“Why?”
Lizzie picked up her purse.
“Because I want to know what she told them.”
I shook my head.
“This could get ugly.”
Lizzie picked up her purse.
“It already was ugly. We just weren’t invited before.”
“This is between you and Kayla.”
Then Jennifer looked at me.
“You’re coming too.”
“No.”
“Grandma.”
“This is between you and Kayla.”
That was how I ended up at a country club wearing the same navy dress I’d worn to both girls’ high school graduation.
Lizzie smiled.
“No. If somebody wants a family picture, they’re getting the whole family.”
That was how I ended up at a country club wearing the same navy dress I’d worn to both girls’ high school graduation.
Kayla saw us almost immediately.
Her face went white.
Jennifer extended her hand.
Graham approached with an easy smile.
“You must be friends of Kayla’s.”
Jennifer extended her hand.
“I’m Jennifer.”
His expression brightened.
He shook her hand, then Lizzie’s.
“Jennifer. Finally. I’ve heard so much about you.”
He shook her hand, then Lizzie’s.
Kayla rushed over.
“Graham, maybe we should get everyone seated.”
He looked at me.
“This is our grandmother. She raised us.”
“And you are?”
Before Kayla could answer, Jennifer said, “This is our grandmother. She raised us.”
Graham nodded.
“Kayla’s mother?”
“No,” Jennifer said.
Something changed in Graham’s face.
“Her husband’s mother.”
Something changed in Graham’s face.
Small, but immediate.
He looked at Kayla.
“You said your mother raised them.”
His adult children were kind.
Kayla laughed too quickly.
“I simplify family history sometimes.”
Graham didn’t laugh.
His adult children were kind.
That surprised all of us.
Allison’s warmth made the whole thing worse.
Allison, his oldest daughter, hugged the twins and said, “I can’t believe you’re finally here.”
Jennifer smiled carefully.
“Finally?”
“We’ve heard about you forever.”
Allison’s warmth made the whole thing worse. She wasn’t performing for us; she genuinely believed she was finally meeting relatives Kayla had described for years.
“How you both became distant after leaving college.”
Lizzie asked, “What exactly have you heard?”
Allison shrugged.
“Trips to see you. Birthdays. College stuff.”
Jennifer went still.
“What college stuff?”
Allison’s smile disappeared.
“How you both became distant after leaving college.”
Lizzie laughed once.
“We’re still in college.”
Allison’s smile disappeared.
Kayla hadn’t erased them.
Jennifer found Graham near the bar.
She had invented them.
Jennifer found Graham near the bar.
“Can we talk privately?”
Kayla immediately said, “Jennifer, today really isn’t the day.”
Jennifer looked at her.
Graham led them toward a small side room.
“I think you’ve had twenty years to pick a day.”
Graham led them toward a small side room.
Lizzie followed.
She returned almost immediately.
“Grandma.”
Inside, Graham sat across from Kayla.
“I don’t need to be in there.”
“Yes, you do.”
Inside, Graham sat across from Kayla.
He looked exhausted.
Jennifer sat beside Lizzie.
Graham asked one question.
I remained near the door.
Graham asked one question.
