Lolly jumped up and down in the window, before handing her fudge-covered paddles to a young girl and running outside.
For as long as Arden could remember, her mother had been the center of attention in downtown Scoops. For decades, Lolly Lindsey had stood in the huge front window of Dolly’s Sweet Shop, like Auntie Mame, a bigger-than-life personality in small-town America. While many flocked for the fudge, most came for the “show.” Lolly was a regional treasure. She wore a variety of brightly colored vintage aprons: Red dotted with triple-scoop ice cream cones, white decorated with blueberries or cherries, pink with dancing cupcakes. But wigs were her signature look: Red, pink, white; bobs and beehives. Every hour on the hour, Lolly would dance and sing, “Hello, Dolly,” entertaining vacationers and luring tourists into the shop.
Arden and her mother were total opposites: Lolly was as dramatic as Arden was buttoned down. And while Lolly’s theatrics often embarrassed Arden, she was beyond happy to see her mother.
“My girls! What a surprise!” Lolly yelled, pulling Arden in for a bear hug. “What on earth are you doing here?”
Lolly turned to Lauren, pulled her close and began to jump anew. Lauren joined in, jumping up and down, screaming in unison with her grandmother, their bracelets rattling.
“We missed you and wanted to spend Memorial Day with you!” Lauren said, her words bouncing in the air along with her body. “I love you, Grandma!”
Lolly stopped jumping and pulled her granddaughter into her arms. “I love you, too, my dear,” she whispered, before turning to Arden and raining her cheeks with kisses. “And I love you, too, my baby. It’s been too long.”
“I know,” Arden said. “I love you, too, Mom.”
As Lolly took her daughter’s face in her hands to study it closely, Arden thought, My God, she’s aged.
Even underneath the wig and all the makeup, her mother looked so much older than the last time she had seen her. Lolly’s bright red lipstick trailed up the deep crevices that ran northward from her lips, like tiny rivers. Under all the foundation, Arden could still detect dark circles, and there was a hollowness in her cheeks despite her blush. Even her mother’s eyes—long the color of the blue hydrangeas she loved so much—had faded. Her apron and sweat suit couldn’t hide her shrinking body or rounding back.
“So? What brings my girls to Michigan unannounced?”
Lauren and Arden stared at each other.
“Okay, what gives, girls?” Lolly asked, hands on hips. “Going somewhere on a whim—even to the bathroom—is so unlike you, Arden.”
Lauren couldn’t help herself: She began to laugh, so hard in fact, she had to double over, until her face was near the sidewalk outside Dolly’s.
“Thanks, you both,” Arden said. “Really appreciate it.”
“Spill the beans, or no one gets any fudge.”
“Mom! Talk! Now!” Lauren said, suddenly very serious. “There’s chocolate at stake!”
“Well … let’s just say Lauren and I needed a road trip.”
Lolly looked at her daughter with great skepticism. “That’ll do for now,” she said. “I’m just happy to see you both again.”
Lolly paused, and opened her mouth to speak, but her cheeks quivered, and Arden could tell her mother was either ready to cry or to tell them something. Instead, she simply chirped, “Now … who wants candy?”
What is she holding back? Arden wondered.
Lauren took off for the fudge shop. Through the window, Lolly and Arden watched Lauren nab a little white sack and run through Dolly’s like a kid in a candy store. The brick walls of Dolly’s were lined with uneven wooden shelves and rickety tables covered with red gingham tablecloths and little red baskets overflowing with chocolate and sweets. Lauren grabbed all flavors of homemade saltwater taffy and licorice, before nabbing turtles and a mound of maple fudge. Without slowing, she headed toward the ice cream counter in the back of the shop, where high school kids in white smocks dispensed a rainbow of flavors.
“I bet she gets a triple scoop of Superman, Blue Moon, and Birthday Cake,” Lolly said, her eyes twinkling as she watched her granddaughter. “I knew it! That’s my Lorna.”
Lorna? Arden wondered. Again?
Arden turned to look at her mother, waiting for her to catch her error. But Lolly only continued to smile and admire her granddaughter. Arden thought of the card she had received from her mother with the charm, containing the same mistake, and was about to say something when Lauren reappeared carrying a bag stuffed with sweets and a triple scoop ice cream cone.
“I’m glad to see you haven’t changed,” Lolly said, as her granddaughter licked the cone, the ice cream already beginning to trickle down her arm in the surprisingly strong May sunshine.
Lolly smiled at her granddaughter, and Lauren placed her head on her grandma’s shoulder, sighing.
“My beautiful baby girl,” Lolly whispered. “I’ve missed you so much.”
Arden watched her mom hold her daughter, and she was nearly overcome with emotion.