thirty-four
Maybe it’s because I cannot stand how quiet it will be around here now that the house renovations are nearly done, but the next day, I enlist Mary Ann’s help in designing and building raised garden beds. The boys are working another job during the day, so I only get Danny at my house after hours. Not that he wouldn’t be here anyway though.
Mary Ann is way invested in this project. “There’s not a lot you can plant in the fall, but next spring, you can do whatever you want. I cannot wait to help you choose your annuals and vegetables. For now, just do some mums for fall color, but it’ll be awesome to get to plant more kinds of flowers next year.”
Mary Ann is having too much fun, ordering Danny around as he assembles these beds, and while she’s annoying him, she’s also cracking me up. “That looks crooked! I think you have to unscrew that leg and adjust it.”
He groans. “Maybe these parts are shit.”
“The parts are fine! Maybe you’re shit,” she yells with a smile.
Despite their differences, soon, I have raised beds that Mary Ann helps fill with soil from her farm. “It’s full of cow shit and all other kinds of manure. Sounds gross, I know, but you’ll have happy plants.”
After all of their hard work, I reward them with food as thanks and then light up a fire and hand them both beers. They’ve earned these, at the very least.
When the sun is starting to set and we’re each about four beers in, the sound of a car rumbling over the dirt road echoes above the crackling of the fire.
I assume it’s one of our friends, but Danny cocks his head. “Why is your rental pulling in?”
“What?” I ask with alarm.
“Yeah. It’s your red BMW.”
Oh fuck.
I slam back the rest of my beer. “That’s gotta be my mom.”
As I turn around, I see that I’m right. While wearing majorly high heels, she manages to extricate herself from the car, sling her bag over her shoulder, and make her way toward us.
“The fuck is she doing here tonight?” I ask in a panic. “She’s not supposed to be here until tomorrow.”
“You okay?” Danny asks.
“I’ll have to be.”
Mary Ann shoots me a look. “Should we go?”
I grab her hand. “Hell no. Not yet.”
It’s hard not to laugh because my mother looks as ridiculous as I must have when I first got to Wake. Overdressed and out of place.
After a few big breaths and the rest of Danny’s beer, I stand and walk her way. “Mom! What are you doing here? Did I get the day wrong?”
“No, no. Two of my three showings canceled for tomorrow, so I cancelled the third, and then just hopped on a flight here. Well, flights. I know, I should have called. But…surprise!”
We both step forward and share an awkward hug, and I’m taken aback at how closely she’s holding on to me.
“I’m sorry,” she says. “I guess I was afraid you’d tell me to keep my original flight, and I really wanted to see you.”
“It’s fine, really.”
“We haven’t gone without seeing each other for this amount of time in…forever, I guess. And our last conversation …” She fumbles for words.
“Was shitty?” I prompt.
“Yes, it was shitty,” she agrees.
It’s obvious how uncomfortable we both are, but I can appreciate that she’s making an effort. I mean, just the fact that she’s even here—not to mention, a day early—says a lot.
