Daddy smiled a little. “You mean he didn’t make a fuss over you.”
“What? No. I don’t care about that,” I said. “I just care about the Grove and making sure we’ve hired the best person for the job.”
“He has a very impressive work history and comes highly recommended.”
“Of course he’s highly recommended by Edward—they’re friends!”
“By people he’s done work for in the past.” Daddy pulled his old pickup truck in front of the house, a vehicle he’d owned for as long as I could remember. “From what I can tell, the fellow does excellent work. You should do a little research on him. You’d be surprised at what you’ll find.”
I climbed out of the truck and gave the door a hard push. “Maybe I will.”
* * *
I found Denny in his bedroom, lying flat on his back and tossing a football into the air.
“Don’t you have anything better to do?” I peeked inside.
“No.” He was so unconcerned. He’d recently made one of the biggest decisions of his life and seemed so dispassionate about everything else.
“You seem so weird lately, like it doesn’t concern you that you’ll be deployed soon.”
“It’s life, Jazzy. No big deal.”
“No big deal? Really?” I took a seat at the foot of his bed. “Well, if it’s no big deal, why didn’t you tell our parents about it before you did it?”
“Because they make a big fuss about everything! I mean, I’m just not college material. I know my limitations. I know what I want, and this is it. End of story.”
“Aren’t you a little bit afraid?”
“Of course. I mean, weren’t you afraid when you went away to Spelman? And weren’t you afraid when you moved to California?”
“Terrified.”
“Well, I’m not terrified. But I’m a little scared,” he admitted. “But it’s my life. And no one can live it for me.”
“You’re right.” I smiled. “I guess you’re not a little kid anymore. You’re growing up. You obviously trusted Daddy enough to talk to him about this. I think Daddy’s easy to talk to.”
My brother gave me a sideways glance. “He’s easy for you to talk to. You’re his favorite.”
“What?”
“Yeah...you didn’t know?”
“I’m not his favorite. He loves all of his children equally.”
“Well now, that might be true. But he’s not as easy as you think he is. Not with me. When all of you guys left for college, it was bad. I received everything that was meant for all of you. The good and the bad. Mostly the bad,” Denny laughed. “Every time one of you messed up, or made a bad decision, I caught hell. All of the lessons you missed, I got them. So unfair.”
“You’re exaggerating.” I grabbed a pillow and threw it at my little brother.
“Oh yeah, I caught hell for you more than anybody!” Denny laughed a bit. “Jasmine this, Jasmine that. Jasmine broke up with Darren, and now her grades are bad. Jasmine moved clear across the country to California. Who does she know there? Where will she stay? How will she pay her rent? Denny, no, you can’t go out with your friends. We have to figure out what we’re going to do about Jasmine.”
“Shut up!” I laughed.
“I’m serious. You’re responsible for my lack of a decent social life. They sheltered me from your mistakes.”
“You’re exaggerating.”
“You always were the rebel,” said Denny, “which is why the rest of them don’t think you can handle the Grove. It’s why they give you such a hard time. They’re jealous of you. Wish they could be rebels, too.”
I was laughing hard at this point. “You think so?”
“I know so!” said Denny. “It’s true because I wanted to be like you, too. I admire you, Jazzy. You follow your dreams. Even if things don’t work out for you, at least you give it a try.”
“Oh, Dennison Talbot. You are a sweetheart.” I grabbed my little brother’s face in my hands and kissed his forehead.
“I’m serious. It’s why I joined the Royal Bahamas. I’m making a bold move to do what I want to do.”
“I’m happy that you’re doing what makes you happy, Denny.” I smiled. “When do you ship out?”
“Few weeks.” He walked over to his computer desk, pulled out a blue velvet box and handed it to me.
I opened the box and was astonished to find a beautiful diamond ring inside.
“Why, Dennison Talbot! I don’t know what to say.” I covered my chest with my hand.
“Shut up!” He snatched the ring. “It’s for Sage.”
“Of course it is. You’ve only dated her since the sixth grade.”
“I want you to hold on to it for me. And if I come back—”
I raised an eyebrow at his choice of words. “If you come back?” I asked.
“I mean, when I come back I’m going to ask her to marry me. You’re the only one that I trust with this.” He handed the ring back to me.
“I feel so honored.”
“No, seriously, I don’t want anyone else to know.”
“I won’t tell a soul. I promise.” I gave my little brother the biggest hug. He was growing up right before my eyes. I stuffed the velvet box into the pocket of my skirt and gave Denny a warm smile as I walked toward the door. “I love you, big head.”
“I love you back.”
I left his room and headed down the hall to my own private space. My room hadn’t changed much. With two comfortable canopy beds, two chests of drawers and an old white pine desk in the corner of the room, it was the place I’d shared with my younger sister, Whitney. Things were just as we’d left them when I went away to Spelman, and she went away to college in Texas. Old-school posters of Caribbean artist Elephant Man still adorned my side of the wall, reminding me of my high school party days. My brother Nate and I would sneak off to the neighboring islands without my parents’ knowledge. We’d make up the excuse that we were spending the night with friends. We were clever and kept our sister Whitney as our watchperson.
Whitney had never been one to attend parties—or to sneak away, for that matter. She was the practical, levelheaded one of the Talbot bunch, always the peacemaker, always finding the good in everyone. Perfect attributes for a kindergarten teacher. Through Whitney, my mother was able to live her teaching dreams vicariously. And for that reason, she had clearly become my mother’s favorite. I was probably my mother’s least favorite of the bunch, having disappointed her on more than enough occasions. She was a worrier, and I’d caused her the most angst. She was convinced that I’d thrown away my education when I went traipsing across the country to pursue an acting career.
“Do you know how many people have rushed to Hollywood, looking to become famous?” she’d asked me. “You have a good education, from a good school, and yet you choose to squander it.”
I never changed my course. I still moved to California. However, my mother’s words stuck with me. She probably thought I didn’t listen to her, but the truth was I listened to everything my parents taught me. Kept all their instruction tucked away for safekeeping and pulled things out as I needed it.
I stuck