Page 18 of Waves of Time
“We lived through it,” Violet said, looking at Aria. “But Aria gets to leave again for that gig in San Fran. Our girl is on her way to being somebody, and we’ll just be here, stuck on the island.”
Aria’s heart thudded. Since her return from the first trip to California, she’d seen Thaddeus a handful of times, once at a beach party and another couple of times here at the restaurant. Each time, it felt like they dipped and bobbed around each other, never able to articulate exactly what they wanted to say. But privately, they texted frequently, keeping tabs on one another and saying what was really on their minds, if not about each other, then about the outside world. Thaddeus had texted her about his mother’s recent attempt at holding down a job, which had ended terribly, along with his little siblings’ illnesses and his feeling that he would never pay all of their bills on time. He’d also mentioned something about an “old boss” wanting him to work for him again, but that this particular old boss was involved in some dirty business. Aria hadn’t known what to say to that, but she’d managed: “I can’t believe how hard you work to take care of everyone in your family.”
Aria wasn’t sure why it was so difficult for them to bring their texting rapport into the real world. But she didn’t want to push it.
After Aria and Violet locked up for the night, Thaddeus walked Aria out to her car, asking her about her upcoming trip to San Francisco and how long she’d be gone. Aria said she wasn’t sure, that she guessed it would be another five-day trip.
“I’ll bring you a souvenir,” Aria joked as she leaned against her Chevy, allowing herself, for the briefest of moments, to gaze into his eyes. “A magnet of the Golden Gate Bridge or something.”
Thaddeus chuckled. “You know what? I could use a refrigerator magnet. I’m not even joking. I can’t tell you how often one of my siblings doesn’t see a note I’ve left for them on the counter.”
Aria was swimming with questions.Would Thaddeus ever find a way to care for himself rather than his entire family? Would he always be trapped like this?Then again, who was she to question the tremendous love he had for his entire family?
“What are you up to tonight?” Aria asked quietly, glancing at her phone to see that it was eleven-thirty. They’d been talking for thirty minutes, and she’d hardly noticed the passage of time.
Thaddeus palmed the back of his neck and gazed at her with yearning. “I have to run off for a work thing,” he explained.
“At eleven-thirty?” Aria laughed.
Thaddeus grimaced. “I hate it. But I’ll see you after you get back?”
“If you want to,” Aria said.
Thaddeus placed his hand on her arm and breathed, “I want to. It’s all I want.”
Long after Thaddeus walked away from her and left her alone in her car, Aria’s arm was warm with his touch. Her head swam with confusion that continued on through that night and into the next morning, during which time she sat with her mother to discuss their strategy for the trip to San Francisco. They brewed pot of coffee after pot of coffee, ate croissants and fruit, and made lists of to-dos and things to buy. Sotheby’s sent them information about their flight, which was set for the following morning at eleven, and they planned to head directly to the hotel— the same one as last week— and then meet with Rodrick first thing.
“I can’t wait to strip that horrible wallpaper off his walls,” Hilary said, rubbing her palms together.
“I think the textured wallpaper in the living room is going to look divine,” Aria said, gesturing toward the sample on the table. “That golden color is so…”
“It’s royal-looking without the cheesiness of a chandelier,” Hilary said with a laugh.
Aria eyed her mother, sipping her coffee. Her head swam from overdoing it on caffeine. “Have you and Aunt Sam talked at all?”
Hilary waved her hand. “She called me a couple of days ago to talk about Dad and Uncle Grant.”
“How did that go?”
“She was very cold,” Hilary said.
“And I’m guessing you were cold back?”
Hilary shrugged. “Maybe we just have one of those sibling relationships where we love each other but don’t actually like each other?”
“Isn’t that just echoing what Grandpa and Uncle Grant are doing to Oriana and Meghan?” Aria asked.
“It’s different,” Hilary said. “They didn’t grow up together. And they blame Oriana and Meghan for their mother’s death. I don’t blame Sam for anything. We just don’t get along. That’s all.”
* * *
The following morning, Aria and Hilary sat in business class and clinked their glasses of champagne together. Both were dressed immaculately, Aria in a pair of linen pants and a white blouse and Hilary in a very sharp two-piece suit with a skirt. Several people in the airport had eyed them curiously, as though they were important people. Aria wasn’t used to being looked at like that.
“I talked to your dad last night,” Hilary said as she placed her champagne back on the tray in front of her. “He mentioned that you ran into a friend from Tufts last time we were in the city. And that you went out with her?”
Aria’s mouth was dry, so she filled it with champagne again. “Yeah.”
It wasn’t hard for Hilary to read Aria. “What happened?”