As she started the engine, Grandma Sarah announced, “The Garrison Getaway is on its way. Here we go.”
Lauren laughed and settled back into her seat, wrapping herhands around her coffee cup. Outside, New Jersey was giving way to the first hints of New York, the landscape slowly shifting as they continued north.
They would be at Beth and Gabriel’s tomorrow. Tomorrow, she would hold her niece and nephew for the first time. Tomorrow, the real chaos would begin—the whole family together, the laughter and tears and inevitable arguments that came with any Wheeler gathering.
But for now, there was just this. The road unwinding ahead of them, the hum of the engine, and the women she loved most in the world, bickering and laughing their way toward home.
“You know,” Sarah said from the back seat, “this hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be.”
“The drive?” Lauren asked.
“All of it. Being stuck together for three days. I thought we'd kill each other by now.”
“The trip isn't over yet.”
“True. There's still time.”
Grandma Sarah caught Lauren's eye in the rearview mirror and winked. “There's always time, girls. That's the blessing and the curse of family. You're stuck with each other forever, so you might as well enjoy it.”
“Is that wisdom or a threat?” Lauren asked.
“Yes,” Grandma Sarah replied, and pressed her foot a little harder on the gas.
The Garrison Getaway surged forward carrying Wheeler women toward Massachusetts, toward babies, toward the next chapter of a story that was still being written.
CHAPTER 18
Maggie had watched the driveway for the better part of an hour.
She stood at the kitchen window, a cup of coffee growing cold in her hands, her eyes fixed on the long gravel road that led from the main highway to Beth and Gabriel's farmhouse. Paolo had tried twice to coax her away, once with the offer of a fresh cup, once with news that Alexander was awake and looking for admirers, but she couldn't make herself move.
They were close. Lauren had texted more than an hour ago from Sturbridge, which was near the Massachusetts border.
“You're going to wear a hole in the floor,” Chelsea said, appearing at her elbow.
“I can't help it. When my mother is in a hurry to see her great-grandchildren, she’ll drive above the speed limit.”
“For heaven’s sake, Maggie. Lauren and Sarah have some say in controlling her. You make your mother sound like she’s impossible.”
Maggie stared at Chelsea. “Excuse me? Have you met my mother?”
Chelsea laughed and then pointed out the window. “The RV!”
Maggie's heart leapt. There it was—the Garrison Getaway, that ridiculous beige behemoth that her mother had insisted on buying. It lumbered up the gravel drive like a friendly whale, dust billowing behind it, and Maggie was out the front door before she had time to set down her coffee cup.
The RV rolled to a stop, and for a moment nothing happened. Then the door swung open and Grandma Sarah emerged, stepping down with the careful precision of a woman whose knees were stiff but whose dignity would never allow her to admit it.
She wore a purple tracksuit and white sneakers, her silver hair pinned back. Her eyes found Maggie immediately, and her face softened into something that looked almost like relief.
“We made it,” she announced. “I told everyone I'd get us here in one piece, and I did.”
“She only almost killed us twice,” Lauren said, appearing behind her.
“Three times,” Sarah corrected, climbing down after her sister. “You're forgetting the merge near Hartford.”
“That wasn't my fault. That truck came out of nowhere.”
“It was in a lane. Going the speed limit.”
