Pulling the door opened, she stepped back in surprise. “Mrs…. Mrs. Wilson. Uh…can I…can I help you with something?”
Mrs. Wilson lowered the hand that had been poised to knock and folded them primly in front of her. “Zoe. It’s lovely to see you. May I come in?”
Trying to suppress her “what the fuck” expression, Zoe stepped back and opened the door. “Sure.”Que porra e essa?
Closing the door, she stood awkwardly for a moment before setting her keys and purse down.
Mrs. Wilson looked at the keys on the table. “You were leaving. I can come back another time.”
“No. Well, yes, but I wasn’t going anywhere specific. I was just going to drive around and clear my head.”
“If you’re sure…”
“Of course.” She led the way into the house. Why wasn’t she making excuses to get out of a conversation with Old Lady Wilson?
“Can I get you something to drink? Water or tea?” she asked over her shoulder.
“Tea, please.”
“Hot or iced?”
“Iced. It’s still unbearably humid outside. I’ll be happy when it cools off.”
Zoe made a noncommittal sound and fixed two glasses of tea. Setting one on the counter, she took a sip and stared warily through her lashes. Mrs. Wilson didn’t look as old as she remembered her. She tried to do the math in her head and realized she probably wasn’t all that much older than her own mother. When Zoe was growing up, Mrs. Wilson had always seemed ancient.
“I was watering my flowers and I saw the argument you just had. That was João, wasn’t it?”
“Yes.”
Mrs. Wilson sipped her tea and set the glass on the counter. “Still as hot-headed as ever, I see.”
“Mrs. Wilson, why…?” Zoe cleared her throat. “I’m not trying to be rude, but why did you come over?”
“I wanted to make sure you were all right. I couldn’t make out the conversation from across the street, but you looked very upset.”
“Oh.” The inside of her nose stung and the backs of her eyes watered. Why the hell was she tearing up? And over Old Lady Wilson, of all people, asking her if she was okay. No one had asked if she was okay in a very long time. Not really. They asked if she was sure she’d made the right decision, if she was sure if the divorce and getting out of the Air Force and starting her own business was really what she wanted to do, but no one had asked her if she was okay. Now two people had asked her in one day.
“Thank you. I didn’t think you liked me very much.”
“Why ever would you think I don’t like you?”
If the look on her face was any indication, she was truly bewildered.
“Well, because you always ratted me out to my mom and dad when we were growing up.”
“Of course I ratted you out—you were fifteen years old. You had no business sneaking out of your house to gallivant around with your sister. I didn’t want you to get in even more trouble you’d regret for the rest of your life.”
All Zoe could do was blink at her. “I was sneaking out with Gabby to keep her out of trouble.”
“Neither of you should have been sneaking out.”
Looking back at her fifteen-year-old self from the eyes of her thirty-two-year-old self, she realized how stupid she had been. Even with the excuse of trying to keep Gabby from doing something monumentally stupid, it had been a bad idea.
“I was like you, when I was younger,” Mrs. Wilson said. “Well, I was probably more like Gabby, to be honest. I had an older boyfriend, one my parents didn’t approve of. But I was in love and I ignored them, thinking I knew everything. I got pregnant and I got dumped.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
“I wouldn’t expect you to. I gave the baby up for adoption, but I’ve spent my entire life regretting how foolhardy I was. I know I might have seemed very mean to a young girl, but I truly did have your best interests at heart.”
