“That sounds like a bumper sticker.” Arden laughed.
“I just want you to be ‘muchier,’” Jake said softly, pulling Arden in for another kiss, the wind knocking a few delicately colored cherry pink and white petals off the trees, as if the two were kissing in a snowfall of blossoms.
Thirty-three
Arden’s fingers hovered over her cell phone. She was having trouble hitting SEND.
“Do you want me to do it for you?” Lolly asked, walking in from her afternoon at work, dressed in a bright purple sequined Dolly gown. “Jake is teaching me a lot about technology. All you have to do is…”
“I know how to send an email, Mom.” Arden laughed, thinking of her “date” earlier with Jake.
He’s teaching me a lot, too, Arden thought.
“It’s a work email,” Arden explained. “I’m trying to tell my boss to stop bothering me while I’m gone … and that I want to write for the magazine.”
“Good for you!” Lolly said. “I’m so proud of you!”
Lolly’s face beamed with pride, and she took a seat next to her daughter on the glider, her sequins announcing her every move.
Arden looked at her mom, smiled, and then hit SEND, giving a squeal of nervous excitement after her cell had sounded its exit.
“No matter what,” Lolly said, nodding her head toward the lawn, “you’re fighting for what you want, just like you did during that snowball fight so long ago. Remember?”
Arden’s eyes widened at her mother’s clarity and intuition.
It’s like she can read my mind, Arden thought.
“I do,” she said, smiling, hugging her mom before giving the glider a gentle push with her feet.
“Wheeee!” Lolly said.
Before the glider had stopped swinging, Arden’s cell trilled.
“Simóne’s doing a GREAT job filling in for you,” Van replied.
What a jackass. No “Have a good time, you deserve it,” or “How’s your mom?” Not even a “Let’s talk when you get back after your vacation.” Just a thinly veiled threat, Arden thought, annoyed.
Lolly patted her daughter’s leg. “You don’t need anyone’s permission to be who you dream of being. You are here—right here—because of the journey you took.”
Lolly stopped, her voice quaking along with her sequins. “There is no one else in the world like you, my beautiful girl. No one. Please know that. You are made up of so many dimensions. Now it’s just up to you to let the world see that beauty.”
Arden began to cry, without warning, her tears a downpour, a sudden thunderstorm of emotion.
“There, there,” Lolly said, comforting her daughter, holding her tightly. “There’s no need for tears. Why don’t you go write?” she added, brightening. “Just go sit and write. Lauren knows clearly who she wants to be. No one tells her to paint. She just paints. Remember when you used to write because you loved it?”
Arden sat straight up.
“Are you okay?” Lolly asked.
“Yes!” Arden replied. “I am!”
“Are you off to write?”
“I am,” Arden said, standing. “But I have to do something first. Where’s your paper and scissors?”
“What? Why?” Lolly asked, before seeing the determination in her daughter’s face. “In the kitchen. Junk drawer.”
Arden gathered her materials, sat in front of the living room fireplace, and made a blizzard of snowflakes for her mother, which the pair then hung in the cabin’s windows.
And then Arden sat on the dock and wrote until dusk, until the dragonflies called her home for dinner, summer snowflakes twinkling in the cabin’s lights.
part nine
The Shooting Star Charm
To a Life in Which You Are Lucky in Love
Thirty-four
Arden yawned in sync with Lauren, their eyes fluttered, and then their heads dipped, until their chins were resting on their chests.
Lolly clapped, waking her dozing daughter and granddaughter with the subtlety of an earthquake, their eyes shooting open in alarm.
“Here, girls, have some more coffee,” Lolly said, rushing into the kitchen and returning with a pot of coffee. “You can’t go to sleep yet!”
Arden looked at her watch and slumped deeper into the couch. “It’s nearly eleven o’clock, Mom. I need to be in bed, not chugging caffeine. Do you really think this is such a good idea?”
Lolly filled the three mugs sitting on the coffee table in front of the fireplace and turned to look at her daughter. “There has never been a better idea, my dear,” she said with complete conviction. “We may never have the chance to see the Northern Lights again together.”
Lauren shook her head and said, “You’re right, Grandma. I’ve heard about them my whole life. Now it’s the right time to see them. Together!”
Lolly smiled. “It’s a perfect night. Clear as a bell. The weatherman says it might not happen again for a while. Wanna help me with some snacks?”