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“You worry too much, Stella. I’m fine.”
“You asked for help with clearing the porch,” I said. “So you know you can’t do it all.”
“Maybe I invited someone because I wanted the company.” She turned to me with a raised eyebrow. “Ever think of that?”
“Is this your way of deflecting?”
“I’ll never admit my secrets.” She finished dusting as I hovered underneath her in case she fell. “There! All done. Now you don’t have to worry.”
She hopped down as if it were nothing.
If I reached her age, I hoped I had her nimble nature. Reed had met her once and gave me a long lecture on all the lifestyle changes I would need to make in order to turn out like she did. I hadn’t told anyone until Winnie caught me looking up yoga—something I’d never once had an interest in.
The thought of my now ex made my eyes hit thefloor. It wasn’t that I missed him. It was that I regretted wasting so much time on him.
“Why do you look so sad?” Amma asked. “That’s no way for my favorite granddaughter to look.”
“I’m youronlygranddaughter. And it’s nothing.”
“Come on.” She grabbed my hand. “Tell me.”
With the warmth of her hand in mine, it gave me enough bravery to take a breath before answering. “Reed and I broke up.”
“Reed?” she asked. For a second, she said nothing. Her lips only twisted as she considered the name.
I sighed. “My boyfriend.”
“Oh. The skinny one, right? The one at the last Christmas party?”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t like him too much.”
“I didn’t either in the end, but it’s still two years of my life wasted.”
“It was that long?”
“Yes. Everyone knew he wasn’t right, but”—I gave a pitiful shrug—“he was my first long relationship.”
“We all have our failures in love. I’ve told you stories of my first husband.”
“The one who joined the circus?”
“No, that was the second.” She shook her head and then smiled. “See? Even I met a few duds. What was the final straw?”
“He proposed.”
“What? Had you even discussed marriage?”
“Nope. Not at all. I was about to dump him, actually. He bought the ring without even consulting me.”
Amma shook her head. “Every woman should pick her own ring, or at least have a say. Theproposalis the surprise.”
“Well, it was certainly surprising. Like a horror movie one.”
“I’m sorry, Stella. But not entirely sorry. Rather, I’m hopeful for this new phase of your life.”
“My single era?”