Have you been practicing yoga all week and that’s why you won’t answer Mia’s texts? She’s worried.”
“Don’t listen to your sister. I called her back and she didn’t answer. And we both know that Mia would worry if she lost a sock in the dryer. It’s just her nature. Yours is to be very determined in all that you do, which I love about you, and hers is to worry. And my nature is to look for light. Oh, Carly, I’ve been having the time of my life!” She began to roll up her yoga mat.
“We all know, Mom.” Carly’s phone pinged. She pulled it out of her pocket and saw a text from June on her screen. Need you right away! Lord, what now? She texted back: What’s going on? And to her mother, she said, “I know you’re having this great time and all, but if you could just check in with Mia from time to time, you’d be doing me a huge favor. She blows up my phone when she can’t reach you. She’s counting on you to watch the kids this Friday so she can go to lunch with her friends.”
“And I can’t wait to see my little darlings. I’m taking them to Zilker Park to fly kites. When was the last time you flew a kite? It’s very freeing.” She breezed past Carly into her house.
“What? You know how to fly a kite?” Carly asked, looking up from her phone. She twirled about and followed her mother into the house.
Her mother was bent over, putting her yoga mat away. She stood up, turned around, and smiled very broadly at Carly. So broadly that she looked younger than her years. So broadly that Carly had a sick little feeling in the pit of her stomach that somewhere, a big fat shoe was about to drop, and probably right on her head.
“Carly? Something wonderful has happened.”
“What is it?” she asked warily.
Impossibly, her mother’s smile got bigger and brighter. “I met someone extraordinary.”
Okay, no need to panic just yet. Her mother had met several extraordinary people since her divorce. If Carly wasn’t mistaken, everyone she met was extraordinary. But she’d never smiled quite like this when talking of those extraordinary people. “Okay,” Carly said carefully. “Like . . . how extraordinary?”
“Very,” her mother said, and Carly’s stomach knotted a little tighter. “We’re . . . well, I wasn’t going to tell you just yet, but here you are, and I think you should know that we’re thinking of getting married.”
Carly’s phone pinged at the same moment she cried out with alarm. “You’re what?”
“Nothing big, of course. Probably a Vegas wedding. You know, pop in, do the deed, pop out.”
“Mom? What are you—”
“I mean, we’ve both been married before, so it wouldn’t make sense to have a big wedding. But I would like a dress. I don’t care how old one is, or how many times one has been married, which is only one for me, but Shelby Case was wearing a fancy dress on her third wedding. Her third! And it was white, can you imagine? Oh! I’ve got a great idea! We’ll make a mother-daughter day and the three of us shop for one!”
Carly’s panic burst into full bloom. “Mother! You can’t be serious!”
“I am very serious, Carly, and I would like your support. Oh dear, I feared you’d react this way. You’re very much like your father sometimes, you know. Very practical.” She turned around and went into the kitchen.
Carly was quick on her heels. “I’m reacting this way because it’s crazy, Mother. You’ve been—”
“I want you to be happy for me, sweetie!”
Happy for her? This was the first Carly was hearing of anything serious, and it was already at marriage? “It’s a little hard to be happy for you when you’re doing something so impetuous, Mom. You’ve been sleeping your way through half of Austin, and suddenly you’re planning a wedding? It doesn’t make sense.”
Her mother pointed a finger at her. “That was the release of pent-up anxiety after forty years of sleeping with your father. And that was before I realized my friend’s feelings are the same.” She grinned.
“Who is he? Who is this guy? Where did you meet him? How long have you actually known him?”
“Don’t be so nervous, honey. Really, it wouldn’t hurt you to live it up a little, too. It’s fun. It’s invigorating!”
How in the hell could Carly live it up a little when her world was cracking and bits