our early twenties, we’d be taking our fashion cues from her. Her aesthetic might be different but she definitely inherited your sense of style. She’s an entrepreneur, like you. She sees opportunities that other people miss and isn’t afraid to go after them. You should be proud of her.”
I was still smiling, hoping to break through and be heard. But Happy wasn’t listening. She stabbed the air again, hissing at me through bared teeth.
“Do not tell me how to raise my daughter.”
Too much alcohol can make you do some dumb things, like inviting a woman who hates the world in general and you in particular to hang out at your house and knit stuff. It can also be a powerful truth serum. Happy shook her head so hard that I thought her hair switch might fall off.
“She’s over here all the time. Day and night. She likes you better than me. I am her mother but she likes you better.”
“Oh, stop. That’s ridiculous.” I was beginning to lose patience. “Have you asked yourself why she’s spending so much time here? Pris is smart and energetic and full of ideas, but she’s also trying to figure out who she is. Don’t you remember what it was like to be her age? The anxiety and uncertainty? Pris needs connection and affirmation, an older woman to tell her it’s okay to believe in herself. She needs you, Happy. But you’re not available, so she comes here.”
“Oh, shut up,” Happy slurred. “What do you know about it?”
“Loneliness? Everything. So does Pris.” By then, I could hardly look at her. I lifted my face skyward, trying to muster the will to hold my tongue. I failed. “You’re not the only one suffering, you know! If you could take a day off from wallowing in your own grief, you might think about that. You’re her mother. Start acting like it!”
I was out of line. I admit that. I was projecting my feelings about Sterling onto Happy, which wasn’t fair. The situational similarities were undeniable and my observations weren’t wrong, but my approach was. I realized that almost immediately and was about to apologize but I didn’t have a chance.
Happy made a fist and then swept back her arm like a pitcher winding up to throw a curveball. Lucky for me, whatever she was drinking made her slow, so I had plenty of time to duck. The wine had affected her balance as well as her timing. After slugging empty air, Happy spun around like a dizzy ballerina and tumbled backward. If Lorne hadn’t heard the commotion and arrived when he did, she would have fallen off the piazza and down the stairs.
“Whoa!” he yelped in surprise, then caught her under the arms from behind. Happy hung there like a limp rag doll for a moment, then scuttled her feet back beneath her body and pushed herself to a stand. The switch had fallen forward and was flopping against her ear. Happy slapped at it as if she were swatting a bug and squared her shoulders.
“You okay there, Happy?” Lorne asked.
She glowered at Lorne and me in turn. Her eyes narrowed and her lips twisted as if she were trying to think up something really cutting to say. Apparently, she came up short.
“You!” she spat, then stomped down the stairs.
She swung the front gate so hard that it clanged against the wrought iron fence, then marched down the sidewalk and took a hard right into her driveway. Hedges blocked the view of the front door but we heard it slam.
Lorne looked at me and grinned. “Guess I’m not the only one who felt like throwing a punch today.”
I DIDN’T SHARE all the details of Happy’s visit when Pris returned from the post office. But I did say she should take the afternoon off and go check on her mother.
At three o’clock, a robot called to say that the delivery of my new refrigerator had been rescheduled to a six-hour window two days hence. When I pressed one to express my annoyance, I was informed that my call was very important and the wait time to speak to a human would be seventeen minutes.
At four o’clock, I opened the door of a previously blocked closet and a crate filled with cheap glass vases crashed to the floor, smashing them into ten zillion pieces.
At five o’clock, the doorbell rang again.
“If you’re here to make my life miserable,” I shouted as I trotted down the staircase, “you’re too late! Go