I grin. “Exactly. Alotolder than me.”
“I’m going to pull on your ear the next time I see you for that.”
I rub my free ear, already dreading it.
“What about her? Did she die or something?”
“Oh, goodness no. Why? Did somebody die? You never tell me the gossip.”
“Focus, Aunt Becky.”
“Right. Anyway, Ally told my friend, Eunice, who told myotherfriend, Franny, that you’re living with Sarah Pedersen.”
“Wait.Thisis why you asked if I remember Ally?”
“It’s all for context,” she insists and sniffs. “Is it true?”
“You can move out of Huckleberry Bay, but apparently, you can still get all the gossip.”
“Not fromyou. Answer the question.”
“Yeah. I’m living with her.”
I explain to her how the situation came to be, and when I’m finished, she sighs in my ear.
“That’s damn romantic.”
Now I sigh in confusion. “It’sromanticthat someone broke into her house? Twice?”
“Obviously, you don’t read the romance books, my boy. I’m assuming that she’s not just sleeping on the couch.”
“No. She’s not. We’re not going to get intowhereshe’s sleeping, Aunt Becky.”
She laughs on the other end of the line now. “No, let’s not. Bring her to see me, why don’t you? Or, I’ll come up there. I miss you, and I always had a soft spot for your girl.”
“I know you did. We’ll arrange it. Oh, and Aunt Becky, someonediddie.”
“What? Who?”
I tell her the little I know about Sarah’s mom.
“They were horrible people,” Becky says softly. “I don’t like to say that about anyone, because there’s alwayssomegood in someone, but those two were justhorrible.I felt for those kids, and I’m relieved that they both turned into good people, despite the shit they came from.”
My eyebrows climb in surprise. Aunt Beckyneverswears.
“They’re both doing great,” I assure her. “Now, what other pieces of gossip do you have?”
“None to share,” she says. “Watch your back, Tanner. I know you want to protect Sarah, but I need you to be careful, too. I don’t think I’d ever recover if something happened to you.”
“I’ll be careful,” I assure her, just as the bell over the door jingles. “I have to go. I have customers.”
“Alright, then. Have a good day, honey.”
“You, too.”
I stop short when I walk out to the showroom and see Sarah stomping back and forth.
“What’s wrong?”