“We’re not evolved from mastodons.” Ben again.
“Then,” Anne continued, ignoring this, “is the final phase: reconciliation. And by the time it happens, you’ve endured this hard thing, so you know you’re meant to be together.”
“It kind of makes sense,” I said.
“Of course it does!” She patted my hand. “Look. I know you’re upset—”
“I threw my phone in the lake,” I admitted.
“—but you just need to have faith.” She gave me a smile. “You’re playing this perfectly. Trust me.”
The thing was, I wanted to. Trust her, that is.
Just then, footsteps, climbing the stairs. A moment later, my mom popped up. “We need to talk about the books in the living room,” she told Liz. “Kasey’s wanting to keep everything.”
“Not everything!” Kasey protested from somewhere below us. “God!”
My mom sighed, then looked over, seeing me and Anne. “Finley? Are you okay?”
“She’s fine,” Anne told her, smoothing my hair again before getting to her feet. “She’s just being tested.”
“Anne?” Liz called out. “Do you want this trunk? It might make a good table, once it’s cleaned up.”
“Maybe. Let me see it.”
With that, she was crossing over to Liz, her feet thumping the wooden floor. I looked at my mom, still standing over me. She was peering at the buckets, her nose wrinkled.
“You good?” I asked.
Immediately, her face went guarded. “Of course. Why?”
My dad and I had agreed I would wait for her to come to me. This was, after all, what I’d always done, the dynamic between us long set. But then, somehow, I was saying, “It’s just… I saw some documents. From the printer.”
A beat as she processed this. Then, in real time, I saw her understand. Her eyes widened. “Finley,” she finally said, her voice a breath. “I—”
“Oh SHIT!” Clark yelled as there was an explosion of movement in the corner. “Found the squirrels.”
Anne shrieked, running to the stairs, Liz hustling behind her. “There are at least two,” Ben reported.
“Everyone, downstairs!” Liz yelled. “They might be rabid. Now!”
That got us moving. Quickly, I followed my mom down the steps. Clark cursed again. “Where’s that flashlight?”
“Got it,” Ben replied. A click. “Oh shit.”
“Okay,” Clark whispered. More movement, then several fast clicking noises. “Don’t make them angry.”
“Dude. They’re angry.”
That was the last I heard before I went through the door, onto the landing below. My mom was ahead of me, so I couldn’t see her face. It occurred to me that I’d shocked myself in that moment, revealing what I knew to her. I could only imagine how surprised she was.
CHAPTER TWELVE
She’d found the lump the summer before and ignored it until Christmas. “I know,” she said, before I could react. “I was busy. And in denial.” Finally, she went in for a biopsy, which led to her doctor recommending the full surgery as soon as possible. That was in February.
“February?” I said.
We were in the car, curving around the lake. All organizing had stopped while someone was summoned to remove the squirrels, during which time my mom had grabbed her keys and asked me to take a ride with her. As soon as we’d gotten past the driveway and hit the lake road, she’d started talking. Eyes ahead, voice level, as the motels and boat slips blurred past my window. It turned out, to get what I wanted, all I had to do was… ask.
