“What? Why?” Audrey sat up a little straighter. “You can’t go through my phone. That’s an invasion of my privacy.”
“I pay the bill on it, so legally, it ismyphone, and since you hate me...” Grace shrugged. “I won’t pay an expensive phone bill for anyone who hates me, so give me your phone.”
“No!” Audrey raised her voice.
“All right,” Grace said. “Have it your way.” She pulled her own cell phone from her pocket, tapped the screen a few times, and went back to work. “Get busy, girl. There were a bunch of little kids and fishermen with grimy hands in here just before closing yesterday, and the display cases and windows need shined up.”
“I hate to do windows,” Audrey complained.
“We do, too, and we’re really glad you’re in trouble and have to help us,” Grace told her.
Audrey stood up and pulled her phone from the hip pocket of her jeans. She hit the screen several times but nothing happened. Then she whipped around to glare at her mother. “What did you do?”
“Remember when I gave you that phone for your thirteenth birthday?” Grace asked in a calm tone, even though she was anything but that inside. “I had two apps put on it: One that tells me where you are, always. The other is so I can turn the phone off whenever I want. I’ll turn it back on at the end of spring break if I feel you have learned to show some respect.”
“That’s not fair,” Audrey sputtered. “I can’t believe you are interfering with my privacy.”
Grace held out a hairnet. “Fair is in the eye of the beholder—or in this case, the one that pays the phone bill. Put this on and get busy.”
Audrey continued to glare at Grace as she pulled her tangled hair up into a ponytail and took a few slow steps toward the utility room.
“Just a minute, kiddo.” Grace shook the hairnet at her. “You forgot your hairnet. If an inspector comes in, we could lose our license, so put it on.”
Audrey gasped. “What if one of my friends comes in?”
“Then they’ll see you wearing a net and shining windows,” Grace answered.
Audrey put the thing on but left the blue strand of hair hanging out the side. She turned her back on her mother and opened the small utility room.
Grace tapped Audrey on the shoulder and didn’t even flinch when the girl turned around and gave her another dirty look. “Allof your hair goes under the net—and if it falls out while you are working, I’ll either confiscate your tablet and computer when we go home or you can cut that blue streak off at your scalp. Your choice. And, darlin’, I love you. This hurts me as much as it does you.”
“I hate this place, and I’ll sell it when I inherit it,” she spat. “And when I’m out of this godforsaken town, I’m going to get a belly ring and a tattoo. I don’t know why I can’t have one now. Crystal has a butterfly on her shoulder and Kelsey has a rose, and they both have belly button piercings. The only thing we have alike is our blue streaks.”
“When I don’t pay your bills anymore, you can do whatever you want. And, darlin’, who says you’ll inherit it?” Grace asked. “Macy is getting married in three months. Her children may be the ones that we name when we make up our will. The blue stuff in the spray bottle is for cleaning the glass, and use paper towels to wipe it off. Don’t leave streaks.”
Audrey mumbled under her breath as she headed inside the utility room, grabbed the cleanser and paper towels, and headed for the dining room in a huff.
“That was some badass tough love,” Sarah whispered and then turned to Macy. “Are you sure you want to have kids after seeing this?”
“I told you, Neal and I are having boys,” Macy answered with a smile.
“And if God has a sense of humor and gives you girls?” Sarah asked.
“I’m sending them all to Grace to raise.” Macy’s blue eyes twinkled. “She makes a good drill sergeant.”
Grace wiggled her fingers in front of Macy’s face and raised her voice to a high-pitched, eerie tone. “I hereby bless you with five daughters, and all of them will make Audrey look like she has a halo and wings.”
Macy’s eyes snapped shut, and she covered her face with her hands. “Don’t do that! I hated when you did that when we were kids.”
“Why wouldn’t you want five daughters?” Sarah teased. “I liked growing up in the house with y’all, even if there was only three of us and not five. We had so much fun together.”
“Neal and I are having two sons,” Macy declared. “We have already named them and are planning to have the first one when we’ve been married two years. The second one will be born two years after that, and then we’ll have our family. I’m the one who is going to break the daughters-only streak.” She shot a look across the room at Grace. “Your silly fortune-telling isn’t going to work this time.”
“We’ll see,” Grace said and smiled. There had been a few times when her prophecies fell flat—especially when it came to Justin, Audrey’s father. Grace had insisted to her mother that Justin would always be there for her, but she had been dead wrong.
“That sounded just like Mama.” Sarah giggled.
Grace nodded and did a quick curtsy. “Thank you.”
