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I nodded, getting the message.
“Okay,” I called aloud. “I hear you.” Tucking my unruly hair out of my face, I sat up and glanced toward the daylight coming in around the edges of the curtains. Then I checked the time on my phone.
At ten on a Saturday morning, Mom would be doing laundry, stripping beds, gathering all the towels around the house, and digging out Dad’s socks from between the couch cushions. So she should definitely be around.
When I called, she answered on the third ring.
“Hey, baby girl,” she answered breathlessly. “It’s so good to hear from you.”
“Hey, Mom.” I closed my eyes and exhaled in relief. It was good to hear from her too.
“So how’s college?” she asked. “Have you been on any more news reports? Dad and I watched the YouTube recording of your first one at least twenty times, I swear. You just did so good.”
“Thanks,” I murmured, warming with affection. “And yeah, I should be getting a segment on air every other week now. We plan to record my next report on Tuesday.”
“Oh my goodness,Oaklynn. That’s amazing. I’m so proud of you. We’re both just so…very proud of you.”
“Thank you,” I repeated, wishing I was sitting in her kitchen instead of half the state away. I really missed her today.
“So…what’s up?” she asked, somehow knowing I needed some serious guidance right now.
“I… Well…” When I stalled out, not sure what to say next, she sighed.
“Uh oh. What’s wrong, baby girl? Is it Damien?”
“Damien?” I repeated in surprise, wondering how she could even know that. “What makes you think anything’s wrong with Damien?”
“Well, he’s technically your first serious boyfriend. There’s gonna be a learning curve with that. So…what did he do?”
I bit my lip, not sure if I wanted to malign Damien to my parents quite yet.
After a good night’s sleep, the only wrong thing I could accuse him of was trying to protect himself from getting hurt.
Besides, he wasn’t what my brain was revolving around right now.
So I said, “Mom…?”
And she answered, “Yes, dear?”
“I have a strange question.”
“I’d be surprised if you had a normal one.”
“Hey!”
She laughed. “Joking, I’m joking. What’s your strange question, darlin’?”
I bit my lip, not wanting to ask it now, but then my curiosity got the best of me. “What are your thoughts on…ghosts?”
“Ghosts?” She sounded as if she’d been struck from left field on that one.
I closed my eyes and pressed a hand to my head, then shrugged. Because…what the hell. I’d already started the conversation. “Yeah. Do you, maybe…believe in them?”
My mother was quiet for a moment, then she exhaled loudly. “I’m going to tell you a story. About your dad’s grandma, Emilia.”
“Ooh! Yaya…” I said, remembering her with a fond smile. “I used to love it when she would come and have tea parties with me. Oh God, she taught me how to make thebesttea. What did she have me put in it again...?” I snapped my fingers. “Cinnamon! That’s it.”
And now I was craving Yaya’sTé de Canelarecipe.
