Page 35 - It Ends with Us

“You’re an adult. It’s your right ,” she says, but I can hea r a trace of

disappoint ment . I thi nk she feel s ev en lonel ier no w tha t I need her
les s and les s. It’s been six mont hs sinc e my father died , and ev en
tho ugh he wasn’t good company, it ha s to be wei rd for her, bei ng
alone. She got a job at one of the el em ent ary scho ols, so she did end
up moving here. She cho se a small suburb on the outskirts of Boston.
She bought a cute two-bed room ho use on a cul-de- sac, with a hu ge

backyard. I drea m of plant ing a garden there, but tha t would req uire
daily care. My limit is onc e- a-week visits. Somet imes twice.
“Wha t are you going to do with all thi s junk ?” she asks.
She’s right . There’ s so much junk . It’ll take forev er to clea r thi s
place out. “I have no idea . I gues s I’ll be busting my ass for a whi le
bef ore I can ev en thi nk about dec orating .”
“When’ s your last day at the market ing firm ?”

I smile. “Yes terd ay.”
She rel ea ses a sigh, and then sha kes her hea d. “Oh, Lily. I cert ainl y
ho pe thi s works out in your favor.”
We both beg in to stand whe n the front door opens . There are
shel ves in the way of the door, so I careen my hea d around them and
see a woman walk in. Her ey es briefl y scan the room unt il she sees me.

“Hi,” she says with a wave. She’s cute. She’s dres sed wel l, but she’s
wea ring whi te capris. A disaster waiting to ha ppen in thi s dust bowl.
“Can I hel p you?”
She tucks her purse benea th her arm and walks toward me,
ho lding out her ha nd . “I’m Allysa,” she says. I sha ke her ha nd .
“Lily.”
She tosses a thu mb over her sho ulder. “There’ s a hel p want ed sign

out front ?”
I look over her sho ulder and raise an ey eb row. “There is?” I di dn ’t
put up a he lp wan ted sign.
She no ds, and then shru gs. “It looks old, tho ugh, ” she says. “It’s
probably been there a whi le. I was just out for a walk and saw the sign.
Was curious, is all.”

I like her almost immed iatel y. Her voice is plea sant and her smile
seems genu ine.
My mother’ s ha nd falls down on my sho ulder and she lea ns in and
kisses me on the cheek . “I ha ve to go,” she says. “Open ho use