Page 7 of That Conflicted Feeling
“Nope.Georgecame up on the train to drive me back.”
Ipull the phone away from my ear and hold it up asMomsings, “Hi,George.”
“Hello,Mrs.Dashwood,” he calls back. “ThankGodMaxbrought theMercedesand left theLamborghiniat your place.Ihate driving that thing.”
I’mpretty happy about that decision too, since the shitty bed at thePark’N’SleepIhad to stay at last night—to be here for this morning’s unnecessarily early meeting—has left me with a crick in my spine and there’s plenty of space to stretch out in the back of this car.
Iput the phone back to my ear. “Anyway, is everything okay,Mom?”
Wepass the striped awnings and sidewalk displays of the neighborhood butcher, florist, and coffee shop.ThenewYellowBarnstore will have a department for each of those.
“Everything’sperfect.”There’sa huge smile in her voice. “IknowI’vesaid thank you for the house a thousand times, butIjust needed to say it again.Itwas such a lovely weekend with all of us together for the first time in so long.Andthe village kids loved theEasteregg hunt.We’lldefinitely open the grounds for that every year.”
“Andthere you were, thinking the house and property would be too big.”I’dspent months trying to convince her it wasn’t, that she would want a large family home where we could all gather at the same time.
“Onlyat first.Iwas worried about me and your dad rattling around the place on our own.Butnow that we’ve had a couple of days with the whole family here, it feels like a real home.AndwithOwenproposing toSummer, and them wanting to have their wedding by the pond, well, the whole place already has meaning and a place in our hearts forever.”
Mycousin fromCaliforniapopped the question to his girlfriend of only two months yesterday, right beforeIgot the call to come here to sort out a hitch with theYellowBarnplanning application.
Twomonths.
Insanity.
Imean, his fiancé seems nice and all.Butit can’t be possible to know you’ve met the right person after only eight weeks.
I’mhappy to be married to my business.We’rea perfect match.Icompletely control it, it makes me piles of cash, and it doesn’t insistIspend weekends with its parents.
“Anyway, we’ll never be able to thank you enough,”Momsays for the quadrillionth time since my two brothers, two brother-like cousins, andI, bought the old rundown estate house for them.Aftermonths of painstaking renovations, my parents finally moved in right before their wedding anniversary onValentine’sDay.
“Youcouldn’t deserve it more.Youboth sacrificed enough for us.It’syour turn to be taken care of now.”Ipick some potato dirt from under a fingernail. “Ijust wishDadwould relax about it a bit.”
“Oh,Maxie.Youknow he finds it hard.Hejust thinks it should be him who looks after you all, not the other way around.”
“Well, it’s definitely our turn.”
“Anyway, that’s allIcalled for.Thankyou.Foreverything.TellGeorgeto drive safely.”
“I’llmake him stick to the speed limit the whole way.”Georgeshoots me a glance in the rearview mirror. “Don’teat all the leftoverEastereggs at once.Bye,Mom.”
Sheblows a kiss through the phone at me, just as she’s done at the end of every call sinceIwas thirteen, whenIflipped out about how embarrassing it was.
“Marvelouswoman, your mother,”Georgesays. “Maybeone day you’ll meet someone you want to build a family with.”
Herewe go. “Subtle,George.Subtle.Youusually do better than that.”
Igrab my laptop from the seat beside me, open it, and look for the spreadsheets on theWarmSpringsYellowBarnproposal that my domineeringCFO,Tarquin, sent this morning.
“Well,Ihate to see you wasting your life on constant work and those, erm, ladiesIdrive home from your place at three a.m.”
“They’renot hookers,George.Yousay it like they’re hookers.”
“Iknow.Butthey’re also not exactly anyone you’d take home to meet your parents either.”
“Well, you would know.Youprobably had longer conversations with any of them thanIdid.”
Ifocus on the numbers in front of me, not only to see if there’s a way to refine them to make this store even more profitable thanIthink it will be, but also to avoid being dragged intoGeorge’splans for my future wife, two-point-four kids, and golden retriever.
“Thatyoung lady seemed nice,” he says.
