Page 64 of Leave It to Us
He squeezed her hand and then lifted it to his lips, where he placed a soft kiss over her knuckles. “Does that mean you don’t want to sell the house now?” he asked as he lowered her hand again.
“I don’t know,” she admitted. “I really was just thinking about fulfilling Grandma Betty and Tami’s wishes.”
“You like fixing things for other people, don’t you? Especially for your sisters?” he asked.
He had no idea how true that statement was. Yvonne had spent the last three days trying to figure out if the money she’d borrowed from her 401(k) would be enough to cover the additional renovation expenses and take care of Isaac’s debt. Once Lana had told them about his gambling habit and the trouble they were in the other day, all the weirdness they’d been seeing in her had made sense. Lana wasn’t sure if Isaac had requested the extension like she’d told him to, and now she was afraid for Isaac’s life and their future. She had insisted he hadn’t said they were actually in physical danger, but Yvonne had a feeling that who he owed and how much he owed this time was bigger and worse than anything they’d gone through before. The fact that Isaac had been so desperate that he’d tried to refinance their condo without talking toLana first had been a big clue. Yvonne hadn’t said anything to Lana or Tami about the money yet, but she planned to talk to them this weekend about their options.
“I’ve always felt responsible for my sisters, if that’s what you mean.”
“And your mother too?”
She shook her head. “Not necessarily responsible for her but definitely indebted. Like, she’s my mother, and you only get one. It’s my duty to take care of the woman who brought me into this world. Wouldn’t you do the same for your mother or father?”
He nodded. “Without a doubt. I’ve got a savings account reserved just for their care, should the need ever arise.”
With a heavy sigh, she replied, “I should’ve thought of that.” Another thing she should’ve thought of was taking out that 401(k) loan to get the money to pay for the renovations to Mama’s house. And actually, that had been the default plan she’d go to if she depleted her savings for the costs. But a huge part of her had wanted her sisters to step up—for once in their lives—to be there for Freda in the same way that Yvonne had been.
“But my parents would never expect me to give up every aspect of my life for them,” he continued. “It seems like maybe that’s what you’ve done for your mother.”
“Honestly, I don’t know what I’ve done. All I know is that I’m not happy. I don’t even know what happy would look like for me, because I’ve never thought about it. I’ve only ever thought about my career.” Because Mama had made it seem like that was the most important thing.
Even after Freda’d had children, she’d remained hyperfocused on building her career, making a name for herself that stood separate and apart from mother and wife. For a long time, Yvonne had thought that might’ve been what finally broke up her parents. Her father had worked in the education field as well, as a college professor, which was why he always had summers off to spend with them on the island. But Mamanever shared in those trips, and perhaps after a while, that just built a wall between them. At any rate, watching the dysfunction and demise of her parents’ marriage hadn’t given Yvonne any grand ideas about love. So what else was there to be happy about other than her work?
“Is your career still fulfilling?”
His phone buzzed loudly in the otherwise quiet area, giving her a minute to think about his question.
He cursed. “This is a text from Hitch. We’ve got a problem with the appliance order for the kitchen. We’re expecting delivery first thing Monday morning, so I’ve gotta go take care of this.”
She nodded. “Absolutely. Go, go, I understand. I’m just gonna sit here awhile longer with my thoughts.”
With the hand that had been holding hers, he brushed his knuckles over her cheek. “Do me a favor?”
“What?” she asked.
“Toss in a few happy thoughts while you’re out here.”
The warmth that spread through her at his words had lingered long after he was gone and had put her in a mood to prepare a nice dinner for her and her sisters.
Well, as nice as she could, with her sparse supplies. In fact, she ended up driving over to Charity’s café and picking up a delicious-looking seafood salad, grilled salmon, and asparagus. At a bakery not too far down the road—and run by a lady named Mattie, who had an autographed picture of Grandma Betty on the wall behind the counter—she bought a beautiful lemon-meringue pie for dessert.
The dinner was delicious, and her sisters were appreciative of Yvonne’s efforts, but their behavior was still off. Yvonne figured that telling them about the extra $50,000 she had might be something to lift their spirits, but then she felt the urge to do something else. Something that wouldn’t remind them of their current problems but would perhaps bring back memories of their good times together.
“Hey,” she said, once they’d finished cleaning up the dishes they were using on repeat so as to not disturb the rest of the dishes that had been packed away. “Let’s go up and get into our pajamas and then meet back in the parlor in ten minutes.”
Lana frowned. “If it’s for dessert, I’m full. I think I’m just going to go to bed now.”
“It’s only eight thirty,” Tami replied with a shrug. “We can use my friend Gabriel’s Netflix login to watch a movie.”
Although she’d made the suggestion, Tami didn’t seem thrilled by it, but Yvonne was taking the suggestion alone as a good sign.
“Just do it,” she said, draping the dish towel through the oven handle before heading out of the kitchen.
Yvonne hurried upstairs to change and get back down in the parlor before her sisters. The couches had been moved out, since they’d ordered new furniture for the space. Nothing was staying except the piano, and that was only staying depending on whether or not they sold the house. If the housewassold, Tami wanted the piano, even though she definitely couldn’t keep it in her tiny apartment. But the new floors had been installed because the original hardwood was too badly scarred. There was a stack of folded tarps, along with a box of what looked like leftover wood slats, piled in one corner. Yvonne made sure the surface was stable and placed the record player that she’d brought down from Grandma Betty’s music room on top of the box. Then she plugged the cord into the socket and took out the records she’d tucked under her arm. The dust jackets were worn and a little faded, but they’d brought so many memories tumbling back into Yvonne’s mind when she’d seen them on the shelf in the music room.
Grandma Betty had an extensive music collection full of original vinyl albums and 45 records. There were even some eight-track cassettes tucked into a glass case in one corner of the room. The music room was the only room that they hadn’t decided what to do with yet. It was partly because none of them really wanted to disturb the part of thehouse that was filled with so much of their grandmother’s spirit. But tonight, Yvonne had gone in there because she knew this was exactly what they needed at this moment.
She’d brought down a 45 that was especially meaningful to them even though she knew for certain she hadn’t heard the song in years. Just pulling the small record out of the original black-and-white jacket had her heart thumping. The round yellow adapter was still inside the center hole of the record, and she placed it onto the turntable portion of the record player. Then she moved the arm, placing the needle at the beginning of the record.
