Becs finishes chomping down on a chip and joins Elizabeth with the inquisition. “Then what?”

I pick salt off the rim of my glass. “I’m supposed to work for my dad. The family business. We own a handful of sporting goods stores my grandpa started forever ago.” I take a long sip of my margarita, trying to hide the anxiety rising in the back of my throat.

“And you don’t want to?” Elizabeth asks.

I heave a deep sigh. “No. Not really.”

“Why not?” Becs quickly follows.

“Ever try and get excited about a jock strap?” We all laugh. “I love my family, but the idea of doing the same thing day in and day out? It sounds like torture.”

“Then why are you gonna?” Becs asks. This teenager is asking all the tough questions today.

I let out a long sigh. “Because it’s what I’m supposed to do. It’s what my family wants.”

“You’re such a hypocrite!” Becs jabs from beside me.

“This is different, Becs.” I sigh. “It’s not like they’re asking me to give up my dream college. I don’t have some other great idea or burning desire. I just think spending the next thirty years knee deep in shin guards sounds…awful.”

“Then do something else.” Becs is relentless.

“It’s not that simple.”

“But it’s your life.” Becs uses my own words against me and I’m defenseless against her onslaught. Elizabeth ping-pongs her stare between us, enthralled that I’m getting a lecture from a seventeen-year-old.

“Besides, you said your family was tight. I’m sure they’d understand.”

“Understand or not, it’d still break my mom’s heart.”

“Isn’t that a bit dramatic?” Elizabeth asks.

I shake my head. “You don’t know my mom. My brother Jake was supposed to take over as the company’s legal counsel after law school. Instead, he took a job with Legal Aid representing people who can’t afford to hire an attorney. Fighting for the downtrodden and disadvantaged and all that. He’s practically a saint, only more kickass. And you know what my mom said to him at Christmas last year?”

Elizabeth and Becs both shake their heads.

“She got this far-off look in her eye and said she was glad he could help those families. She knew she couldn’t be mad at him because he was helping other people, but she was sad he didn’t put his family first.”

Becs blows out a quick breath. “Ouch. That’s brutal.”

“No shame compares to a mother’s guilt trip.” Elizabeth tries to joke, but her voice is a little too full of angst to pull it off.

“Right? And I’m supposed to live with that guilt every day until I die?” I shake my head and polish off my margarita. “I always thought I’d run off for a couple years after graduation and travel. Rebel a little and get it out of my system. But I don’t know anymore.”

“Something around here worth staying for?” Elizabeth teases. I toss my napkin in her face and tell her to shut up.