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Heidi couldn’t make an accurate guess about what her face might be doing, but she suspected something funny was happening around the eyes. They were starting to feel dry.
Tim had sat through innumerable Murray dinners when they were married, but Nana hadn’t been incredibly talkative at any of them.
Heidi was still on that boat to nowhere, wondering if her nana was indeed implying what Heidi thought she was implying.
Tim was probably wondering if it was time to declare bedtime for both his kids and get them packed up and out.
Carine leaned leftward and whispered, “You know where this is going, don’t you?”
Heidi, still convinced she was living in a virtual world—on a boat to nowhere—nodded anyway. There was always a chance she was dreaming and that her imagination was punishing her for getting that extra push of Botox in her forehead.
“I liked Fran better than I liked your daddy, that’s for sure,” Nana said. “Hope the old bastard can rest in peace.”
“Momma!” Daddy snapped.
“What? Momma what? I’d tell all your brothers and sisters the same thing.” Nana huffed again and rocked the infant carrier a few times by the handle. “Maybe I’ll get Heidi to send them one of them email things. Just do what you want to do, is all. End up being damn near ninety and all dried up, bones don’t work right, and they won’t let you share a bed at the old folks’ place. You know that? Cold as it is in those rooms, they won’t let you share a bed.”
“Share a bed withwhom?” Daddy asked.
Mother gaped and blinked in Nana’s general direction.
Carine looked at Heidi again.
Heidi didn’t know how to respond or even if she should. She’d become a master at concealing her thoughts and emotions, but that was because she could generally predict what other people would do. Never in a million years would she have suspected that her scripture-memorizing grandmother had been playacting as a heterosexual for sixty-five years.
Kalimah picked up her spoon and tucked into her bland ice cream. “Welp.”
“Yes,” Heidi murmured back and returned her attention to the three-way scowling contest between her nana and parents. “Welp.”
