“That’d be great. When do you think?”
“Well, if he goes to players, that would be around June?”
“Do you mean playoffs?” I suppress a smile.
“Oh, I guess so. Whatever it’s called.”
“Yes, he should be done by mid-June.”
“Maybe we could come in July then, and we can stay at their resort. Dad and I have looked at it online, and it looks suitable.”
I crack up over that. She is such a snob. “Oh, it’s suitable. I think even you will be impressed with it, Mom.”
“Well. We’ll see.” She sniffs. “Your dad said he’ll be calling you on Sunday. He has a golfing tournament, so he can’t make your weekly call that day.”
My dad has called every week for the past month. It’s easy between us in a way that it’s never been, and I’m enjoying this new phase of our relationship.
“Okay, sounds good. Luca said he’s visiting you next week. I’m trying to talk him and Isla into coming here soon too.”
“They will, I’m sure,” she says. “Gotta run. I’ve got a charity dinner to get ready for.”
“Okay, Mom. Thanks for calling.”
“Mm-hmm. Bye now.”
It’s not ideal with my parents, but it’s a start in the right direction. It’ll never be perfect—we have such different views on life. But after they learned about everything that happened with Daniel, there were a lot of apologies all around, and a promise to do better at communicating. That’s enough for me.
A few nights later, the windows are open, and I shiver as I get out of the tub. I’m at Tully’s St. Paul condo, and he’s gone out to get groceries. My phone rings, and I wrap a towel around me before answering it. It’s Tully.
“I think I’ve found our dog,” he says. “I’m so excited. Lola, she’ssocute.”
I laugh. “What kind is she? Where did you find her? I thought you were getting groceries.”
“I was, but there was this lady in line talking about her puppies driving her crazy, and so I asked her about them…and she said her husband was sitting in the car with one of them, and I could go take a look, so I did, and I’m looking at her right now!”
“Take a breath there, Captain.” I laugh, and so does he.
“You didn’t say what kind she is.”
“How about I come pick you up, and you can meet her too?”
I hear someone talking in the background and start putting on my underwear with one hand.
“Okay, I guess I could do that. Don’t you think we should wait until we’re in a house, though? The apartment is pretty small…”
“But we might miss gettingherif we did that,” he says.
I laugh again. “Okay, okay. Something tells me thatsomeonehas their heart set on this puppy.”
“I do.” He sighs. “You’ll get it when you see her.”
“Okay, I’ll be ready when you get here.”
He talks about how cute she is during the five-minute drive to the house. He parks the car and jogs around to open my door. I can’t stop laughing at how excited he is. A woman opens the door before we reach it, and she has an eager smile.
“I’m Kara,” she says. “Come in.”
“This is Lola,” Tully says.
