first. Eve was desperate to go to bed before Mom or Dad noticed that she was tipsy.

“Sarah, can you come in here for a second?” Mom asked just as I started up the stairs.

I sighed. Nothing they had to say would change my mind, even if they said I was never welcome home again.

“Yeah?” I stepped into the living room, sitting on the arm of the sofa. My dad was sitting on the opposite end. He shoved notes into his Bible and closed it while my mom set her needlepoint aside and rocked in her chair.

“We don’t approve of how you’ve chosen to behave witha man six years older than you. And we don’t want you to move to Nashville with him,” she said.

I bowed my head and chewed on the inside of my cheek to hide my disappointment.

“But you’re our daughter, and we love you no matter what choices you make. So if you insist on moving away, we hope you’ll be smart about your choices. And we want you to know that you are always welcome here. If you ever need help, we are a call away. We hope Isaac will eventually do the right thing if you’re going to stay together.”

They hope he’llmarry me.

I thought about Isaac telling me not to rock the boat. So instead of lecturing them on my dreams that didn’t involve getting married right away and starting a family, I smiled and offered an easy nod. “Thank you.”

Sometimes being a people-pleaser wasn’t a bad thing. Perhaps a peaceful life existed somewhere in the middle.