Page 23 of Love Hollow at Last
She swallowed.“Thanks,” she said.
“I don’t suppose this means you’ll go easy on Grace?”
It was a misstep, and he must have noticed that as soon as he said it.
“Noah,” she said.“This is what I’ve been trying to explain to you the whole time.The space that our grandparents had, to talk, to remember?That’s what’s at stake here.And I’m not going to give that up just because your name is on this festival.”
“But seriously,” he said.“The way I see it is this…”
She held up a hand.All the feelings that had been flaring up for him were lost under the weight of his denial.“Forget it,” she said.“I’ll deal with Grace.But I hoped that, just for one moment, you would understand.”
It would have been great to drive off herself in that moment, to get into some fast car and take off, tires squealing.But she had to go back to the studio to find Emi and Twyla.It was unclear whether she was saving them from Carson or she was saving Carson from them.Poor Emma, Carson’s young cousin, probably wanted to leave.The two couldn’t be more different in personality, and Aya had heard from Emma’s mother that they didn’t get along.All the more suspicious for Carson to show up tonight.
By the time Aya came back out, Noah was gone, and she suppressed her disappointment.
“Twyla, that was interesting, but you know the Flores family needs to get back in there, right?I’m not doing that again.”
“Okay,” said Twyla, and there was a hint of doubt in her voice.But Aya chose not to hear it.
20
Aya
“Mrs.Irving called,” said Aya’s mother.She was sitting at the end of Aya’s bed, as she had when her daughters were little.
Aya blinked.As a graduate student, she’d gotten used to having her own schedule.Sure, she had to teach a class here and there, but most of her work involved research.Ever since coming home, though, she had been woken early.Twyla had become an obsessively early riser as a reporter, and she didn’t think that her sister’s night-owl nature needed to give way to her own drive to meet deadlines.And their mother was physically incapable of letting a morning go by without cooking breakfast for her daughters.So each morning, the sounds of water boiling, the kitchen fan running, and bacon sizzling all conspired to wake Aya up.She could have used earplugs, but she couldn’t bear not to come down for breakfast when her mom was going to so much trouble to make it for her.
“Did you tell Mrs.Irving I didn’t live here anymore?”moaned Aya.“Please tell her I’ve left the state.Or the country.”
Her mom smiled.“She’d find you, Aya.She doesn’t miss a trick, as you know.”
Aya did know.She supposed she should have been thankful that Mrs.Irving had taken over as president of the Zion Creek Memorial Museum board.She’d done absolutely everything she could to shore up the museum’s finances, and without the grants she’d gotten, they already would have closed.Even the cost of heating the place through the winter would have proved overwhelming.But Mrs.Irving was an expert at alienating people, and they were not likely to get many local visitors back on their side when they had a tyrant at the helm.
“I guess I have to call a meeting,” mumbled Aya.“I’ve failed at getting the festival in line.She’s going to kill me.”
“If she really killed people, Love Hollow would be empty,” said her mother.Then she paused.“Aya, I’m sorry about the dress.At the time, I didn’t think…”
Of course her mother felt the dress had been too skimpy, and after a couple of decades of constantly feeling she was too fat for nice clothes, Aya didn’t want to hear it.She couldn’t stand talking to her mother about fashion.Theirs had never been a home where she was allowed free rein to wear what she liked.If it didn’t make her look good, it had to go.Aya remembered how red she had gotten the year her mom stopped letting her wear spaghetti-strap shirts.There was a green dress she had loved, but when she talked to her mom about her plan to walk back from Chang’s with her friends, it had been forbidden.Apparently, it wasn’t good enough for the people of Love Hollow to see.
“It’s fine, Mom,” she said.“Don’t worry.I won’t wear it again.”
“Aya,” she said, but Aya was already getting up and heading to the bathroom down the hall.
“I also don’t need to be in the dance,” she called back.“You should have Twy do it, then maybe Noah will agree to the interview.”
Her mom said something else, but Aya didn’t hear her.If she was going to face Mrs.Irving, she needed to shower, and she definitely needed at least one cup of coffee in her before she tackled that conversation.
21
Aya
When Aya came downstairs and looked at her phone, she found a missed call, but it wasn’t from Mrs.Irving.It was from her thesis advisor, which was even scarier.Professor Jin only called when she had something serious to talk out.
“Good morning,” Emi called out weakly.Then she looked at Twyla.“Does Aya know yet?”
“I know Mrs.Irving called,” said Aya.“I guess she called Mom to get to me.But my advisor called too.”
“Yeah,” said Twyla.“Well, we probably know why Mrs.Irving called.Here’s what seems to have happened?—”
