Marla lit up at that. “Right? It’s been at the top of my bucket list for…nearly sixty years.”
“So, since before you were in the womb?” Patty teased, laughing.
The table burst into easy chatter, everyone happily recapping their favorite parts of the trip so far. Ed, of course, was still holding out for the blackjack tables in Vegas.
Josie, who’d been scrolling on her phone, suddenly looked up. “People on Facebook are already demanding tons of videos,” she announced, clearly pleased with herself. “I’ve developed, I believe, what’s known as a…following.”
I offered her a vague smile, barely processing what she’d said. My mind was too preoccupied with the hum of tension still radiating from Mrs. Grady, who, despite the lively conversation, had yet to fully rejoin it.
She was waiting for something.
And just when I started to relax—when I thought maybe I’d imagined the tension—Mrs. Grady’s bright voice cut smoothly back in, her smile just a little too practiced.
“As much as I love having my son as a traveling companion,” she said sweetly, glancing around the table, “I’m sending him off this evening.”
Noah blinked, and he twisted to face her, away from me. “What do you mean?”
My stomach dropped.
“You’ve been so patient, coming along on all our tame excursions,” she went on, her tone so casual, but also…ominous? “Which is why I’ve signed you up for something special—a multi-day kayaking trip through the Grand Canyon.”
It was as though someone had flipped a mute switch on the entire table.
“My treat, of course,” she added breezily, as if this was all perfectly normal. “They were fully booked, but I managed to pull a few strings. For you, sweetheart.”
Noah opened his mouth, then closed it, looked at me, and back at her again.
“Oh,” he said. “Wow. That’s…that’s thoughtful.”
Her stare fell on me for just a second, and the slightly victorious light in her eyes, along with the—guilt?—made me wonder what was really behind her little surprise.
Which wasn’t so little at all.
“I just thought, why not, you know? We’ve had a rough year, and I saw the brochure and figured, Noah needs this. Some real excitement.”
“Mom.” He leaned closer to her, and this time, his voice came out low and tight. “You should have talked with me first.”
“But then it wouldn’t have been a surprise! Now, they’ll be here to pick you up in half an hour.” She took a calm sip of her iced tea, And then she reached over and patted his hand. “So you’d better run up and pack.”
I didn’t say anything. What could I say?
What could Noah say?
“Oh, doesn’t that sound lovely! What a wonderful mom you have, Noah!” Eddie had clapped her hands together, obviously unaware of the tension on our side of the table. “Although we’ll certainly miss having you along! At least we still have our Luna!”
All eyes seemed to be on Noah.
And…on me.
And feeling like my smile was carved out of sandstone, I kind of shrugged. “That sounds…amazing.”
Because what else was I supposed to do?
Noah turned, his eyes meeting mine. “Luna…”
But his mom was checking her phone. “Noah, honey. You really should go pack up your belongings. Take my room card and leave anything you don’t need with me. But you need to hurry. They’re sending a shuttle to drive you down to… Peach something or other? I’ve a room reserved for you there tonight.”
All the ideas I’d had about tonight—not to mention the rest of the trip—went up in smoke in front of my eyes. But what could I do?
