Silence hangs there between them, and I can imagine the glares bouncing off the cabinets.
“I’m interested in discussing this further,” Marjorie addresses me and returns to the table despite their argument.
I clear my throat. “Well. If that’s the case, I’ll speak to my realtor to get comp prices. I can make you an offer and have my lawyer draw up the papers. With the equity I assume you have in this building, you could take time off. Take a vacation during the rebuild.”
“Imagine that. A vacation? Stella, did you hear? Me on a vacation?” Marjorie chortles, shaking her head. “I alwayswanted to go on a Caribbean cruise where I can sit in the sun and be waited on, for once. Sounds like Heaven.”
I continue without thinking, “I can have my assistant search for a good deal on a cruise for you.”
Stella returns to the table, eyes narrowing. “Eli. That’s enough.”
“Just being helpful.” I shrug.
“Yeah, Mom. The coach is just being helpful. He even wants Grandma to take a vacation. I think that’s really nice of him.” Aiden fist-bumps me across the table.
Things are tense between Stella and me the rest of the time. I send them home with all the leftovers. Marjorie and Aiden go on ahead to the car, while she lingers behind in my doorway, her arms crossed.
“I wish you hadn’t encouraged Mom to go with this plan of yours without giving me time to process and to talk with her about it,” she starts.
“I saw a need and stepped in.”
“Yes, you seem to have a knack for that.”
I back her up against the door frame, where we are mostly out of sight of the occupants waiting in her car. My hand rests above her head, and with the other I tilt her chin to mine. “Are you more upset that I offered or that I’d own the building?”
“I don’t know. Both, maybe?”
“Because… you don’t see a future with me?”
She squirms, her hand landing on my forearm, squeezing it. “I didn’t say that. But Mom was so proud of herself for getting the deal on the building originally. To me, it was a symbol of her first attempt at independence after Dad went to prison. I’d hate to see her give that up unless she’s thought through all the angles.”
“Okay. Whether I buy the building, or gift the money you need for the repair or whatever—if the fire inspector says thosestairs need rebuilding, then I won’t sleep until they are. Safety means everything to me, for you and your family. Don’t you get that? Everything.”
I nuzzle her nose with mine and go in for a sweet kiss. I’d take more, am dying for more, until we hear the car honking and Eli yelling, “Mom, ya coming?”
We chuckle and part. I follow her to the car, my hand on the small of her back, and open the driver’s door for her.
“You’re right. Safety is important,” she agrees with me and gets in.
Not less than two weeks later, we hug Marjorie goodbye at the Denver airport as she heads off to the Caribbean for the Thanksgiving holiday cruise of her dreams. I’d given her a very favorable deal, buying her building.
The best part? I’d convinced Stella that they should all move temporarily into my Boulder home so the construction crew can start working on the building after the Thanksgiving holiday. Which took some doing, but she finally agreed.
Most of the renovations are being done on the apartment upstairs. The craft store will only get new flooring and lighting, and a fresh coat of paint. And of course, a brand new, solidly built set of external stairs leading to the apartment, along with security cameras and everything I desire to make sure they are safe in and around the building.
Although to me, now that they’re in my home, she and Aiden will stay in it as long as they want. To possibly solidify that, I do something that probably pushes this fromtemporarytoinsane—I get a puppy!
One shelter visit results in the adoption of a brown-eyed, floppy-eared mutt with amber coloring climbing into my lap like he already belongs there.
I arrive home the night before Thanksgiving and stuff the pup into my jacket and zip it up. “Okay now, little doggie. Becool. Act cute, not a problem. Don’t pee on the floor.” Fingers crossed this works.
“Hey everyone, I’m here,” I call out, kicking off my shoes by the door.
Aiden comes running in. “I’m helping Mom bake a pumpkin pie for us to eat tomorrow. Why is your coat moving like you have a monster in it?” He notices something squirming on me right away.
“Well, about that… I have something to show you two.” I walk into the kitchen, where Stella looks very cozy there. It’s the highlight of my day to see her in my space, one I hope might be ours someday.
She sees me and does a double take while putting cute fluted edges around the pie dough. “Why do you look like you’re dying to say something?”
