“Grandma did that?”
She might’ve been hard on me, but Mom didn’t believe in a universe where Dylan could’ve possibly done anything wrong. “She suredid, and I’m grateful. All I needed was another semester to get my feet under me, and then Ilovedit.”
“So you’re saying I have to go a year.”
“Yup.”
“But what about you and Dad?”
My heart, already held together with cheap glue and Scotch tape that had lost its sticky, shattered all over again. “We’ll muddle through. That’s what we’ll do. We’re the parents here.”
“And you’re not mad at me about the Cs?”
“Look, I’m not happy, Buddy Bear, but the semester isn’t over yet. See if you can pull those Cs up to Bs. How about that?”
“I’m going to FaceTime Grandma and see what she thinks!” Dylan said. My shattered heart started melting back together at the thought of an eighteen-year-old boy who cared enough about what Grandma thought to ask her opinion.
But when Dylan disappeared around the corner to his bedroom, I lunged for my phone.
Chapter 9
“MompickupMompickupMompickup,” I muttered under my breath like a mantra. I had to beat Dylan. I had to explain to my mother that she absolutely couldnottell Dylan that it would be okay to leave school. And I would not allow her to invite him down to the University of Florida so he would be closer to his grandmother. My son, a Florida Gator? Not if I had anything to say about it.
The phone kept ringing.
I could hear Dylan talking to someone on the other side of the wall.
I hung up in defeat, but then I tried again.
And again.
And one more time.
Just as I was about to dial Mom again, she called me. I used the “Hello?” that suggested I had no idea who was calling even as I ran for my bedroom and shut the door.
“Vivian, I swear, what is your problem?”
“Hello to you, too, Mom.”
“Seriously. I was talking to Dylan and had to make an excuse, so make this quick.”
“He’s going to ask you if he should come home from UT, and I need you to tell him what you told me: to wait it out.”
“I told you that?”
“Yes! It’s one of the most important things you’ve ever done for me,” I said out of habit, but I examined those words as they came out of mymouth. I’d always said it was the best thing my mother had ever done for me because, by staying at UT, I’d met Mitch.
“Vivian, are you still there?”
“Yes, Mom. Sorry. It’s complicated. What did you say?”
“Of course I told Dylan to give it a year at UT. What did you think I was going to say?”
I plopped down on the bed in relief. “You’re easier on him, and I was afraid ...”
“Afraid I’d tell him to come down to Grandma’s house?”
“Maybe.”
