“It sounds like he loves you,” Louise persisted.
“Love. Right,” Bree scoffed. “I don’t think it says much about Fen if his love is so wimpy he can’t stick around. He should give me more time.”
“How much time?” asked Louise.
Bree scowled. “I don’t know. But he should understand, and he doesn’t.”
“Understand what?” Louise persisted. “That you’re afraid?”
“I’m not afraid. I’m smart. I’m not going to screw up like Mom did.”
“I’m not psychic,” Zona snapped.
“What a thing to say!” Louise scolded. “You think your mother should have been able to see into the future?”
Bree’s face flushed. “Sorry.”
“Even the most loyal man will eventually lose hope,” said Louise. “And really, would you want to stick with someone who didn’t want to stick with you?” she added reasonably.
“I just want to be friends,” Bree grumbled.
“Well, we can’t always have what we want,” said Louise, clearly out of patience.
“Thanks, Gram,” Bree said and frowned. She stood. “I need to get going.”
“Busy social life waiting?” Louise baited.
“Mom,” Zona warned.
“It’s okay. She knows I love her. You’ll always be my favorite grandchild,” she told Bree.
Bree let out a snort. “I’m your only grandchild.”
“Still my favorite.”
It was a good note to leave on, which was what Bree did. She promised to stay on the lookout for Darling, then kissed both her grandmother and her mother on the cheek—no smile for either of them—and then was gone.
“That girl,” Louise said with a shake of the head. “What are we going to do with her?”
Keep loving her, of course.
“I hate that she’s so fearful,” Zona said.
“One thing I’m confident about. There will come a point when she lets go of that fear. It will take the right person and the right circumstance is all. She’s young. Give her time to figure things out.”
Zona sighed. “I wish I’d chosen better men.”
“You chose with a trusting heart. There’s no shame in that. And there’s no point staring at the past. What’s important is what you’re doing right here in the present.”
Like not being able to find her mother’s dog. Honestly, she couldn’t seem to do anything right. Zona blinked back tears.
“Sweetie, I think you’re exhausted. You need a nap,” Louise said gently.
“No, I need to go look for Darling. And then I need to close out my bids on eBay.”
“You’ve done enough. I’ll make some calls. You go do your eBay thing and then relax.”
Relaxing was nowhere in Zona’s future. “I will,” she lied.
