Julia reaches up to stroke her grandson’s cheek. “How are you, sweetheart? Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. I’m just so sorry.”
“Sorry about what exactly?” his father asks, joining them.
“There’s no need to get into that now,” Julia says. “Let’s just go inside….”
“For taking off in the middle of the night,” Mark tells his father. “For stealing a bunch of Nana’s gold chains and about a hundred dollars from her purse.”
“You stole from your grandmother,” Norman repeats, as if he’s known all along.
Mark retrieves the white plastic bag from the front stoop. He reaches inside it and pulls out several smaller clear baggies, each containing a single gold chain.
“You separated them?” Julia asks.
“Took about three hours!” Mark returns the baggies to the larger white one, then hands the bag to Julia. “Don’t get me wrong. When I left, I had every intention of pawning the damn things. But I kept seeing your face and…I just couldn’t let you down. I couldn’t letmedown.”
“And the hundred dollars?” Norman asks, not about to be so easily mollified.
“Gone,” Mark admits. “But I’ll pay it back. I promise. I’ll get a job, do whatever I have to….”
“I have a better idea,” Julia says. “Come inside. There are some things we have to tell you.”
—
“I don’t understand,” Mark is saying, his face awash in confusion. “Why would you do something like this?”
“Because your grandmother is either a very foolish woman or a very wise one,” Norman says, smiling across the table at his mother. “She wouldn’t tell me why you left, but she kept insisting you’d be back.”
“But how could you know that?” Mark asks.
“Because I know you,” Julia tells him. “And I knew that, sooner or later, you’d find the change room.”
“What change room?” Norman asks. “What are you talking about?”
Mark smiles. “Long story.”
Norman sighs, accepting there are some things about both his mother and his son that he’ll never understand. “As to why your grandmother is doing this, it appears I’m not the only speculator in the family. Turns out your grandmother is an even bigger gambler than her son. I gamble on stocks. She’s gambling on you. And apparently, she’s done a significant amount of research these last few days, and this is the solution she feels works best for everyone.”
“Look. I get why Nana is selling the house and moving to Manor Born,” Mark says, repeating what has been explained to him, tears filling his eyes.
“But?”
Mark shakes his head in continuing disbelief. “But sending me to the Florida College of Culinary Arts in Miami, covering my tuition and living expenses…”
“As long as you stay in school and get your degree,” Norman stresses. “You drop out, you’re on your own.”
“I would never drop out.”
“Well, then, I guess it’s settled.” Norman pushes away from the table and stands up. “I’ll call Rainbow, get the ball rolling.”
“Rainbow?” Julia asks.
“Poppy’s sister. She’s a real estate agent.”
“Rainbow the Realtor?”
“Don’t start,” Norman says, trying—and failing—to hide a smile. “I’ll phone you tomorrow.”
“I’ll look forward to your call,” Julia says, realizing she means it.
“Are you sure about this, Nana?” Mark asks, after his father has gone.
“About as sure as I’ve ever been about anything.” Julia hugs her grandson to her side.
“Wow. I can’t believe it.”
“Are you happy, sweetheart?”
Mark smiles. “As a butterfly,” he says.