Page 60 of Happy Harbor
Josie looked down at her right hand. “Is that where I got this scar on my pinky?” She held up her hand, and Diane laughed.
“Yes! The horse’s name was Danger. I guess that should’ve been my first clue.”
“Oh my gosh.” Josie couldn’t help but laugh right along with her.
“Then there was the time when you were about seven. I took you to a local carnival that was set up in the Super Saver parking lot. You got away from me and grabbed some other woman’s hand. You said you thought she was your mommy, which I never understood because she was a completely different race and about six feet tall!”
Memories started flowing back into Josie’s brain like a raging river. “I remember that! She bought me a funnel cake and told me we were going to sit at the picnic tables until my mommy found me.”
“And I did. It was only a few minutes, but I remember being so frantic. I rarely got to spend time with you, and I didn’t want my mother to keep me from seeing you. Of course, shortly after that, I met Dan and started drinking again.”
Dan, her mother’s longest-running boyfriend back in those days. He wasn’t just a drinker; he was a mean drunk. It was one reason her nana had taken the reins and kept Josie away from her mother so much. When she was dating Dan, Diane wasn’t allowed around her daughter.
“What ever happened to Dan?”
“Last I heard, he was living back home with his mother, taking care of her while she had cancer. That was at least ten years ago.”
“Do you remember my first ballet recital, and you stood up in the middle of the performance and yelled, ‘That’s my kid!’?”
Diane covered her face with her hands. “No, I don’t remember that.”
“Or the time that you streaked, buck naked, across the football field during the homecoming game?”
“I did not!”
“Yes, you did. Nana grabbed her purse and hid in her car. She was so embarrassed!” Josie heard herself laughing about it all, and she couldn’t believe it. Something had shifted inside of her that allowed her to find humor in some memories.Someof them.
After Diane caught her breath, she looked at Josie. “I’m sorry I did those things. I wish I could take them back and be that cookie-baking PTA momma you deserved.”
“It made for colorful memories.”
“How about this? I promise to never streak buck nakedanywherefor the rest of your life.”
“It’s a deal. I’m still a little traumatized.”
“Can I help you make dinner?”
Josie paused for a moment. Spending time with her mother felt dangerous, but she would be living with her for at least a few days. “Sure. I’m making spaghetti. It’s Kendra’s favorite.”
“Oh, I love spaghetti. Do you know your nana’s secret sauce recipe?”
Josie’s eyes widened. “No! What is it?”
Diane leaned in and whispered, “A big jar of Mama Luna’s pasta sauce with three extra cloves of garlic.”
Josie laughed. “That lying little woman! She made me think she had some secret recipe, and all this time she was using jarred sauce? Wow.”
“She was a funny lady.”
* * *
Josie sat at her desk in the home office she’d set up. The restaurant had reopened, although with limited capacity. Diane and the rest of the staff were handling the morning rush while Josie went over the finances yet again.
Dinner the night before had been pleasant. It was just Josie, her mother, and her daughter, and the conversation had been surprisingly easy. Of course, they steered clear of talking about the past and mostly focused on Kendra’s prom dress and how she was doing at school.
This morning was another story, however. Something just wasn’t right with her grandmother’s accounting. She had even hired a special accountant to go over the numbers for her because something was missing. Josie couldn’t figure out what it was exactly, but the numbers were off, like her grandmother was hiding something. It didn’t sound like Nana, but apparently she didn’t always tell the truth, at least about her pasta sauce.
For her whole life, Josie had put her grandmother on a pedestal, as if she could do no wrong. Now that she was an adult, she knew no one was perfect. Her nana must’ve had flaws like everybody else, but Josie never saw them. She was a saint in her mind.
