Either way, Granny was still out with the kids, and she should take the time to wash her face and collect herself. Thank you, Granny. For the first time in her life, she had an involved co-parent. But when she flicked on the lights in the bathroom, she stared into the frightened eyes of a woman who had just risked spending eternity alone, not to dramatize the situation. Better not to think, she did a full-on skincare routine and slipped into some sweats.
She turned on the last chapter of Sloane Ellis’sDivorce: A New Beginning. As she used the little rose quartz face roller to iron out the wrinkles, or whatever it was that the face roller was supposed to do, she let Sloane’s dubious wisdom wash over her.
“Change can be difficult to accept. Even if things aren’t perfect, it might feel safer to stay the same. The same routine, the same people—oftentimes, the same disappointments, the same stagnation, the same feeling that something is missing. Change means risk, but also unknown rewards and pleasures. There is no telling what life will bring when you take a different path.”
In the other room, Burt snored so loud in the La-Z-Boy that he woke himself up and shouted, “Vera!” before settling down again.
Burt—now there was a risk she hadn’t seen coming.
She turned up Sloane, who, for once, made sense. “But change is also inevitable. You can be dragged into new things kicking and screaming or you can embrace change with creativity and openheartedness. The kicking-and-screaming way—that way is going to hurt, and you probably won’t notice the new positives over the sound of your own complaining. Be open, and it’ll go much better.”
There had been so much change in the last two weeks. Before Alice and Valentina had walked into her life, she’d been frozen. The marriage might have been over, but she was still acting like Phil was about to come home from work.
Who would have thought she would do so well at spying?
And Granny… Gabby could probably be a little more open and trusting of her than she had been.
For one, bingo wasn’t the devil.
For two, Granny was another driver and loved her grandkids.
For three, the kids were having an adventure with a grandma. Even though it was hard for Gabby to watch sometimes, everyone should have some adventure. It was certainly doing her some good.
It was time to hand over her old bedroom for good to Granny and Burt. She needed a new bed and new decorations that didn’t reflect compromises at the furniture store with Phil. Trying to agree on a bedspread had been like trying to achieve peace in the Middle East, a sign of larger problems in retrospect.
At the thought of another night on the futon, she googled “mattress” and one-click ordered a “mattress in a box” that promised the best night’s rest of her life. Sure, not everyone had given it five stars and it wasn’t cheap, but she was entering a new era of calculated risks. That futon had beaten her up almost as much as Fran had when all she had to do was stop fighting for the status quo. The master bedroom was all for Granny.
She texted Justin.Will u help redecorate my bedroom?
He texted right back.Does this have anything to do with Agent Beefcake?
NO.It’s not like Markus would be spending the night with her kids down the hall and Granny and Burt on the other side of the wall. Her life was a lot to walk into, another good reason to take it slow. And who knew if he was even interested in that. Or if she was ready. Working together, or even having dinner, was a little different than a real relationship with a grown-ass woman with children and responsibilities. But… she could hope, and her futon was no field of dreams. If she didn’t build it, he wouldn’t come. Not that he was coming, especially now that she’d downgraded the date to coffee. She needed to stop thinking about coming at all.Stop getting ahead of yourself, Gabby Greene!
In an impassioned voice, Sloane said, “Repeat after me: change, I am yours!”
Gabby took a deep breath and did as told. In a passionate voice that rang through the house, she yelled, “Change, I am yours!”
In the wake of silence following her passionate exaltation, she heard a crowd of people in the kitchen noticeably not talking. Granny stage-whispered, “Kids, stay where you are. It sounds like your mom—” She cleared her throat. “Has a gentleman over.”
This prompted barfing noises, probably from Kyle.
“Stop it, Kyle. Your mother is a young woman, not even in her sexual prime yet.”
“Granny,” Gabby yelled before the kids were any more traumatized. “It’s just me!” And she rushed into the kitchen to wrap Granny and the kids in the biggest hugs of their lives.
“Don’t squeeze so hard,” Granny complained. “You’re going to crack a rib.”
“I’m just so glad to see you,” she said, her own ribs aching.
Kyle flipped her faded hair and said, “Mom, you’re acting really weird.”
Gabby put her arm around Kyle and squeezed. Illegal, low-stakes gambling was fine. Not what she would have picked, but hey.
His words rushing out in a jumble of excitement, Lucas said, “Mom, you should have seen it. The cops were here tonight. They arrested Shelly and those weird guys who were parked outside. It was so cool.”
“Mischa seemed so nice. He looked just like my cousin Ilia back in the day,” Granny added with a shake of her head. “I can’t imagine he did anything bad.”
Gabby squeezed them tighter. Maybe the week had been nothing but staying up late and pizza for them, but she had almost lost everyone she loved.
