Page 86 of Wanted
Speaking of which…
“Um, how is Ashley doing? Is she home now? Can I speak with her?” My sister hadn’t contacted me aside from a few text messages in response to my texts.
Her responses were mostly short, and I yearned to hear her voice.
“Your sister?” My mother sounds taken aback for a beat. Her voice normalizes, however, when she says, “I told you she was resting.”
“That was days ago,” I interrupt, knowing my mother considers interruptions rude. “You said she would give me a call, but she hasn’t. Is she ill? Still resting? Why does she need so much rest?”
Could Ashley be going through the same thing I might be? Does she know about this world that I’ve stumbled into?
When I’ve tried to ask as much via text, I was only given vague answers about her time in Florida.
“Can I speak with her?” I finally ask my mother. “She’s not answering my calls.”
She pushes out a long sigh, sounding aggrieved. “Hold on.”
I ignore the terseness in her voice. All I want right now is the assurance that Ashley is okay.
I know she is.
My mother told me she was home, and Ashley all but assured me she was fine via text, but I still want to hear her voice. For my own peace of mind.
“Emery?” a soft, female voice says through the phone.
A tentative smile breaks out on my face. “Ashley. Where have you been?”
I start to ask more questions about how she’s doing, why she hasn’t returned my calls, and more but I bite my tongue.
“I’m fine,” she answers.
My eyebrows dip.
“Fine?”
“Yes, of course. Mother told you I was here, didn’t she?”
I hesitate before replying. “Yes. I wanted to talk to you myself, though.”
“Oh, well, as you can hear, I’m fine.”
There was that word again.
“Were you injured or ill? Why did you need to rest and why didn’t you call me after you left?—”
“It was no big deal. I got into a little fender bender in Florida, but I’m okay. Sis, I have to go. Father just arrived home, and he needs my help with something.”
I pull the phone away from my ear.
“O-okay,” I say when Ashley tells me goodbye.
“There.” My mother’s voice reaches me once again. “Your sister is helping your father. The Kings are having their annual gala soon and you should be on Billy’s arm. Now, tell me, when are you coming home from that silly internship so that you can get on with your normal life?”
It’s as if she doesn’t even hear me.
The urge to tell my mother, yet again, that there’s nothing silly about my internship, wells up in me. I knew she never wanted me to pursue my interest in anthropology. Especially not to take an internship in the mountains in Colorado, but when Billy all but told me I wasn’t his priority, I saw my chance.
My mother, on the other hand, expected me to sit around and pine away for him. Even though I’d completed my master’s degree in my chosen field and saw this internship as a stepping stone to launch my career.