Welcome to Moongate

Four: A Warm Welcome Indeed

“Honey, I’m so happy you’re going to be home for the summer,” my mothers cheery voice caught my attention from the front seat. My eyes flicked upwards, catching her gaze in the reflection of the rearview mirror. 24 and still I found myself crammed into the backseat of her old beat up Volkswagen. Some things never change. I thought to myself, but I should have known better than to expect anything otherwise. In this town, nothing ever changed.

“Yeah, me too,” I sighed. Although, this was exactly the last place I wanted to be spending my summer. Happy was the furthest thing from how I was feeling right now, turning back to gaze out the window. Maybe the trees were a little bigger now, some new flowers blooming among the fields, but everything else here was exactly the same. That was the exact reason I’d worked so hard to get out of this damn town.

It wasn’t that anything particularly bad ever happened to me here. I didn’t grow up getting bullied or have a bad break up or face some sort of childhood trauma. No, it was that nothing ever happened in this town. I’d been bored to death since the day I was born. Although, I don’t think the itch to leave this place really started until I was 4 or 5. It was the first time my parents took a family vacation with us, flying for the first time to California. I had been amazed by the lights, the people, the bustling city. It was exactly why the day I turned 18, I boarded a plane and decided to start my life over there. Truthfully, I just didn’t want to be stuck here like the rest of them. Yet, here I was.

My forehead rested against the window glass, the more streets we passed, the more I began to recognize. That nervous drum that had been traveling down my spine for the past several days was only picking up in intensity now. It had been a long time since I’d been back here, or at least longer than usual. As much as I hated the place, I loved my mother, and her fear of flying made it difficult to convince her to ever visit me. My father died shortly after my eighth birthday, but at least my mother wasn’t left totally alone here. My brothers would stick around, they had always good like that.

Nevertheless, I made a point of coming home for every holiday. Even if they were just short weekend visits where I’d grin and bear the quaint small town and try to find comfort behind the walls of my childhood home. I’d focus on my mother and siblings and try to enjoy the time we had together, but still I often found myself checking the clock, and counting down the hours until my flight back home.

I’d missed Christmas this year, getting stuck working the entire holiday season. Not that I was complaining. Sitting in the backseat of this car right now, I’d do anything to be back at work for the summer, to be back to my life 3 days earlier. I would definitely have dumped Leo’s ass myself, at least then I wouldn’t be the one that was now a laughing stock.

“You know Honey, your brothers are so very excited to see you. I bet Jess will be really excited to have you back in town too. She has a ton of wedding planning to do, she could really use your help,” my mother’s gaze caught mine a second time in the rearview mirror and I had to force another fake smile.

“Sounds like fun,” I offered, but it most certainly did not. When I’d heard the news of their engagement, I wasn’t surprised in the slightest. Their engagement was a long time coming, but when I’d received the news in California, I was embarrassed to admit it brought a sinking feeling to my stomach. It meant for another trip home, one where I’d have to interact with half the town at their wedding.

He may be my brother, but I’d still hoped his wedding would be a quick weekend visit where I’d be too busy to ever take in the sights. It wasn’t about him of course. No, it was this awful town. It was like a trap, sucking all the life out of you until you were forced to stay here and live this boring life.

Trevor, on the other hand, was perfectly content doing that. So, we would forever keep in touch with FaceTime calls and weekend visits. Except now, where I’d spend one last summer in this town. Or at least, I really hoped it would be the last.

My brother belonged in this town. Him and his girlfriend were just like the rest of them, stagnant, never changing, predictable. Not that there was anything wrong with that, if that was the kind of life you were looking for. Him and Jess had been together since the ninth grade, meeting on the first day of high school and instantly sparking a connection. They’d been inseparable ever since. Truly I was convinced they’d never even had a fight. When you meet a person who just understands you as well as they understood each other, there was no reason to fight.So, I was happy for them getting married, but that certainly didn’t mean I wanted to spend all summer out here with them, and I definitely wasn’t planning to.

When we pulled in the driveway, I took in the familiar site of the home I’d grown up in. As expected, it looked exactly the same. The same willow tree in the front yard, the same creek in the front step as soon as anyone used it, the same rose bushes lining the edges of the house that I’d once fallen in while trying to sneak out for a party. Those same vines climbing the side of the house, more sturdy than they looked, proving themselves of that on one of the last nights I’d ever spent here.

I shook the thought away, pressing open the back door and finding freeing myself from the back seat. I raised my arms overhead, stretching my back out and tipping my head back to feel the sun on my face. The heat here wasn’t the same as back in California, and for that I would be grateful. The summer weather here might actually be the best part of this sudden visit. At least I wouldn’t be spending the entire summer face to face with the air conditioner and crying every time it overheated and stopped working.

“Tally!” My brother Trevor’s voice pulled me from my moment, turning away from the sun to see him jogging down those creaky steps. A full blow smile plastered across his face, those thick brown curls bouncing off his forehead. He was a lot taller than I was, his steps bringing him across the lawn in fewer than 10 long strides. Then, his arms were around me, pulling me into the bear hug I’d been looking forward to since booking my flight. No, scratch that thought. He was definitely the best part of being here.

“It’s so good to see you,” My words came out half a groan as he tightened his squeeze on me quickly before letting me go. When he pulled back, his hands came to my shoulders “Tell me everything, I want updated on every single aspect of your life,” he flashed me that cheesy grin and I couldn’t help but smile back at him.

“There’s time for all that later!” I said to him, but in the back of my mind I knew I was avoiding the conversation. There wasn’t exactly anything good in my life going on at the moment, and I certainly didn’t want to come home and unload all my bad energy of the past day onto my brother. Especially not when now was such a happy time for him.

With the reminder of my brother’s wedding at the top of my mind, I realized I’d forgotten to say something important. “Congratulations!” I squealed, pulling him into another hug, rocking back and forth this time.

“Wow, why didn’t I get a welcome like that?” my mother laughed at the two of us, popping open the trunk to get my bags.

“Mom I got em!” Trevor scurried over to the rescue, always the gentleman, as he shooed my mother away and pulled the suitcase from the trunk.

“I missed you too mom,” I smiled, giving her the hug I probably should have given her when she picked me up at the airport.

“Oh honey, it’s so good to have you home again,” she repeated those words from earlier and once again I had to resist the urge to cringe. Was it good though? “Especially for such a long visit this time!” Clearly, the excitement from our phone call a couple of days ago hadn’t worn off yet. I didn’t have the heart to break it to her, the way that regret had settled into my system the second I’d hung up the call. I shouldn’t be back here. I don’t belong here, not anymore.