Page 3 of Three Not-So-Little Words (The Lawson’s #3)

three

Come Here, You Fucking Weirdo

Ronnie

“ D ad!” I squeal as I run toward him. I throw my bag down so that he can wrap me in a big hug.

My dad gives the best hugs in the whole world.

No matter how many times I fly home, he insists on picking me up from the airport. I’ve told him time and time again that he doesn’t have to since it’s damn near an hour drive from our hometown of Lilly Leaf Falls.

But every time, he just tells me that everyone should have someone waiting for them when they get off the plane.

“My little Veronica! I’ve missed you!” He says.

“Missed you too, Dad.” And I mean it.

I love my job, and I love to travel. Usually, I don’t have any regrets. Being away from my family is the one exception to that.

When we end the hug, he grabs my carry-on, and we head for baggage claim.

“How was Brazil?” He asks.

“Beautiful. But hotter than horse piss.”

He smiles. “With the good comes the bad.”

We make some small talk as we grab my bag and head out to his truck.

As he starts the long drive, I look over at my dad. All of us kids favor him over our mother with our dark hair, brown eyes, and tanned skin. Those Greek genes of his run deep.

Around town, my dad is considered quite the looker. Any woman would love to have an evening with him. But he’s only ever had eyes for my mom. She’s the only woman he even sees.

It’s so cute that it’s downright nauseating.

Dad breaks the silence. “You know, it’s going to be weird having you in town and not having you at the house.”

“Think how weird it’s going to be for me. I’m not going to have anyone to talk to.” I laugh.

Until now, I've always stayed with my parents when I would come home. It was easier that way.

I had an apartment in New York for a while, so part of my stuff stayed there while the rest was housed in my childhood bedroom.

Since I’m rarely in the Big Apple, and I was paying out the ass for an apartment I was never in, I gave it up and had everything shipped back to my parents’. Well, everything of importance.

With my sister getting married, she and her fiancé bought a bigger house, so I’m renting their old one.

It’s a big step for me because I never put down roots anywhere. I lived in New York because I romanticized the idea of living in the big city.

The big city I was never in.

What a fucking moron.

Oh well. Not my first stupid decision and certainly won’t be my last.

Dad turns to me. “I went ahead and brought your car to the house, and your mom dropped off the rest of your stuff.”

I giggle. “How happy was she to get all that crap out of her house?”

“Oh, you know your mom.”

“Yes, I do–which is why I know she probably threw a fucking party. She probably whistled the whole time she moved it all. Like one of the seven fucking dwarves.”

He starts cracking up. “Don’t be ridiculous. You know your mother can’t whistle. She sang.”

My parents are complete opposites. My dad is very sweet, very understanding. He goes with the flow.

Mom, on the other hand, is a force of nature.

She's small in stature, but she takes no shit from anyone. She may not always be the most affectionate, but she would go to war for any of her kids–or her grandkids for that matter. She’s the one who always tells us what we need to hear rather than what we’d like to hear.

Between the two of them, they provided the perfect environment for us to grow up in.

I ask, “How’s everyone been doing around here?”

“Pretty good.”

In the next few minutes, I learn that my oldest sister, Liz, has been busy running her inn and taking care of her one-year-old daughter, Beth.

Michelle, next in line, is trying to find new hobbies and constantly battling her teenage daughter, Eve.

Dylan and his girlfriend, Leah, are spoiling their six-month-old daughter, Luna.

I talk to all of my siblings pretty regularly, but lately, it seems the conversations have been cut a little short for one reason or another.

“Remind me not to drink the water,” I say. “Wouldn’t want to end up infected with a baby.”

“Ronnie, I think the acceptable term is pregnant.”

“Mine is more accurate.”

“You never want to have kids?” He asks like he doesn’t already know the answer.

“Dad, I have a butt-load of money and a rockin’ body. Why would I want to give that up?”

“Oh, my little Veronica. Always my crazy girl.”

I count on my fingers. “You forgot a kid. What about Jo? Dear God, please say she’s not pregnant.”

Jo is the youngest of the Lawson kids. She’s seven years younger than Dylan and myself. We call her the accident–which got us in trouble many, many times.

“No, Jo isn’t pregnant. Well, not that I know of anyway. She is still all over the place. But she’s in town for the wedding.”

“I’m excited to see everyone.”

“They’re excited to see you too.”

After a while of more small talk, we hit the town of Lilly Leaf Falls, and I gaze out the window.

I’ve always felt like I’ve lived two lives.

In one, I travel the world, photographing the most gorgeous things you can imagine.

I love getting all dolled up and enjoying the finer things.

In the other life, I’m just a small-town girl.

This town may be quaint enough to be in a Thomas Kinkaid painting, but it’s always been my all-time favorite place to be.

Somehow, I fit into both of these lives.

I can slide seamlessly between the two of them without missing a beat.

As much as I love being on the road and seeing all the beautiful things the world has to offer, there’s nowhere I’d rather be than my hometown.

When my sister-Liz-graduated high school, she ran away to Los Angeles to get away from this place. She only came back when her life fell apart. It just so happens that she found happiness while here.

My story looks a little different. I didn’t leave because I was miserable. I left merely because I wanted to have adventures. I wanted to see all the beauty on Earth. But I always got excited when it was time to come home.

Lilly Leaf Falls was a great place to grow up.

It’s the kind of place, not only where everyone knows each other, but where everyone cares about each other.

People truly look out for one another. Traveling can get lonely at times–no matter how many guys I take to bed–so, having a homebase like this to come back to is comforting.

We drive through the center of town, and I look at all the shops. It’s not anywhere close to Christmas time, but most of them have twinkle lights lining the outside of the buildings. With evening turning into nightfall, it makes everything look even more idyllic.

I love it.

A few minutes later, we pull into Liz’s driveway. Well, I guess it’s my driveway now.

Man, that’s fucking weird to even think about.

Dad puts the truck in park. “I’ll help you take your stuff inside, but then, I have to get back to your mom. She’s in full wedding planning mode. I need to make sure she eats.”

“I get it, Pops. I’ll probably pass out early anyway.”

He helps me get my bags to the porch, but I assure him I can take it from here. With a quick hug, we say our goodbyes, and I tell him I’ll see him tomorrow for family dinner.

I dig into my purse and grab my keys. Pulling them out, I flip through and find the key that Liz had made for me.

After unlocking it and walking inside, I pause for a moment. This is it. My first house. Sure, I’m just renting it.

From my sister.

It’s not like I have a mortgage.

Eh, close enough.

Kicking off my shoes, I take a deep breath.

Alone in my own home.

A creaky floorboard snaps my attention to the hallway. Liz comes walking out of one of the bedrooms.

We spot each other and immediately scream bloody murder. I fall back against the door while all the sheets that were in Liz’s hands go flying into the air.

“Jesus, Liz, what are you doing here?” I cry.

“I forgot that I didn’t change the sheets on the bed.”

“And you had to come over right now to do it?”

With my hand still over my chest, I manage to regain some of my composure.

Liz and Jack decided to buy all new furniture for their new house, so they kept this place practically the same–which is great for me because I have practically nothing.

“Liz, while I appreciate the furnished rental, I don't know that I need you to be a maid.”

She simply nods, trying to catch her own breath.

“Come here, you fucking weirdo,” I say as I walk over to give her a hug.

Liz and I have always been fairly close since we’ve been adults. A six-year age difference as kids is huge, but grown up, it seems like nothing.

We had a shared interest in seeing the world. Most of our family resented Liz when she got the hell out of dodge. But not me. I understood it.

When we step back from our hug, she says, “Man, can you believe this? Both of us back in Lilly Leaf Falls. Me with a kid and getting married. You finally putting down some roots.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” I stop her. “Veronica Lawson isn’t putting down roots. I’m just renting a house.”

“Whatever you say. Pretty soon, you’ll be baking and gardening.”

“The only time you’ll ever hear Ronnie paired with the terms baking or gardening will be referring to smoking weed.”

“We’ll see.”

Feeling my defenses start to rise, I change the subject. “So, why are you really here? And don’t tell me you just came to change the sheets. You’re getting married soon. Shouldn’t you be picking out china patterns or something?”

“You know that Mom has all that shit handled. I just needed a little bit of a break from all the chaos. This place is quiet.”

I nod. “If it makes you feel any better, Dad went home to wrangle her for the evening.”

“Oh, thank God.” She exhales a sigh of relief.

“If you didn’t want this big of a wedding, why didn’t you just tell her?”

“Oh, I tried. She’s just so excited. And at the rate the Lawson siblings are going, I may be the only one to actually walk down the aisle. I guess I can let her have this one.”

“So, you were the martyr but then came here to avoid everything?”

She smiles. “Exactly.”

“I get it. You know you can come chill here whenever you want. We can do a sleepover.”

“While I appreciate the offer, I probably need to get home to Jack and Beth.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. I’ll leave you alone to get settled in,” she says while gathering her things.

“I’m not trying to kick you out. It’s your house after all.”

She turns to me. “No, Ronnie. It’s your house now.”

With a hug and a quick goodbye, she’s out the door.

Now, I really am alone. Most people might view that as a bad thing, but not me. Most of my life, I’ve lived alone. Despite all the people I meet, my job is a fairly solitary one. If I want company, I go find it. Easy as that.

Yes, most people may hate being alone.

But I’m going to make the most of it.

Time to walk around naked.