“Oh, honey...” She sounds sad for me, and I feel guilty for misleading her. “Take all the time you need. Things have been so busy lately. I’m sorry I haven’t been paying more attention. I just wanted to know you’re alright.”
“Yeah, Mom, I’m fine, promise.” It’s at that moment the ship’s horn blasts loudly, scaring the crap out of me.
“Honey, what was that? Are you down at the docks?”
“Uh... no, we’re just watching Titanic. You know. Chick movies, popcorn, PJs, the whole thing.” I think we did that once. That’s believable, right?
“Alright, you know that’s not a very good neighborhood.” She sounds suspicious, but not for the right reasons. “I don’t want to spoiler or anything, but the ship goes down.” We groan together.
“Thanks a lot, Mom. Now we’ll have to watch something else.” We laugh together too. “So anyway, I’m safe and sound, watching movies so old DiCaprio looks young, and everything’s okay. Was that it?”
“Actually, there is something else.” She sounds excited. “You know business has been rough lately, right? I mean, it’s been turning around, but I’m behind on my loan payments for the shop.”
“Yeah.” It would be impossible not to notice, even though she tries to shield me from the money side of things. Mom’s spent almost every waking moment keeping that shop going. It makes us money, sort of, but never quite enough to keep our heads above water. I’ve grown up watching every nickle and dime, even when she didn’t ask me to. “Why? Don’t tell me you finally have to close?” Mom’s world will crumble if that’s the case.
“No! The opposite. Someone’s invested in us. We’re up to date on the payments again. We’re in the black, Angela!” She laughs happily, and I can almost picture her dancing around with her phone.
“Seriously? That’s awesome! What happened? Who is it? I didn’t even know you were looking for investors.”
“I wasn’t.” I can hear the smile in her voice. “And, he’s anonymous.”
“Anonymous?” It sounds like she knows more than she’s letting on.
“Well, he was. Your ol’ mom can be a bit of a sleuth when she wants to be.” Remembering her finding cigarettes in my drawers when I was fifteen, or finding out that I’d been sneaking sips out of our liquor bottles by measuring the content levels with a ruler when I was sixteen, I believe it. If she suspects something, she’s good at uncovering it. She continues happily. “Well, I did some Googling and found out that the company that invested is actually owned by Caldwell Industries.”
Whoa. Seriously? Gavin wasn’t wrong when he said my mother won the lottery. “You mean Herbert—”
“Of course! Who else could it be? He hasn’t said a word, but it came from this little company I’d never heard of. When I looked them up online, the website said they’re a subsidiary of Herbie’s company. It has to be him. He’s so modest. I bet he didn’t want me to feel like I owed him something. Now that’s true love.” Mom’s practically bubbling over with excitement.
“God, you’re acting like you’re fifteen, Mom.” I laugh with her. “What’s next? You going to tear petals off flowers or carve your initials into the tree in the backyard?”
“Oh, come on. Let your mother have her giddy moments every once in a while, huh? This is huge. He’s saved my business. Now I suddenly have the financial backing to promote and get our name out there. Maybe improve the shop a little. Get better quality inventory. All sorts of things.” She gets quiet for a second. “I’m sorry, baby. I know you’re hurting. I just had to get that off my chest.”
“It’s okay. Honest. He ended up being a real jerk.” Massive understatement. “I’m really happy for you. You deserve a break.” I smile. It’s nice to get some good news today. It was rough learning about why Paul ended up black, blue and Violet. I giggle at my own joke, but quietly so I don’t have to explain.
“I’m supposed to meet Herbie, so I’m just getting ready. Are you coming home tonight?”
Yeah, probably not. “Nah, I’m going to hang with Cassie a couple of more nights, I think. It’s been a while since we’ve had some just us time, you know? And with college coming up and everything...” I hate lying to Mom, but she’ll kill me if she finds out where I really am. I’ll probably have to tell her sooner or later, a two week sleepover isn’t very believable, but I can stall for a couple of days at least.