He glances over at me and nods. “Yeah, somewhere around forty five days, I think. Why?”
“Come back soon, please.” I hate how broken my voice sounds but the thought of not having Theo here anymore has tears building in my eyes and a lump lodged in my throat. I’ve lost my mother and I need my brother.
“You know I will, T. Everything has changed now and what’s important to me is different. We have to look out for each other.”
“Slacker,” I tease, giving him a nudge and doing my best to crack a smile even though I feel like everything is falling down around me. “I’ve been doing that for years.”
“I’m serious, Tate. I don’t like you being alone.”
I shrug, trying to play off the loneliness that’s already weighing down on me. “What about you? You’re going to be all alone in Charleston.”
“I’ll be all right,” he shoots back as he rolls his eyes and I cross my arms over my chest.
“And why wouldn’t I be okay? Because I’m a girl? I had the same training you did, jerk.”
He laughs, holding his hands up in surrender for a second before returning them to the wheel. “You’re right. I just meant that I wish I could stay.”
“I know,” I mutter. I didn’t mean to snap at him. He pulls into the diner’s parking lot and I sigh at the sight of the afternoon crowd filling the tables as he finds a spot in the back. Once the car is parked, he turns toward me and tears well up in my eyes.
“You have to be better at texting me back,” I tell him and he nods.
“I will, T. And if I don’t, just scream at me in your head and I’ll hear you.”
I laugh, sniffling as I wipe away a tear. “I wish it really worked like that.”
“Sometimes I swear it does. Right before you called to tell me Mom was dead, I woke up in the middle of the night and I felt like I had to call you. Then, the phone rang.”
“Yeah, and then there are other times like when we went out on a double date in high school and you brought your friend, Daryl. I was sending you ‘get me out of here’ vibes all night and you didn’t even realize.”
He starts laughing. “Actually, I did. I just wanted to see how long it would take before you hit him.”
“And were you disappointed when it took two hours?”
“No,” he answers, shaking his head. “It was thoroughly entertaining the whole time.”
“Ass,” I mutter, turning away from him to hide my smile.
“Hey, on a serious note though, there’s something I want to give you.”
I turn back to him and he holds out an envelope full of something. Taking it from him, I open it and gasp.
“Theo, what is this?”
“It’s half of the money Mom gave me.”
I thrust the envelope back toward him. “I can’t take this.”
He wraps his large hands around mine, stopping me from dropping the cash in his lap. “Please, sis. I need you to take it.”
“It’s your money, Theo. I can’t.”
“I have a great job, Tate, and I make more than enough money. Let me do this for you, please. There are going to be expenses for the house and I want you to finally be able to go to school. Not to mention, you could also use a car of your own.”
“All of which I could do with the money Mom left me.”
He meets my eyes and from just one look, I know he’s not going to drop this. No doubt we could fight about it all day if we wanted to but I only have a few more minutes with him and I don’t want to waste them. Sighing, I take the envelope and stuff it into my purse. I’ll take it for now and maybe once he gets out of the Navy I can give it back to him.
“This is not over, Carter,” I warn him and he laughs.
“Go buy a car so I don’t have to worry about you walking home at night.”
“I’ll think about it.” Glancing at the clock, I sigh. “I’ve got to get in there.”
He nods and we both climb out of the car, meeting at the front of the hood as he wraps me up in a hug.
“Text me as soon as you get back to Charleston,” I instruct him and he nods.
“I will, I promise.”
“And come back home as soon as you can.”
He pulls away, nodding. “You got it, T.”
“Okay,” I whisper, tears burning my eyes again as I bite my lip.
“Bye.”
“I love you. Don’t forget to text me.”
He nods. “Love you, too.”
Crossing my arms over my stomach, I watch him as he rounds the car and slips behind the wheel before backing up. As he puts the car in drive, he holds his hand up in a wave and I repeat the motion, feeling choked up again. He pulls out of the parking lot and I wipe away a tear, missing him immensely already. This is going to be so much harder than I thought. The idea that I have no one here is so devastating that I know I have to force it to the back of my mind for now. I have an eight-hour shift to work and I can’t be crying in the customer’s coffee. There are still a few minutes before my shift starts so I lean back against the building and will myself to calm down before squaring my shoulders and turning toward the door.
As soon as I walk in, it’s like I never left and I hear someone squeal my name before my friend, Mia, is bolting out from behind the counter and barreling toward me. She crashes into me and I laugh as I wrap my arms around her.
“Hey, Mia.”
“Oh my god, I’m so happy you’re back. I missed you so much. How are you doing?”
I release her and hold my hands up. “Whoa, girl. Take a breath.”
“Sorry,” she breathes. “I’m just so excited.”
“I gathered.”
She puts her hand on my arm as her eyes soften and her head tilts. Theo and I have dubbed it the sympathy tilt and it’s something we’ve seen way too much in the past few days.
“How are you?”
I force a smile to my face, trying to keep my mind focused on work and getting through the next eight hours. “I’m good, Mi. How are things here?”
“Oh, you know. Same old, same old.” She rolls her eyes and I laugh. Working as a waitress at Sunrise Diner is only one of two jobs I currently have and the one I prefer since my boss at the gas station a couple blocks over is a total jackass.
“It can’t be that bad.”
She wraps her arms around my waist as we walk toward the door and go into the hallway that leads to our manager’s office, the kitchen, and the walk-in freezer. “You know how it is.”
I grab my timecard and meet her gaze over my shoulder, arching a brow.
“People have been especially fussy lately. One lady even tried to order sparkling water yesterday.”
I snort as I hang my purse on the hook and double check that it’s zipped up before slipping my card in the machine.
“She did read the menu, right? Most of our entrees cost less than ten dollars.”
“That’s what I said and then she complained to Roger.”
Glancing past her, I see one of our managers pouring over paperwork in the little office. At the mention of his name, he glances up and I wave.
“Glad to have you back, Tate,” he calls and I let out a laugh.