"Hey, honey! I was just thinkin' about you. How was—"
"I won."
Silence.
"Lindsay? Won what?"
"The lottery. Mom. I won the lottery."
The scream that comes through the speaker is so loud I yank the phone away from my ear. It's pure, unfiltered joy—the kind of sound I haven't heard in years.
"Are you—Lindsay Marie Smith, are you messin' with me right now? Because if you are—"
"I'm not! I'm not, I swear. I've got the ticket right here. All six numbers. Two point six billion."
Another scream. Then laughing. Then what sounds like crying but happy, the kind that comes from somewhere deep and relieved.
"Oh my heart. Oh my heart. Baby, are you sure? Have you checked? Are you—"
"Three times. Four. I keep checking and it keeps matching."
She's throwing out questions about lawyers and financial advisors and whether I've told anyone else and where I'm keeping the ticket and if I'm safe and—
"Wait." Her voice shifts, drops into something playful. "Does this mean I'm finally getting' that house in Hawaii?"
"Only if I get my own wing."
Her laughter rings bright and clear, and I can picture her in her kitchen, hand pressed to her chest, eyes wet and shining. Proud. So proud it makes my throat tight.
We talk for twenty more minutes. She wants details—where I bought the ticket, what I was doing when I checked it, what I'm feeling. I tell her about the laundry basket, about how I knocked it over and haven't picked it up yet. She laughs at that, warm and fond, and tells me to leave it. "Start as you mean to go on," she says.
When we finally hang up, my face hurts from smiling.
My sister answers on the first ring like she's been waiting by her phone.
"What's up?"
"I won the lottery."
"Shut up."
"Two point six billion."
"Shutup."
I laugh, giddy all over again. "I'm serious!"
"Oh my gosh—Lindsay! LINDSAY!" She's whooping now, loud enough that I hear her boyfriend ask what's wrong in the background. "My sister just won the actual lottery!"
More noise. Cheering. Her boyfriend's voice joining in. She comes back breathless.
"Okay. Okay, I need details. All of them. Right now."
I walk her through it, the whole story tumbling out easier the second time.
She interrupts with gasps and curses and makes me FaceTime her so she can see my face.
"You're gonna be set for life," she says, awe coloring every word. "Like,setset. You're never gonna have to worry about money again."
