She let her mouth drop open. “Mom.Do I need to keep an eye on you?”
“I would never.” She waved her hand as she crossed the room. “He’stoo handy. Do you know he’s building me a bird feeder for the backyard?”
“Is that what that was?” The image of the plan for thetool-charging station popped into Emma’s head. She guessed the bird feederwould be her father’s next project. “Are you hungry?” She lifted the doughnutbox slightly.
Her mother kissed Emma on the cheek and took the box from her asshe trotted into the kitchen. “I knew you were my favorite daughter for areason.”
Emma chuckled and shook her head. Her parents couldn’t be more alikeif they tried. She guessed that was from being married thirty-plus years.
The cabinet stuck halfway when Emma opened it to get a mug.“Hasn’t Dad fixed this yet?” The hinge had been broken for months, but her dadhad jerry-rigged it to work until he got around to fixing it.
“It’s on his list after the bird feeder.” That could be a fewmonths down the road. Apparently, her mother hadn’t seen the real list.
Emma poured herself a mug of coffee and refilled her mother’s cupbefore she sat on the stool at the counter next to her. “So where are wegoing?” She hoped it was just a few specialty shops. The mall would be packedtoday.
“I need to get your father a pair of these jeans he likes fromJ.C. Penney.” She picked up the pair from the chair and handed them to Emma.“Can you read the label on these?”
Yay!It appeared Emma had dodged the mall bullet today. “Where’s your phone?”
Her mother reached across the counter, picked it up, and handed itto her. Emma found the label of the pants and took a picture of it.
“Ooh, that’s a good idea.” And then her mother said, “And I needto pick up some makeup at Macy’s. They have a gift this month.”
Ugh.She knew it was too good to be true. Her mother lived and breathed tomall-shop.
“We can grab lunch at the food court there.”
Evenbetter. Emma smiled. She couldn’t change her mother’s love forshopping at this point. She just hoped she’d be worn out by midafternoon soEmma could get back to Dex. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and letthe tingle wash over her. Dex.
The door swung open and Bill walked through it. He stopped at thecoffeepot and filled his insulated mug. “Any doughnuts left?” he asked, headingfor the box on the counter.
Glo put her hand on the box. “How many is that?”
“Just one.”
She glanced at Emma to confirm, and Emma nodded. It wasn’t true,but she’d learned to keep quiet about some things. If one more doughnut onoccasion made her dad happy, Emma wouldn’t spoil the enjoyment for him.
Bill gave her a sly wink. “I thought you two would be out the doorby now. All the good stuff will be gone if you don’t get moving.” He laughed.
Emma rolled her eyes. “Stop feeding her addiction, Dad.” Emma hadthought they’d be long gone by now too, but her sleep last night had beeninterrupted in the best possible way, which had pushed her morning to startmuch later than usual.
“Okay, okay. Let me get my purse.” She trotted through the livingroom. “I’ll be right back.”
“So Mom thinks the thing you’re building out there is a birdfeeder.” She flattened her lips and tilted her head.
“It’s next on the list.” He took a bite of the doughnut. “She’llget it for Christmas.”
Emma smiled. Her dad always came through with anything her momwanted. Someday she hoped to have a relationship as solid as theirs.
* * *
They’d been at the mall for almost two hours and had hit at leasttwenty different stores when Glo decided she needed energy to continue. If itwere up to Emma, she would’ve just powered through to get out of there sooner.But her mother liked to enjoy the whole mall experience, which meant startingat one end, getting to the other, rounding the turn at the anchor store, andthen making her way back to the middle to eat at the food court. Thankfully shedidn’t care for one or two stores, and they’d skipped them entirely. Emma hatedthe mall, but she tolerated it to spend time with her mother.
Emma stood in line to get the sandwiches, turkey for herself andham for Glo, while her mother staked out a table. She was good at hoveringuntil someone finished their food, and then she’d swoop in to grab the table assoon as they left. She’d been known to try to steal a table prematurely whensomeone had gotten up to get something more to eat. Glo had rules about malleating: you got all the food you wanted all at once. Then you ate quickly. Youdidn’t linger, holding a table when others had their food and needed to sit.
“So what happened this morning?”
She immediately thought about her dad’s woodworking project.“What? With Dad?”
“You were late. You’re never late on shopping days.” She took abite of her sandwich. “You like to get here early and get it over with.”
“That’s not true. I love spending time with you.”
“But you hate the mall.”
“Yeah.” Emma nodded. “I do.” She couldn’t argue with that.
“So why were you late?”
“I had a date last night.”
Glo dropped her sandwich to her plate and took a drink to washdown the last bite she’d taken. “And you’re just now telling me this? What’sher name? Did you have fun? Are you going to see her again?” Glo fired thequestions at Emma without giving her a chance to get a word in.
“Her name is Dex. Yes, we had fun, and I’m having dinner with heragain tonight.”
Her mother leaned in with rapt attention. “You had dinner, notjust drinks last night?”
“Appetizers, dinner, and dessert.” Her body warmed at the thoughtof dessert. “The whole nine yards, Mom.”
Glo smiled softly and tilted her head the way she always did whenshe read Emma. “You’re blushing.”
She put her hands to her cheeks and smiled. “I really like her,Mom.”
“Tell me about her.” Glo
