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That was very much true. It had been quite a negotiation, with both her parents pulling out all the stops. But she’d held her own.
“I had to, Granny. I just couldn’t stand by and let Galen be trapped inside against his will. You don’t know what that’s like for him. I do.”
Granny threw up her hands and turned on her heel. “Okay, let’s hear it then. What did you give up so Galen could get out of jail? Laney said you agreed to stop seeing him.”
“No, that’s not right. I agreed to pause our relationship temporarily while my mother recovers from the news that he might be charged with assault.”
“But that’s when he needs you the most!”
Her stomach twisting from that truth bomb, Brenda tried to change the subject to the good news. “You’ll love this part, Granny. I made Mom commit to resuming payments to the Home for Seniors. That was good negotiating, wasn’t it?”
Granny whirled on her. “Do you think I want my happiness to come at the expense of yours? No. Never. The whole point of my living there was to give you some space to find a man. You found one, and now you’re letting him go so that I can go back there? It makes no sense!”
Brenda bit her lip. When her grandmother put it that way, it sure didn’t. She’d panicked when she’d gotten that phone call from Marshall Cooper. The thought of Galen in jail so far away had gutted her. Had she fallen back on old habits, turning to her parents?
“I was scared,” she admitted. “It wasn’t just the bail, they’re giving me money for a top defense lawyer too. That kind of legal help is outrageously expensive. And it helped. I talked to a fantastic attorney on the phone and she told us what to say to Galen’s father.”
She hadn’t heard yet how it had gone with Marshall Cooper. Galen hadn’t called or texted, and she couldn’t blame him a bit. He must be pretty furious with her.
“Well, I wish you’d left me out of it,” Granny snapped. “I don’t want your mother’s blood money. It’s a moot point now.”
She marched toward the living room, with Brenda at her heels. Brenda noticed a new streak of hot pink in her hair, which meant she must have gone back to the home on the day the stylist visited.
“Moot point? What are you talking about?”
As Brenda followed her grandmother into the living room, she spotted Laney by the mantelpiece, examining her lineup of framed photos, crystals, beach rocks, and other keepsakes.
“I’m getting married,” Granny announced. “Bryce and I are moving in together. We’ll be living in a bigger suite at the home, one meant for couples, and he is going to pay for it because we don’t need anyone else’s money.”
“You’re marrying Bryce? That’s wonderful!”
“It’s ridiculous,” said Laney. “But she has her heart set on it, so what can we do.”
“It’s not ridiculous.” Brenda faced off with her mother, who was wearing an elegant rose and silver boucle skirt and matching blazer, along with a smug expression. “They’re in love and they make each other happy.”
Her mother was obviously feeling too good about things in general to get too hung up on CeCe’s life. “I suppose it could be worse,” she said grudgingly. “He seems like a lovely man.”
“He is. And we’re going to throw them a wonderful wedding. Or we’ll simply show up and throw rice, whatever Granny wants.”
“I want the big wedding,” Granny said promptly. “Pull out all the stops. I want to invite the whole town. We’ll have it at the Blue Drake.”
Laney sighed and put a hand to her forehead. “And you’re telling me it’s not ridiculous?”
All Brenda wanted to do was close herself in her bedroom with a carton of ice cream and a spoon, and not come out until the pain in her heart had eased. The last thing she wanted right now was to be trapped in the middle of a McMurray family smackdown. “Why are you here, Mom? If you’re planning to hover over me and make sure I keep up my end of the bargain—”
“Of course not.”
“And you’re not here to pick up Granny and take her to Connecticut. She’s staying in Lake Bittersweet now. We both are.”
“I don’t know if that’s what you’re going to want.”
Her mother’s expression shifted, to something Brenda didn’t see very often—or at least it didn’t seem that way. Actual, genuine concern.
“What do you mean?” When her mother didn’t answer right away, Brenda swung her gaze toward her grandmother. Granny looked up, down, away, any direction except toward Brenda. “What’s going on, Granny? Is this why you called me back?”
CeCe mumbled something, still refusing to meet Brenda’s gaze.
She tried her mother again. “Want to tell me what’s up?”
