Anne frowned. “What news?”
“Moving to Hawaii?”
Anne’s hands stilled and dropped to her sides. Her face took on a guilty expression.
“You haven’t told them?!” Laurie demanded.
“They know that things are still… up in the air,” Anne said, using the sign foruncertain.
“Are they?”
“I mean…” Anne stopped signing and threw her hands up in frustration, leaving Laurie to read her lips. She caught the main words. Something about an affordable house and a great job just falling into her lap.
“So… not really.”
“No, not really.” Anne dropped onto the bed, looking defeated. Signing again, she said, “I don’t know what to do. Surviving in Hawaii is even harder than back in California, but we don’t have any family there. Here at least we have a place to stay, but Mom’s obviously not thrilled that we’re here.”
“Don’t take it personally. She’s still struggling.”
Anne nodded and changed the subject. “How about you?”
“We’re good,” Laurie said, putting on a grin. “Mia’s been practicing every day for the island-wide spelling bee. She’s amazing.”
“And Chris?” Anne asked, peering into her eyes.
“Fine,” she said quickly. “He’s good. Plenty of work.”
“Okay… are you–”
Laurie turned away, losing the rest of what Anne was saying. “I’ll just get that soup on the stove, yeah? We have to head home soon.”
She hurried down the stairs, heart pounding in the way it always did when her family tried to pry into her marriage.
They’d reached a balance, her and Chris. They were fine. He’d even let her use the car that day. There was no reason to worry him, staying out past dark.
Laurie poured the soup into a pot and lit the burner beneath it, then put some ready-made rolls in the oven. That buttery smell could usually entice Dawn to eat when nothing else would.
The kids came back in a sudden flurry of activity, all talking at the same time. Mia’s round face was bright with excitement, thrilled to be with her cousins again, and Laurie felt a twist of some complicated emotion in her chest.
She wished that they could stay, even just for a night.
Anne came down, and Zoe disappeared. Anne said something to her kids, pointing at their bags and then up the stairs. Claire rolled her eyes and grabbed a backpack, then trudged upstairs to choose a room.
“Soup’s ready,” Laurie told her sister. “And there are rolls in the oven. They’ll be ready in a few minutes; just keep an eye on them.”
Anne’s face fell. “Are you leaving already?”
“Yeah.” She looked at Mia and said, “Time to head home.”
It broke her heart to see the way that Mia deflated at those words. Her smile fell, and she seemed to get smaller. But she didn’t try to argue.
Anne flapped a hand to get her attention. “Can’t you stay a while?”
“Chris doesn’t like it when we’re out too long. He worries about me driving at night.”
“You have plenty of time,” Anne said, glancing out at the sky.
“It’s a long way back. Anyway, I have to get dinner going.”
