“Great,” I said. “The boys will grow up healthy as horses with this menagerie around. Even in the short term,” I added, lest anyone think I was volunteering our barn for long-term animal shelter duty.
“What’s wrong, dear?” Mother asked. “You look pale. Do you need an aspirin?”
“I’m fine,” I said. “Hungry, but fine.”
Rose Noire took the hint and handed me a ham sandwich.
“Thanks.” I took an enormous bite and closed my eyes to savor it.
“You still look stressed,” Mother said.
Luckily chewing allowed me time to think about my answer. Should I tell her about the surveyors? Perhaps better to wait until I heard what Cousin Festus could learn. Ask her if she thought the place looked blighted? She’d probably use my question as an excuse to foist off some new furniture on us.
But then an idea struck me.
“Mother,” I said. “I have a decorating project for you.”
She blinked slightly and peered at me as if suddenly unsure who I was.
“You’re not interested?” I asked.
“Of course I’m interested, dear,” she said. “I’m just rather surprised. Normally I have to nag you to take an interest in your home.”
“Well, I’m taking an interest now. Let me show you.”
I led her out onto the back porch. It was large for a back porch, six feet by twelve feet, and largely empty.
“Yes,” she said, recovering enough to look around with something more resembling her usual critical eye. “Yes, there’s a lot we need to—er, could do here. You want me to tackle the deck?”
I glanced around. I wouldn’t have called it a deck. It was a plain slab of concrete. I’d just have said stoop instead of porch if it hadn’t been so large. But if Mother thought “deck” a more elegant term, who was I to argue?
“Yes, the deck to start with,” I said. “But why stop there? We need to do something about the whole yard.”
I spread my arms wide as if embracing the space, then strode toward the side yard.
“The yard? But that’s really landscaping.”
“Outdoor decorating,” I said, as I rounded the corner of the house and headed for the front yard. I was trying to see my surroundings through unfriendly eyes and finding more and more to wince at. “You’re always saying how important the foyer is, that it gives your guests their first view of the house. Well, that’s not quite accurate. Before they get to the foyer, they have to walk down the front walk, through the yard. And look at it!”
I was striding through the front yard by now, with Mother close behind. I stopped to survey my surroundings. So did she. She was still a little taken aback.
“When you come down to it, it’s the largest space of all,” I said. “And it’s virtually untouched. We need to deal with those overgrown hedges in the front yard. Plant something along the front walk. Maybe replace the front walk with something nicer. And don’t forget the backyard. All these sheds and outbuildings look so junky. We need to spruce them up or get rid of them! Move some of them to better locations so they don’t block the view.”
“We could do that.” She still sounded dubious.
“We need an outdoor foyer in the front yard! An outdoor dining room there!” I gestured toward the side yard. “An outdoor living room … somewhere! An outdoor playroom for the boys! And the pool—it needs to be an outdoor party space. A safe, kid-friendly outdoor party space.”
“Yes,” she said. The word “room” seemed to revive her spirits. “Yes. This should be interesting. My first real venture into outdoor decorating!”
“And Dad can help with the plants,” I said. “What he doesn’t know about plants isn’t worth knowing.”
Mother nodded, absently.
“So you’ll draw up some plans?”
“Yes.” Her voice sounded absent. Clearly she was already hard at work. She turned and went back inside.
Maybe it didn’t make sense, revving Mother up to decorate something we might be in grave danger of losing. But it made sense to me. By the time Mother finished with it, there was no way anyone could possibly call our yard blighted. Over the top, maybe, but not blighted. I felt a surge of power, as if I’d just put a stake in the ground to tell the encircling forces of development, “Not here!”
“Hey, Meg!”
It was Randall, waving at me from atop the macaw shed. I strolled over to see what he wanted. As I did, it occurred to me that maybe I should have him give me an estimate on painting the house. Better yet, I should ask him what repairs he thought we needed to make the house look first rate.