“Do you have big birthday plans?”
“I don’t at all. I think I’m just going to keep working over here, because I’m almost done. I think I’m within reach of tackling the last box in the last closet, can you believe it?”
“Well, the kids and Charlie are all very excited for you to come over and have a birthday dinner with us. I’m going to pick you up so you can drink wine if you want, and Charlie’s going to cook out on the grill, and Bethie wants to show you something she learned in gymnastics. I’m just going to warn you, she calls it a somersault, but it’s more like a stop-drop-and-roll poster.”
“I’m sure it’s stunning.”
“How are things with Nick? Have you talked to him?”
It had been four days since she had pushed the Polaroids into his hands, and while they had exchanged some texts and she had gone over to his townhouse for dinner one night, she hadn’t stayed over. “No. All I’ve figured out is that I want it to be a shorter distance, I guess. I want teleportation. I want it to be a short train ride, or a day trip in a car.”
“Well, I don’t think those things are going to happen, so keep trying. I’ll see you in a little bit.”
Laurie was within days of finishing the house. She had contracted with a new service—one that she’d vetted with no fewer than six references—to take care of the junk and the donations, and June would let them in after she was gone. She had boxed up some things for friends of Dot’s in Calcasset, for friends elsewhere, and for people in the family who had asked to have something. She had touched just about every item from attic to basement. The duck was still in the living room, on the coffee table, and it was still her favorite thing in the house. She’d started to put her things in the laundry, then back in the bags she brought them in. She had a flight booked, and in a week, she would be back in her own bed. Thank God, Erin texted. It’s been way too long without a debrief.
At about six, she took a shower and changed into her most comfortable jeans and a V-neck black tee; there was fortunately nobody at June’s to impress. When June’s car pulled up out front and she climbed in, she looked at the face of one of her very dearest friends and said, “Oh no.”
Maybe it was June’s slightly too dressy sundress. Maybe it was the fact that she had a little bit of makeup on, or maybe it was just that Laurie was secretly, somewhere in the deepest depths of her soul, aware of what was happening all along. “What?” June said.
“Who is at your house, June Marie?” she said.
June blinked. “What do you mean? My kids and my husband. Put your seatbelt on.”
“Who else is at your house?”
June took a huge breath. She held it. And in a squeaky voice, in the voice of the scheming event planner, she said, “Nobody?”
Laurie’s shoulders slumped, and she reached over to put on her seatbelt. “You should not go into espionage. You are the worst liar in the world.”
“Look, I told you it was a birthday dinner. I never promised you nobody else would possibly ever show up. I can’t control what people do. I don’t know everybody’s schedule.”
“Just drive,” Laurie said. “Now I want to see for myself.”
June turned to her. “It’s not going to bother you when you see that my entire house has been re-wallpapered with black ‘Over the Hill’ napkins, is it?”
“You know, you only think that’s funny because it’s not your birthday.”
June cackled. “Well, you’ll just have to be very brave, because this is happening.”
It was a very short trip from Dot’s to June’s, and Laurie spent most of it wondering if she should have dressed up more. She had to assume Nick was going to be there; what if this was the last time they saw each other before she left? What if he looked incredibly good and she looked like she was planning on eating burgers with children? What if he smelled like the library? What if he smelled like Nick?
Before she knew it, they were parked outside the house.
“You have to go inside,” June said. “I promise it’s not bad. It’s not a circus. You’ve been in my house before. You’re going to be okay.”
“This is going to be way too much attention for me.”
June put one hand on her shoulder. “Don’t make me ruin it for my very excited children, who have never participated in an ambush before. You trust me, right?”
“Junie,” she said pleadingly.