“Yay!” Bean cried.
“He went every Sunday morning to the one on Cesar Chavez and helped hand out meals. I could do that. I could make amends by doing community service in his honor.”
“I could get my community service badge!” Bean said.
“Oh. We’ll have to ask your dad about that.” She imagined Seth might draw the line at a soup kitchen.
“Okay,” Bean said agreeably. “Hey, what about pecan pie?”
“Hmm... The pie at Cho’s Drugstore was the best, but I know a close second.” They drove to Upper Crust Bakery where she bought an entire pecan pie for them to try at home.
Chapter 27Lorna Now
They arrived back at the apartments at the same time as Seth, who was reaching into the bed of his truck. He withdrew a stack of pizza boxes and waited for Lorna and Bean to get out of her car. “I’m getting a community service badge!” Bean shouted as he raced ahead. “Can I let Aggie out?” He was already inside before Lorna could answer.
Lorna eyed Seth’s pizza boxes. “Are you hungry? Or do you think I can eat a whole pizza on my own? Because if pressed, I will own up to it.”
“I hope you don’t mind, but I invited Martin and Liz,” he said. “I think we should talk about the apartments again. I spoke to Mr. Contreras today. He says he has a pair of buyers and thinks he’ll have a decent offer in a week or so. We need to be realistic about what’s going to happen here.”
Lorna’s mood began to crumble. “Yes,” she said tightly. She looked at Nana’s house. She couldn’t imagine it not being here. She couldn’t imagine that she would never be in Nana’s room again or sit in the window seat in what was once her mother’s room and watch the birds at the feeder just outside. She couldn’t imagine where all her memories would go, both good and bad.
But she couldn’t imagine being in this house alone now.
They decided to have the pizza in the backyard. Martin and Bean tossed a Frisbee for Aggie. Liz puttered around, making sure food and drinks (she’d brought a pitcher of tea) were covered. Seth brought out some old lawn furniture from the shed and dusted it off.
When they gathered to eat the pizza, Bean told his dad about their trip to a drugstore that wasn’t there anymore and the mean lady who was building something in its place. “She didn’t like Lorna,” he said.
The three adults looked at Lorna. She shrugged. “It happens.”
“It certainly does. You can’t please everyone all the time,” Liz said. “But we like you, Lorna.”
“Oh,” she said, happy with Liz’s proclamation.
“Lorna was arrested because she stole some stuff,” Bean said.
“Oh, okay,” Lorna said, sitting up taller. “We’re going there, are we?” She put down her pizza.
“Is that true?” Seth asked.
“Yes. But there were extenuating circumstances. I was seventeen, and it was my sister who did the shoplifting. She made me take the fall.”
“Take the fall? That sounds like you were part of an organized crime network,” Martin said with a chuckle.
“While that sounds like a lot of fun, I am not and have never been part of an organized crime network,” Lorna confirmed.
“Goodness,” Liz said. “That’s horrible for your sister to do that.”
“It certainly was,” Lorna agreed. “I lost my job at the drugstore because of it, and I never got to tell Mr. Cho how sorry I was.”
“Wait,” Martin said. “Cho’s Drugstore? My mom used to take us there when we were kids.”
“It was a great place,” Lorna agreed. “Bean and I went theretoday so I could apologize. But I found out the drugstore has been torn down.”
“They did that two years ago,” Martin said. “They’re ripping out old Austin everywhere.”
“You went there to apologize for what happened when you were seventeen?” Liz asked curiously.
“I did.” Lorna resisted the urge to squirm in her lawn chair. “I’m attempting to, you know, make amends for a few things in my past that I’m not proud of.”
