Finding Me by Stephanie Rose Page B

my mother as she planted a kiss on my forehead at the dinner table. She was a little bit of a thing; I passed her in height by the time I entered middle school. But, that didn’t matter. Since I was their only child, I was still her baby boy. Both Mom and Dad spoiled me in different ways, but the dimples only worked with Mom.
    Our house was huge, much too big for only the three of us. It left little doubt that more children were planned, but never came. It was something they didn’t discuss, and the extra rooms served as dens, exercise rooms, and offices. My friends always joked about having parties in our mansion. Mom pushed for a twenty-first birthday party here, begging for months and promising they’d spare no expense. Dad, with all his grumbling, would look the other way at us drinking as long as we kept it contained and no one drove home. A year ago, I would have said yes without question. This house would be packed to the gills with people and a thumping bass of music all night long. Now, however, I wasn’t feeling it. The one person I wanted to share my birthday with was on the other end of the Eastern Seaboard.
    “Stop fussing over him, Caroline,” Dad growled but gave me a smirk. “Your baby boy is a young man. No sense in coddling him.”
    “You hush, Bill,” Mom huffed as she sat across from Dad at the table. “My Owen is still my baby.”
    “Tonight he’ll do what every other red-blooded man on his twenty-first birthday does: get drunk and collect birthday kisses from pretty girls.” Dad arched an eyebrow at me as Mom giggled across the table.
    I chuckled as I poked at my food. “Nah, Dad. I have a girlfriend. Just looking forward to a night out with the guys.”
    “You know something, sweetie?” Mom asked as she passed me the bread. “This is the first time I remember you ever saying you had a girlfriend. Usually your tried and true answer was just a girl I know. And there were plenty of girls you knew hanging around here before you moved so far away from us.”
    My going to Culver was a constant source of contention with my mother. It seemed like an odd choice to her, but Culver had a decent hockey team—even though they sucked at the time of my admission—and they had a sports marketing program in their business school. Dad agreed it was a smart move all around. My grades and recommendations from my high school hockey coach earned me an almost full scholarship, so it was a no brainer as far as I was concerned. Though that didn’t help the pang of guilt at my mother’s stream of tears before every departure back to school.
    “Bella’s special, Mom. She’s not like any girl I’ve ever met. She’s beautiful, smart, and real. The polar opposite of any girl I used to know.” I gave Mom a wry grin as I teased her. “You’d love her.”
    A slow smile spread across her face. “We need to meet this Bella, then. Why don’t you ask her to come home with you for Spring Break? Lord knows we have plenty of room here for her to stay.”
    “Absolutely. I know a thing or two about chasing your dreams and finding a girl along the way.” Dad glanced wistfully over at Mom. Back in the day, he was only supposed to be in Savannah for a few months, but then he met Mom and never left.
    “We’ll see, Mom. Listen, I told the guys I’d meet them in an hour.” I leaned over to kiss her forehead and squeezed her hand. “Thanks for dinner. I’ll ring in twenty-one without the need of a clean-up crew here. Everyone wins, right?”
    Everyone except me. My head would be a thousand miles away with the city girl I left for the holidays.

    I sat at the end of the crowded bar, Moon River beer bottle in my hand, and peered over the crowd. I knew most of the people here, as everyone was home from wherever they went to school. Bluegrass Saloon was the place in town for college kids to drink with no questions asked. But I was twenty-one today. Well, as of a half hour ago. Being in a bar that didn’t ask for my