Stella could see it in the way her mother moved through the front door—lighter somehow, like she’d set something down on the beach and left it there. Her eyes were red-rimmed but calm. Whatever had happened in the hour she’d been gone, it had loosened something.
“I’m starving,’ Fiona said, heading straight for the kitchen. “Is there food? Actual food, not just tea and biscuits?”
“Margo always has food.”
“Good.” Fiona opened her door. “I want to watch something easy. Do you want to watch something easy with me?”
Stella blinked. This was not the mother she’d been bracing for.
“Define easy.”
“I don’t know. Something we don’t have to think about. Something with too much talking and not enough plot.”
Stella held her breath, still waiting for the other shoe to drop. The lecture. The processing. The inevitable conversation about what happens next.
It didn’t come.
Instead, Fiona and Stella raided Margo’s kitchen. Cheese. Crackers. Grapes. A jar of olives that looked like it had been there since the Reagan administration.
“These are probably fine,” Fiona said, squinting at the olives.
“Margo’s had those forever.”
“Olives don’t go bad. They just become more... olive-y.” She opened the jar, sniffed, shrugged, and added them to the plate. “Popcorn?”
“I can check.”
Stella found microwave popcorn in the pantry and, in the back of Margo’s fridge, a small container with a sticky note in Meg’s handwriting: HONEY LEMON BUTTER — EXPERIMENTAL. TELL ME IF IT’S WEIRD.
She pulled out her phone.
Can I use your experimental butter? Fiona wants popcorn.
Meg’s response came in seconds.
Go for it. Report back. Is it weird?
Haven’t tried it yet.
It might be weird. Luke said it tasted like “confused breakfast.” But he ate it so who knows.
Stella smiled and set her phone on the counter.
“What’s that?” Fiona asked, peering over her shoulder.
“Meg’s been experimenting. Honey lemon butter. Might be weird.”
“Weird sounds interesting.” Fiona took the container. “Better than boring.”
They made popcorn. Melted the butter—which smelled like sunshine and something floral that Stella couldn’t place. Drizzled it over the bowl. Fiona took a handful, chewed thoughtfully.
“That’s not weird,” she said. “That’s actually brilliant. What’s in this?”
“I don’t know. Meg’s been trying stuff lately.”
“She should sell this.” Fiona took another handful. “Tell her I said so.”
“You can tell her yourself when you meet them all tomorrow.”
