I shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m still really mad about what happened last night. And about . . . a lot of things.” She nodded, not pushing. “But if we talk about boundaries . . . maybe we can figure it out.”
She looked at me with something like hope.
“Okay,” I said. “I can do that.”
I turned to go again.
“Eleanor,” she said, once more.
She was standing now, and I could have sworn there were tears in her eyes. I hadn’t seen her cry since my father’s funeral.
“I love you.”
I crossed the room and hugged her. “I love you too, Mom. We’ll figure it out.” Then I stepped back. “But right now I’m going to go help Alex and Ava.”
She nodded.
“For what it’s worth,” I added, “I think you’d really like Alex.”
“Maybe,” she said softly, “if you’d like . . . sometime soon we could have a movie night. You said Ava liked that. I’ll order pizza, and we can watch the Christmas nightmare movie she likes.”
A smile tugged at my mouth. “You meanThe Nightmare Before Christmas?”
She nodded.
“Ava would love that,” I said. “And . . . so would I.”
She smiled, tentative but hopeful. “And maybe you could bring your gentleman friend. If he would like that too.”
“I think he would,” I said.
She nodded again, more emotion in her eyes now. “Eleanor, I really am sorry about last night. I know my words won’t make it right. Only time.”
“Time,” I agreed gently, “and a change in behavior.”
“Yes,” she said quickly. “Time and change. I would like a chance to try.”
I went to her and hugged her again, softer this time. “I’d like that too.”
And for the first time, it felt like maybe we all just might be okay.
I left the room and closed the door behind me, leaning into the quiet of the hallway while I tried to catch up with my own heart.
So much had shifted. So much had cracked open.
Alex came up the stairs a moment later. “My car’s packed,” he said gently. “If you’ve got your keys, I can get your van too.”
Instead of answering, I walked straight up to him and hugged him.
He froze for half a second, then wrapped his arms around me, solid and steady. “Hey,” he murmured. “How did it go?”
“Better than I expected,” I said softly. “I’ll tell you later.”
I handed him my keys.
We finished loading the vehicles, moving in a quiet, careful rhythm. When we were done, Ava tugged on my sleeve. “Can I go say goodbye to Grandma?”
I nodded, and she headed back upstairs.
