The Truth About Forever

Macy never cared about how she looked before her dad died because as a track athlete, most of her attention was focused on “what [her body] could do and how fast it could go” (25). Since his death, she and her mother are preoccupied with their appearances to mask their own suffering. While Macy blames herself for her father’s death because she refused to go on a run with him that morning, Deborah blames herself for her husband’s death for pushing too hard for them to expand their Queen Homes business by building Wildflower Ridge, their communal neighborhood.

Macy and her mother host a catered event in their home to welcome potential homebuyers to the neighborhood that Deborah hopes to build. When the catering staff causes disruption with dropped platters and spilled beverages, Macy is sent to rectify the situation. Instead, she is pulled into the chaos and tasked with helping cook and serve crab cakes alongside the lead cook. The cook is a pregnant woman named Delia who is simultaneously looking after her toddler, Lucy, after her babysitter canceled last minute. Macy meets the rest of the Wish Catering staff while working alongside Delia: Monica, the server to blame for the night’s accidents, and two teen brothers named Bert and West. Delia offers Macy a job with her catering company if she changes her mind about the library this summer.

At the end of the night, Macy receives an email from Jason. It’s disappointingly unaffectionate, only listing the things Macy must remember to do for him while he’s gone. Macy overhears the catering staff leaving, catching a conversation Bert and Wes have about her dad. At first, she dreads the topic that’s defined her since his death, but they instead talk about how great of a coach he was when he coached their running team in elementary school, making for a bittersweet moment.

The night before beginning her library job, Macy suffers from fitful sleep, filled with nightmares about running—a sport she quit when her dad died on his morning jog and Macy, who’d slept in an extra five minutes, was too slow to catch up and save him. Jason’s coworkers, Bethany and Amanda, make Macy’s time at work unbearable. After a few days, Macy worries about how she’ll make it through an entire summer of their treatment and the tedium of the library. In her emails to Jason, she can’t help but vent about Bethany and Amanda, but he responds with apathy, more concerned about if Macy is handling all his tasks properly than comforting her. He “[doesn’t] sound like [her] boyfriend as much as middle management” (54). Meanwhile, she pretends with her mom that everything is just fine, even when she’s struggling inside. While Macy’s dad was always the affectionate one, her mom is more like Jason, subtle with her affection.

In Macy’s response to Jason’s latest email, she signs off that she loves him—saying it to him for the first time—and cannot wait for him to return home because she misses him and is lonely. The admission reminds her of the wildness of her older sister, Caroline’s, teen years and how Caroline believes “it had been crucial to her development as a person” and that Macy is lacking in that department (59). Macy has never had the urge to go out and take risks but begins to wonder about the appeal. Jason’s response to Macy’s last email declares they should take a break because the relationship is becoming too serious for him and he needs to focus on academics and his personal goals. Macy is blindsided and takes a drive to clear her mind when she spots the Wish Catering van on the road. In a spur-of-the-moment decision, Macy decides to follow it.

Delia is surprised by Macy’s interest in joining her catering team but agrees immediately. Macy starts immediately, meeting the night’s team, which consists of Delia, Monica, and Kristy. Macy enjoys how being a server makes her invisible, in a way. She doesn’t have to worry about the attention she’s gotten since her father’s death. The night is chaotic, though, which stresses Macy because “[she is] so used to controlling the expected at all costs” (76). However, the catering team remains calm and certain that everything will work out, and it does, much to Macy’s surprise—and she enjoys herself. The chaos of the night allows her to momentarily forget her break with Jason.

At the end of the night, Wes and Bert pull up in Bert’s new car, which he’s deemed the Bertmobile—an old ambulance he bought from a salvage lot. Macy is officially introduced to the two brothers, who happen to be Delia’s nephews, and Macy realizes how attractive Wes is up close. Macy is invited on a joy ride to christen the Bertmobile with the team but politely declines the offer, as “risk ha[s]n’t been working out for [her] lately” (84).

Deborah does not necessarily approve of Macy’s choice to work at Wish Catering, believing it’s too messy and chaotic and that her priority must be Jason’s library job. Macy does not tell her mother of the break, believing that her mother would think less of her. Macy struggles to draft a response to Jason, whose email had been detached, whereas she cannot convey her own thoughts without feeling as though she sounds embarrassingly emotional. The work environment at the library is made even more unbearable by the fact that Amanda and Bethany are already aware of their breakup.

After her shift at the library, Macy receives an evening call from Delia, who needs help with making 200 more sandwiches for a catering job the next day. Even though, according to her nightly routine, it’s time for Macy to study for the SAT before heading to bed, she agrees, deciding to “vary and see where it [takes her]” (90). On her drive to Delia’s, Macy gets stuck in a large pothole, and Wes helps tow her car as he leaves when she arrives.

As she helps Delia with making sandwiches, Delia talks about the issues with her car and the pothole that everyone complains about. She never fixes them because the imperfections and chaos of life only make her appreciate the perfect and smooth times more. Delia mentions the death of her sister, Wes and Bert’s mother, Melissa—or “Wish” as she called her—who began the Wish Catering business before passing away at 39 from breast cancer. She mentions how differently the family grieved during that time and the gap Melissa left in their lives. Like the pothole, Delia prefers to leave the hole rather than filling it, believing that learning to work around it is a way of respecting and remembering her.