43. Iris Brotherly Love
Iris Brotherly Love
When the dust had settled and it was just us in the house again, Alice, who looked like a wrung-out dishrag, said, “Well, girls. You saved the day!”
I turned to Mom. “Oh my gosh, Mom! And we got our house back! We can go home!”
I was surprised at how torn I felt. I mean, yes, sure, of course I couldn’t wait to go home. But also, we had had so much fun here. It was kind of like, now that I knew it was over, I wished I’d taken more advantage of the moments we had together.
Mom bit her lip.
“What? You have been acting so weird about the house.”
Mom grimaced. “It’s just that, we maybe, might have been able to go home, like, a while ago.”
“What?” I was shocked. “And you didn’t tell me?”
“Dad was worried about our safety, and I knew if you knew, you’d try to talk me into going home and…”
She trailed off. And I started to be mad but then I realized that, really, I wasn’t. “Actually, I said. “I wouldn’t have wanted to go home even if you’d told me.”
“Really?”
I nodded. “Yeah. I love being here. It has been so awesome.” I turned to Alice. “Thank you for giving us such a great place to stay.”
“Alice, you have been so gracious to us,” Mom said. “We can never ever repay you.”
Her eyes filled with tears. So did Alice’s. Then mine did too because I couldn’t let them cry alone. “Wow. We’ve had so much fun.”
Before I could get too weepy, Merit came tearing up the stairs in full-on football pads, spotted me, and yelled, “Are you insane? Are you serious? You just sat here and recorded a total lunatic? You could have been killed .”
I tried to look nonchalant. “I’m fine, Merit.”
“Well, that is the last time I ever leave you alone. You have no sense, Iris.”
Mom and Alice shared a look. I knew that look. They thought Merit was in love with me. Alas, if only they knew the truth. Merit was in brotherly love with me. For the first time in hours, my mind flipped to Ben. Had I totally blown it with him? Would he ever try to make a move again after I’d stopped him?
Then I had a really great thought: just because Ben might never make a move didn’t mean I couldn’t.