“No ice cream?”
“Did you bring me some?”She peers past me at the empty car.“I hope you brought Rocky Road.None of that vanilla crap.”
“Actually.”I bite my lip.
She lifts her eyebrows.“Yeah?”
“So, the thing is, I got back home, and all the dishes were dirty.And?—”
“Oh, no,” she says.“How embarrassing.I left a mess on the very day I moved out.”
“No.”I shake my head.“What I mean is...”I sigh.
She stares.
As she should.I sound like a crazy person.“I—I miss you.”
“I’ve been gone...”She glances at her watch.“Three and a half hours.”
I laugh.“It’s pathetic, I know, but it’s still true.”
When she steps toward me, I realize she’s crying.“I missed you, too.”She hugs me then, burying her face against my shoulder.“I hate this new place, because you’re not in it.I miss the kids too, even though they’re always at school right now.”
Now I’m crying, too.“Really?”
“I want to come back.”
It’s a really embarrassing five minutes for both of us, but once we can finally talk again, I discover something.
“What happened here?”Two of her bags are still packed, right where I left them.
One bag’s open, the stuff inside strewn across the kitchen.Trish ducks her head.“Well, I unpacked it, but everything just looked wrong.So I packed it again, and I thought about wheeling it down to you, but then I felt stupid, and I started unpacking again.”Now she’s back to crying.
I laugh through my tears.
“We’re a pathetic pair,” she says.But she’s smiling, too.“I love you, Vanessa.”
“I love you too, and I’ve been thinking about it.I don’t think the boys will mind sharing a room still,” I say.“Or, you know, I hope they won’t.”
“I would take a closet.”Trish smiles.
I hug her again.We load her bags back into my car.By the time the kids come home, she’s back, and everything’s in place.
“I thought Grandma was moving out today,” Trace says.“Isn’t Uncle Jeremy coming?”
“Yeah, I saw her bags this morning.”Bryce blinks.“Didn’t I?”
I laugh.“We both decided that her moving out was a mistake.We want her to stay here, if that’s okay.”
“Oh, good,” Trace says.“I just knew Mom was going to make me start doing the dishes again.”
“Yeah, and don’t take this the wrong way.”Bryce laughs.“But I like her eggs better than yours, Mom.Sorry.”
“Wow, so Grandma comes back and the gloves come off,” I say.“What else am I doing wrong?”
“Don’t worry, Mom.You get the big stuff right.”Trina hugs me.“Like bringing Grandma back.”
“Plus, once things pick up at the big hotel, you can rent out the cottage,” Trace says.“Right?Isn’t that going to make us all more money?”
