I nodded.
She raised her head, staring across the terrace at Meg and Jo,talking and laughing under the twinkling lights. At our parents, standing very close together in the shadow of a column. (And what was that about?) In profile, I could see the aging no amount of moisturizer could smooth away, her drooping neck, her sagging cheeks beneath the mask of carefully applied color. She looked back at me. “There would have to be terms.”
I released a breath I hadn’t been aware of holding. “Of course. I’d be happy to pay you the same rate of interest as the bank. There are forms online—”
She waved my eager suggestions away. “Perhapstermsis the wrong word. I should have saidconditions.”
“What conditions?”
“Come back to Bunyan.”
“I’d love to,” I lied, guiltily aware I didn’t visit as often as I should. “It’s just... I’m really busy right now. All those orders. Maybe this summer.” Everyone left the city in August anyway. Bunyan was hardly the Hamptons, but... “I’ll come for a whole week,” I promised.
It would be worth it, to get a new workroom.
“Not for a visit,” Phee said. “For good.”
I sat back. “Excuse me?”
“I’ll invest in your business if you move it here, to Bunyan. That’s my condition.”
My mouth dropped open. “You’re kidding.”
“I never joke about money.”
“No way.”
“Any amount, at one half point over the rate of inflation,” Phee said crisply. “To be repaid over a period of time determined between you and my lawyer.”
Shit. She was serious.
“I... Thank you, Aunt Phee. But that’s impossible.”
“On the contrary, I think I’m being very reasonable. Even generous.”
“But I’ll pay you back!”
“I have no use for your money. It’s time you came home.”
“But everything I have is in New York!”
“Except your family.”
“That’s not fair.”
“It’s extremely fair. It’s the same offer I made to your sister and Eric.” Phee arched an eyebrow. “Hedidn’t argue with me about relocating.”
“But...Bunyan.”
“There’s nothing wrong with Bunyan. This town is like me. Our best days may be behind us, but we’re not dead yet.”
I opened my mouth. Shut it. Our mother always said you could catch more flies with honey than vinegar. I wasnotgoing to get a loan by arguing with Aunt Phee.
“Hello, March women.”
Trey was back. Every missed opportunity, every bad decision of my life, standing before me in the flesh.
He smiled, and my poor, stupid heart froze like a squirrel in the path of an oncoming car. “Dance with me?”
