The Sea of You & Me

2. Kenny

"Probably busy hating me," I shrugged. It was true.

"Why? What happened?" Tish gasped.

"We broke up. It's not a big deal." I still remembered the exact look on his face the night I came to grab my stuff. He couldn't even look me in the eye. I couldn't say I blamed him.

"Oh, honey-"

"No no. Don't do that. I promise it's okay. I just didn't realize how much I didn't want a future with him when I thought I did." He proved me right in the end.

"What about work?" Another low blow if they knew. God, I wished we could skip these questions. But they just kept coming and coming.

"Well, most of my stuff I can do remotely. It's the beauty of technology," I lifted my eyebrows. "They don't mind that I'm working from home. As long as I stay on top of the due dates I'm solid." I didn't tell them that I quit my job over a month ago. Couldn't spring too much on them at once.

"How long are you here for?"

"Pfffft. I don't know." I trailed off. "At least until the end of the wedding. Maybe longer, I don't know yet."

"Where are you going to stay? You can stay here if you want. You can always stay here kiddo." My dad offered. I'm sure my room hadn't been touched since I'd last stayed in it.

"Thanks, dad. I was thinking going back and forth between here and Liam's." I sipped lightly on my coffee some more. It was still so weird to be back here. It'd be a miracle if I lasted until the wedding.

"We missed you, Ken." Tish grabbed my hand.

"I missed you too," I felt a tear slowly fall down my cheek. I quickly took my hand back to wipe it away. I knew I didn't have to hide my emotions from them, but I didn't know why I was crying either.

"It's weird being back," I muttered.

"Yeah, I bet," my dad whistled.

They asked me more questions trying to keep my mind off things. Too much time in my own head was never good. I was thankful for it. Video chat only got us so far. It was much better talking in person. Pretty soon we all needed a second cup of coffee.

"Have you seen anyone else?" Tish asked. I knew who she was talking about. "Have you seen Riley's studio? It's gorgeous."

"Not in person. She showed me pictures and videos of it when she was remodeling it. She said Cal helped design it yeah?" Dangerous waters that's what I waded into.

"Yeah, he did. I'm trying to get him to help me with the backyard but he's always busy," my dad shook his head at the thought. "Still don't get why he's working for his dad," he shrugged.

Wait the backyard? But it's already so nice.

The backyard!

"And how he helped design Liam and Riley's house. Oh, it's just beautiful." Tish gushed.

"Wait. He helped with that?"

"Yeah, he's got a real talent." Dad chimed in.

"He's always had a knack for finding the most beautiful things," Tish looked into my eyes causing me to shrink in my seat.

"Dad you said you wanted to redo the backyard? Did you start doing it?"

"No why?" He slowly dipped his coffee.