Chapter 30 #2
She didn’t look Louise’s way as she pulled her premade lunch from the fridge. “Mom, what if I made a mistake with Alec?” Stupid to ask. She already knew what her mom thought about him.
Louise didn’t say anything for a very long moment. Then she asked, “Do you think you did?”
“Do you think I did? I mean, you weren’t sure all along.”
“You going to listen to a woman who thought he was an axe murderer? What do I know?”
“When you’re not on Jessica Fletcher overload? A lot. Seriously, I don’t want to get burned a third time. But I already feel burned. I want him and yet . . .”
“You’re afraid.” Louise sighed heavily. “I don’t know what to say, Zona.
I’m afraid for you. Each time your heart got broken, mine broke for you.
You know I want you to find someone who will be good to you.
Good for you. But I don’t want to see you hurt, and we both know this man has . . . baggage.”
“I have baggage. And I’m already hurt, Mom.”
“I know you are, sweetie. But . . .” She cut herself off. “Life’s short. I guess neither of us wants to spend it in limbo. But I want you to be very sure.”
“I thought I’d had a sign.”
“A sign?”
Zona shook her head. “Never mind.” There was no more time for a shrink session. She was going to be late for work.
“Well, you’ll sort it out. Speaking of sorting things out,” Louise began.
“It looks like you and Martin have been doing some sorting out.”
“You could say that,” Louise said.
“I’m glad, Mom. I want to hear more, but right now I’ve got to get going. I’m going to be late for work.”
Louise looked a little disappointed.
“I expect a full report when I get home,” Zona said. “Gilda should be here any minute.” She kissed her mother on the cheek. “I’ll see you later. And thanks, Mom, for listening. I love you.”
“Love you more,” said Louise.
It was good to be loved. By your mother, your daughter, your friends.
What about by a certain man? Did she dare take the risk?
“I DON’T KNOW,” said Gilda when Louise shared her concerns over Zona. “Everybody’s got somebody crazy in their family.”
“But this woman . . .” Louise shook her head.
Gilda blew off her concerns with a shrug. “This woman is nothing. Did I ever tell you about my cousin? He got into drugs and went all paranoid. Shot a friend in the stomach and went to jail for years. He’s out now, but he’s a hermit. Nobody sees him.”
“Somehow, I don’t see this girl becoming a hermit once she gets out.”
“No, but after all this she’ll see the well’s run dry. She’ll move on, find some other family member to mooch off of and make miserable. That’s what users do.”
“Maybe you’re right,” said Louise.
“I still think he’s kind of a jerk though. Even if he did teach Darling to sit,” Gilda added. “He wasn’t very nice about the whole bone thing. The man has no sense of humor.”
THE FOR-SALE SIGN was up in Alec’s yard when Zona got home. She didn’t bother to pull her car into the driveway. She kept on going right to the grocery store. There she purchased an entire half gallon of cookies and cream ice cream. There was nothing wrong with clichés.
She came home to find her mom and Gilda busily planning Louise’s cast-off celebration. “We can have it the weekend after Labor Day,” Louise said.
“Isn’t your cast coming off before that?” asked Zona as she stowed away the ice cream.
“It is, but Martin and I are taking a little trip to San Francisco to celebrate,” Louise said, looking smug.
“Pretty soon I’ll be out of a job,” said Gilda.
“But not out of a friendship,” Louise assured her. “You will come to the wedding, right?”
Zona dropped onto the nearest chair. “Wedding? What? When?”
“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 SUMMONED for 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 in Titanic, 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.
“Gram,” Bree scolded.
“Bree, dear, there’s going to come a time when your mother will move forward and find someone,” Louise said.
Bree looked suspiciously at Zona. “Not that someone. Mom, his stepsister.”
“Will be locked away,” said Zona.
Bree’s brows lowered. “But not forever,” she said in a voice of doom.
“Let’s not put our lives on hold for some nebulous day in the future when something might happen,” Louise said. “You need to let your mother make her own decisions. She’s taken enough hits. She’s wise enough now to know what bullets to dodge.”
Am I? Zona asked herself. Where was that darned sign when you needed it?
“Now, you two, finish that ice cream and let’s talk about my wedding,” said Louise.
Bree snatched the ice cream back from Zona, sat down, and dug into it.
“You two are driving me cray-cray.” But after that she didn’t say anything more.
Instead, she weighed in on the wedding plans, starting with finding a dress she liked.
“That shade of brown looks good on the model so it will look good on us,” she said, turning her phone so Zona could see.
Zona was still in shock and could only nod and smile and say, “Sure.” A wedding in the backyard. Of her house. Wow. Cupid wasn’t coming through with any firm confirmation, but this kind gift from her mother was certainly an assurance that her financial future was going to be secure.
Martin showed up half an hour later and was given a brownie and apologies that the ice cream was all gone.
He patted his middle. “That’s okay. I’m watching what I eat. Want to take off a few pounds before October,” he added, and winked at Louise.
“Congrats, Martin,” Bree said, and hugged him. “Welcome to our reality show family.”
“Glad to be part of it,” he told her. He bent and kissed Louise. “How’s my darling?”
Darling barked and wagged his tail, making everyone laugh.
“We’re both great,” Louise said, reaching up a hand to take his. “Sit down and we’ll tell you all about our wedding plans.”
“Can I at least get you something to drink?” Zona offered. “Lemonade, an Arnold Palmer?”
“Just water,” he said. He took the chair next to Louise and kissed her again, then said, “And kisses. That’s all I need,” making Louise giggle.
“You two are enough to put us in a diabetic coma,” Bree teased.
“Good thing you’re going to become a nurse. You can save us if that happens,” said Louise.
Bree smiled. “I still can’t believe I’m finally going to get to start school.”
“And finish it,” Louise told her. “Martin and I are going to give you the rest of the money you need so you and your mother can quit worrying. And driving strangers all over town,” she added, looking at Zona.
Now it was Bree gaping in shock.
“Oh, not in one chunk. We’ll dole it out as you need it,” Louise said. “Merry Christmas early.”
“Gram, you don’t have that much money,” Bree protested.
“I do,” said Martin. “Always been a saver. I can spare enough to help my new granddaughter get through nursing school.”
Bree looked from one to the other. “I can’t take your money, you guys. You need it for your old age.”
“Between the two of us, we have enough for our old age,” Louise assured her. “And if we run out, Martin will get a job as a greeter at Walmart,” she added, and winked at him.
Bree was still looking dubious.
“We’ll be fine,” Martin assured her. “Not every millionaire drives a BMW or lives in a mansion.”
“Wow,” Bree said. Then she jumped up with a squeal and ran to hug both Louise and Martin. “I’ll pay for all my books and living expenses,” she promised.
“And provide free nursing care,” Louise said, hugging her back.
“Absolutely,” Bree said.
“I still can’t believe it,” she said to Zona as Zona walked her to her car later. “Did you know about the tuition thing?”
Zona shook her head. “I had no idea. I didn’t even know about the wedding until I got home from work. And I sure didn’t know about the house. Your grandmother is one big bundle of surprises today.”
Bree’s happy expression got overtaken by one of concern. “Mom. Are you wanting to get together with Alec?”
Without a cosmic sign, no. Sadly, depressingly, no. “Don’t worry. I won’t. No matter what your Gram says.”
“But do you want to?” Bree persisted.
Wanting had nothing to do with it. “I’m not going to do anything to hurt you,” said Zona. Much as she missed him, much as she wished things could be different. She sighed inwardly.
“That’s not what I asked. I know you were into him.”
“I was, but I can’t drag you through any more turmoil.”
Bree took in a deep breath. “I hate to see you go through any more crap, Mom.”
Zona nodded. It was settled. She had a house. She’d learn to love living in it alone.
They stood together a moment in silence. Bree was the first to break it. “But I don’t have to worry about him getting my college money. And it won’t be my car getting keyed if his sister comes back.”
A little seed of hope sprouted. “Stepsister,” Zona corrected.
“Creepsister,” said Bree with an eye roll.
“I don’t want to see you get hurt again, but you already are, aren’t you?
” Zona started on a half-hearted protest that she wasn’t, but Bree stopped her.
“I can see it. You act like you’re fine, but your smile is off.
Sometimes you look like the first victim in the zombie apocalypse. I hate that for you.”
“Don’t worry about me,” said Zona. “You just live your own life and be happy.”
Bree’s mouth corkscrewed. “I haven’t been happy all summer.”
“I noticed,” Zona teased.
“I hate men! Look what they do to us.”
“Yeah, they make us miserable. Except for the good ones. Your Gram’s found a good one.”
“Maybe you have, too. Maybe you should give it a try.”
Zona had to have misheard. She stared at her daughter.
“I mean, what if Gram’s right? I don’t want it to be my fault if you’re alone all your life and end up a crazy cat lady.”
“I like cats.”
“You like Alec James, too. And at least we know he’s not an abuser or a murderer. And he did fix your car.”
“Are you sure?”
Bree bit her lip. “Not really. But I don’t want to be stuck with the blame if you get any more depressed. He doesn’t gamble, does he?”
“I don’t think that’s his thing.”
Bree nodded. “Well, then, go for it.”
There it was, the sign. The signal. Walk. More like run.
“Just don’t marry him for about fifty years.”
Zona laughed. “Fifty?”
“Okay, ten. At least wait a couple. Let me get through nursing school, okay?”
“Okay.”
“And be careful. And tell him if he hurts you I’ll come after him with a needle full of something very bad.”
Zona laughed again. They hugged and Bree drove off.
And Zona looked at the empty house next door and, for the first time, didn’t want to cry.