“Where,” added Louise with a wink. “I wanted to tell you this morning, but there wasn’t time.”
Because she’d been too busy counseling her self-absorbed daughter. “You should have told me to shut up.”
“Okay, shut up,” Louise joked. “We’re getting married right here in our backyard. I’m thinking early October. I love fall.”
“Well, that’s fast,” said Zona. “Oh, wait. You’ve been stalling that poor man forever. It’s about time. I’m happy for you, Mom.”
“Happy ending. One down, two to go,” Louise said to her.
Zona sighed. “I think Bree’s a lost cause.”
“Maybe you’re not,” said Louise. “Maybe you’ll get that sign you’re looking for.”
BREE WAS SUMMONEDfor dinner so Louise could make her big announcement. She did it over Zona’s black bean brownies and the ice cream Zona had bought.
“Wow, Gram, that’s awesome.”
“I want you and your mother to be my bridesmaids,” said Louise. “I found these really pretty dresses we can get in orange.”
“Orange?” Bree looked horrified.
“Okay, we’ll find other color options,” said Louise.
“If you want us to wear orange, we’ll wear orange,” Zona promised and shot Bree the famous Mother Look.Do it or die, kid.
Bree shrugged and helped herself to another brownie. “Where are you guys going to live?”
“I’m going to move in to Martin’s house,” said Louise.
Selling her childhood home. The idea hit Zona like a gut punch. Of course, it would be the smart thing to do, but she suddenly felt like a shipwreck victim who’d just lost her grip on the last piece of the wreckage. She was Jack inTitanic, turning blue in icy waters.
“You’re going to sell the house.” The words came out dull and heavy as lead. Zona went to the freezer for more ice cream. A quarter gone already. She shouldn’t have shared.
“No, it’s going to go to you,” said Louise. “If you want it.”
The ice cream fell to the floor with a thud. “Mom!”
Bree and Darling raced for the ice cream. Bree barely beat him to it.
Ice cream forgotten, Zona stumbled back to her chair. “This house is worth a lot. You can’t just give it away.”
“To my only daughter who will inherit it after I croak? Why on earth not? You need it now, not after I’ve finally packed it in when I’m a hundred,” Louise said with a grin. “Martin’s going to help me figure out how best to do that.” She sobered. “Unless you don’t want it?”
A house. Free and clear. And not just any house. Her house, the house she’d grown up in, had slumber parties in. The very symbol of love and comfort. Zona sat in her chair, staring at her mother, trying to wrap her mind around the amazing news.
“I think she’s in shock. Quick, give her that ice cream,” Louise said to Bree.
“Oh, Mom,” Zona said. She swiped at the tears racing down her cheeks and hugged her mother. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Say you want it.”
Zona fell back onto her chair and smiled at her mother, who was looking a little blurry thanks to Zona’s teary vision. “Of course I do!” she replied, half laughing, half crying. She took the ice cream from her daughter. “If you need a place to stay, you can move in here,” she said to Bree.
“It’s okay. I like adulting.”
“Just as well. I’m thinking there might come a point when you want to move in someone else and want this place all to yourself,” Louise said.
Zona bit down on her lip and hugged the container of ice cream. And thought again about that lightning she wasn’t sure she’d seen.
