“Hello.”
Her brother Chad’s voice filled the car. “So, little sister, did you survive the inquisition?”
Leave it to him to make her laugh. He was the one person in the family who had supported her decision to strike out on her own. Well, sort of, anyway.
“Barely.”
“Let me see if I can guess the main talking points. First, you live too far away. Second, you live too far away. Third, you live too far away.”
“Wow, that’s uncanny! Were you listening in somehow? Was the maple syrup pitcher bugged?”
“I’ll never reveal my sources, although the subject of the intended conversation may have come up at dinner last night.”
“You should have seen the look on Mom’s face when I let it slip that I was getting a bulldog puppy. It was like she’d somehow convinced herself that none of this was real until that moment.”
“Poor kid, don’t you go feeling guilty. Even if I miss seeing you and hate that you’re so far away, I do understand what drove you to put some distance between you and the folks.”
If so, he was the only one in the family who did. “Why can you still live within half a mile of their house and not feel smothered?”
There was a brief silence before he finally answered. “It’s different for me.”
“How so?”
“You know why, Sis.”
As much as she hated to admit it, she did. It had nothing to do with gender or age, but instead with the health issues that had plagued her life almost from birth. “Yeah, I know. This is the only way I’ll ever get them to see me as capable of taking care of myself. I just hate that it hurts them so much.”
Chad’s sympathy came through loud and clear. “They’ll come around sooner or later, and I’m rooting hard for you. God knows you got a double dose of bullheaded stubbornness, so I know you’re up to the task.”
“I learned it from you.”
He laughed. “As the youngest two, we had to learn to stand up for ourselves or get crushed by the twins and big brother.”
“True enough.”
“I’ll let you go. I just wanted to make sure that the lunch date didn’t turn ugly. Do you want me to drop in at the folks’ house for dinner tonight to hear Mom’s take on things?”
That would be a bit underhanded, but she wasn’t going to stop him. “Only if you really want to. Having said that, thanks for taking one for the team.”
“Anytime. Besides, it’s meatloaf night. I plan to make off with the leftovers to live on for a couple of days.”
“One of these days you really need to learn to cook or marry someone who already knows how.”
She could almost see him shudder. “Yeah, right, so not happening. Besides, I do all right with speed dial and carryout menus.”
“Well, I’m almost home, so I’d better hang up. Once I get my guest room furnished, I’ll have you over a visit. Maybe make a weekend of it and take in a ballgame.”
“It’s a date, and I’ll email you if Mom says anything interesting.”
“Thanks.”
Turning into the driveway, she saw Mikhail was already hard at work, his blond hair gleaming in the sun. She waved as she pulled into the garage. A quick change of clothes, and she’d be right out there with him sporting her fancy pink tool belt and ready to put her hammer to good use.
The perfect way to spend her afternoon.
