“All right,” her mom said, giving her the handle of her roller bag, then walking around the car. Sam tried not to laugh at her mom, who gave the door a dainty tug, which did nothing to make it open.
“You really gotta yank,” Sam said after her mom gave the door a few more gentle pulls.
“Right,” Diana said, bracing her feet and pulling with two hands. The door popped open with a prodigious groan, and her mom stumbled back a few steps but managed to keep her feet. “Whoo. That one really was stuck.”
“Duke’s car is a little busted. But it runs.” Sam smiled and hoisted the suitcase into the trunk. To her mom’s credit, Diana did slam the car door shut. No need to tell her how the doors on a hooptie worked twice.
Jogging back around to the driver’s side, Sam ducked into the car, slammed her own door, then buckled in. Half watching as an oblivious Bay Area driver was hustled off by airport security for parking in a crosswalk, Sam glanced at her mom and said, “Okay, so I was thinking we could get you checked in, and then I know a great spot for dinner. It’s this amazing French restaurant within walking distance from my place, so we can drop Duke’s car off and then go over. It sometimes has a long wait for a table, but—”
“I love that plan, but I think we should go to the venue before dinner if we can.”
“Of course, I’ll call them and see if they have an event going or if we can stick our heads inside. Make sure all the pictures and hostess gifts were delivered okay. I should have thought of that,” Sam said, giving her head a little shake.
“Actually, I had everything sent to the hotel, so we won’t have to stay at the venue long. I just want to see it.”
“What?” Sam asked, trying to keep her eyes on the road as they neared the end of the freeway and began creeping toward the Financial District, where her mother had booked a ridiculously pricey hotel room because she wanted to earn points on her credit card. “I thought we talked about sending it to the venue.”
“Well, yes. But then I tried to call to confirm that they had someone who would be able to sign for everything, and it just seemed so convoluted, so I thought the hotel would be better.”
Sam gritted her teeth. She suspected that when her mom saidconvoluted, what she really meant was she hadn’t wanted to wait for them to call her back, so she’d done an easier thing and assumed Sam could deal with it. It was too late to do anything about that now.
Sighing, Sam looked for a bright spot. Maybe she’d shipped small pictures and gotten cookies as gifts, so they could just drop a box or two off before Sam needed to hand the car over to Duke. “How many photos did you ship? Will everything fit in Duke’s car?”
“I have about twenty-five. A few are pretty big.” Her mother looked around the car, as if assessing the space available to them and the viability of her plan for the first time. Frowning slightly, she paused, then fixed her face in an upbeat expression before saying, “We may need to make a few trips, but we have a couple of days. It’ll be fun mother-daughter bonding.”
“Mom,” Sam said, trying to keep a flare of frustration out of her voice. “Remember, I have to work. And this isn’t my car. I have to give it back to Duke.”
“I don’t remember you mentioning work,” Diana said, sounding put out as she rearranged her sunglasses on the top of her head. “And I thought we could just rent a car. I’m happy to pay for it.”
“We talked about it three weeks ago, at the same time that we talked about Dad starting to volunteer for the community center. Remember?” Sam flexed her fingers on the steering wheel. This was classic Diana; she just wouldn’t hear the things she didn’t want to know. And she wanted to know absolutely nothing about Sam that contradicted her plan for her daughter, including her work schedule.
“If you say so.” Diana’s tone implied that she absolutely did not believe her but was too passive aggressive to fight about it. “But what am I supposed to do for the next few days? I planned on spending time with you. Guess that fellowship has you very busy.”
“That’s why I said you should fly out on the same day as Isaiah,” Sam said, pressing her foot down on the gas a little harder than sheshould have. They were only a few minutes from the hotel, and then her mother would be too preoccupied to pick fights. Sam just had to be patient. She didn’t want to ruin this chance to make things right with her mom. “Maybe go to the museums? There is a great K-spa I heard about—”
“Can’t you just skip off a little early ...”
“Not really. Medicine doesn’t work like that. Plus, Grant and I have to film a commercial for Anjo. And there’s the birthing center grand opening event to finalize. And I still need to submit that progress report to the foundation, which I cannot forget to do, or I will be in big trouble.”
“Okay.” Her mother clenched her jaw but didn’t press.
A small voice in the back of Sam’s head reminded her just how much her mother had given up over the years, first for her husband’s career and then for Isaiah’s and Sam’s happiness. If Sam had a different kind of job and stayed close to home, then they could have had lunch every Wednesday just like Diana envisioned. The guilty voice reminded Sam that her mother had to settle for text messages and phone calls. Frustrated as Sam was, she could understand that disappointment. Trying to be gentle, she added, “And it’s just a couple days. Isaiah and Dad will be flying in on Friday night, and obviously, I’ll be around when I’m not on call—”
“No, no, it’s fine,” Diana said, turning to look out the window as the freeway ended and they started the slow creep toward the hotel. “Filming a commercial should be fun. Will it be on TV?”
“I hope not. But given the little I know about Duesa, probably.” Sam laughed, then took a deep breath. She knew her mom wasn’t fine, but there was nothing she could do about it. Hopefully, she’d get over it once she saw just how much planning and work Sam had put into the venue.
Turning into the hotel’s passenger-drop-off area, Sam tried to stop worrying about if her mother was happy and make a joke. “I don’t thinka valet would even know what to do with this car. I’m gonna drop you here and self-park.”
“I think that’s wise.” Her mother laughed halfheartedly, then reached for the door handle.
“You are gonna have to put your shoulder into it,” Sam warned with a lopsided grin.
“Ah, all right then.” This time her mother’s smile was genuine as she leaned back a good six inches, then went at the door with a surprising amount of force. Hoisting herself out of the car, she asked, “You’ll bring my suitcase too?”
“Yup. I’ll meet you in the lobby once you’re checked in.”
“See you in a second, Sammy.” Diana waved as if she hadn’t just been irritated with her, then slammed the door like a hunk-of-junk-riding champ.
