“I guess I didn’t break her after all,” I said.
* * *
• • •
The Overlook was a small, very expensive restaurant on the top floor of the lodge, with a wall of floor-to-ceiling windows looking out over the mountains. The view was absolutely breathtaking, and with the windows facing east, we were able to watch the sky change colors as the sun rose higher behind the hills. Of course, it was nearly impossible to enjoy nature’s light show, because I was so dang nervous that Loretta was going to tear me a new one right there in front of all her wealthiest guests.
I shouldn’t have been worried about that, though, because Loretta’s main goal in life was to make sure her guests had a perfect vacation. They weren’t to experience a moment of unpleasantness while staying at Evergreen Lodge.
The waiter placed our breakfasts in front of us. My silver dollar pancakes were presented in a perfect stack with a toothpick down the center that was topped by a Christmas tree. The tower was surrounded by strawberries cut to look like little Santa hats, with a dot of whipped cream at the tip of each to represent the white fluffy ball on top. Lauren’s scrambled eggs were more elegant, since I guess her meal was considered something adults would eat. Loretta had a yogurt parfait and coffee.
“This is way different from the buffet,” Lauren said, placing her napkin in her lap.
I did the same and removed the toothpick from the pancakes, causing them to topple over. Half fell on the plate, while the other half hit the white tablecloth. Loretta’s eyes narrowed. Hands shaking, I quickly tossed the pancakes back onto my plate.
“Sorry, Loretta. Sorry.”
I folded my hands in my lap, afraid of what I might do if I touched the ceramic pitcher of syrup.
“Girls, there’s no reason to be nervous,” Loretta said. “I invited you here to apologize.”
Lauren’s gaze darted to mine. “You…apologize to us?” she said. “What for?”
Loretta rested her wrists against the edge of the table and looked down at her food for a moment, as if gathering her courage. My stomach clenched. For a second I thought she was going to apologize to me for dismissing my concerns about the lawsuit, but no. This felt bigger than that. It felt like some life-altering revelation was coming all of a sudden. What was she going to tell us?
Then she lifted her eyes and looked at each of us in turn.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you more as you were growing up,” she said. “I wasn’t there much for your father, either, when he was young. If I had been…if I had done some things better, maybe everything would be different right now. For you. For your mother. I’m afraid I was selfish when your dad was young and he…he’s possibly living up to my example.”
Her eyes filled with tears, which was even more disturbing than seeing her tired and makeup-free last night.
“What?” I said. “Loretta, no.”
“You can’t blame yourself for Mom and Dad getting divorced,” Lauren put in. “That’s on them.”
“Seriously,” I added. “This stuff happens. I think Mom and Dad…I think they just sort of…grew apart.”
Lauren looked at me, her expression sympathetic. I don’t think I realized I understood what had happened until I said it, but it was true.
“They want different things now,” Lauren put in. “There’s no way your having a career when Dad was a kid made that happen.”
Loretta reached for Lauren’s hand, which was in her lap, and squeezed it. Then she reached for mine across the table, and I gave it to her. Her fingers were bony and cool, but somehow comforting when they took mine.
“You girls are very kind,” she said. “And I’m sorry that you have to go through all this.” She released our hands and folded hers in her lap again. “But whatever has happened in the past, there’s no reason we can’t get to know each other now,” she continued. “For example, I would very much like to know what possessed you to sneak out to a party and throw toilet paper all over some stranger’s front yard.”
My heart thunked. But Loretta picked up her spoon and dug into her breakfast as if this was nothing more than a casual conversation. I looked at Lauren, who raised her eyebrows at me.
“That’s all you,” she said, and cut into her eggs.
“I…just…” I reached for the syrup pitcher and fiddled with it. “It was just something I always wanted to do. I mean, when you see people do it on TV shows or whatever, it looks like so much fun.”
“And was it? Fun?” Loretta asked.
“It actually was,” I said with a wan smile. “Until the police came.”
“Oh, come on, Tess,” Lauren said. “If Loretta wants to get to know us, don’t you think you should tell her why you’re really doing all this stuff?”
I shot her a death glare, but Loretta sat up a bit straighter, intrigued. “What stuff are we talking about?”
“Singing karaoke, making paper airplanes, going off to meet Adam Michel—”
“Well I could have introduced you to Adam Michel,” Loretta said. “He’s one of our VIPs this week.”
“She has this list,” Lauren said, leaning in. I kicked her under the table, but she didn’t even flinch. All those years of playing soccer, I guess. “It’s a list of things she wants to accomplish before the new year.”
One of Loretta’s perfectly plucked eyebrows arced, and she looked at me. “Really? How interesting.”
I felt hot all over, suddenly. “It’s not. It’s stupid, really.” I picked up the syrup and poured it all over my pancakes. I didn’t want to talk about the list. Especially since it was now officially impossible for me to complete it. What random guy was I going to find to make out with before the end of the day?
“It’s not stupid,” Lauren said. “I think it’s the coolest thing you’ve ever done.”
“Really?” I said, and couldn’t help smiling.
“Well, today’s the last day of the year,” my grandmother informed me, as if I wasn’t already very well aware. “Have you completed it yet?”
I shook my head and speared the tiniest pancake. “There are still three things left on there.”
Loretta put her spoon down and leaned in, giving me a conspiratorial grin. “Then we’d better get to it. Where do we start?”
I was about to pull the list out of my bag when a shadow fell over the table. We all looked up, and my jaw dropped. It was Tarek and Damon. Tarek looked determined, and Damon was staring at his feet.