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“Mom, can I have an end of summer party?” Alana asked.
Was this what she’d been leading up to? It’d be a lot of work, but I could enlist help, and it was so much better than talking about how much Tanner and Colin would be in our futures. “Sure.”
“Boys and girls?”
I wasn’t ready to deal with that. “Some of the parents won’t like that, and it will mean fewer people will come.”
“Okay. Just girls then.”
That was too easy.
“Can it be a pool party?”
Part of my mind was putting together the pieces of Alana’s plan, but I couldn’t grasp the final goal. “We don’t have a pool.” I shouldn’t have to remind her of that, but my brain was working overtime to guess her next question. “And the rec center isn’t good for parties.”
“Uncle Dustin has a pool.”
Harmony had stopped telling her story and was watching us.
“No. Phillip has a pool.” I knew that Dustin and Adrienne spent a lot of time there, but they didn’t live at Phillip’s. Yet.
Alana looked at me with what she probably assumed were big puppy dog eyes. “Please? I promise not to fight with Harmony for an entire month.”
Like that was going to happen. “That should be your goal anyway.”
“Pleeeeaaasssse?”
“Please. Please. Please. Please.” Harmony joined in.
There were far worse things Alana could ask for, and I still had some of that mom guilt going on. “I’ll call Phillip, but if he saysno, that’s that.”
“Now?” Alana asked.
“He’s working now.”
My response earned me another chorus ofpleases.
I settled for sending him a text instead. If he took a while to reply, I could set the girls up for the morning and start work.
He answered within a few minutes.Of course. Any weekend, just give me a few days’ notice.
Easy enough.Thank you. I replied.Tell Dustin and Adrienne hi.
I looked up from my phone to find Alana watching me.
“He says yes, just pick a date.”
Alana clapped. “I want it this Saturday. Can I have a new swimsuit? Never mind, it’s okay. I’m good with the suit I have. I’m going to go make a list of who to invite.” She pushed back from the table and made it up two stairs before she stopped and turned to me again. “Can Tanner and Colin come?”
My heart twisted in on itself. On the one hand, it made sense she’d want her swim coaches at her pool party. On the other hand, my daughter had more convoluted schemes than a daytime soap opera. “I don’t know if either of them will be up for swimming by then, and you said girls only.”
“But they’re your friends not mine. Besides, it never hurts to have more adults watching over things.Please.”
“Stop.” I didn’t need another round of Harmony joining in on the begging. “Sit down at the table, Alana.” I looked at Harmony. “Hon, would you like to go tell the pony’s story to Dumbo?”
Harmony shook her head. “Alana said I could listen when you talked about our new daddies.”
Ah, hell. “What are you up to, Alana?” I could assume, but that could be dangerous when it came to her scheming.
