Page 135 of Intermission

She obeys. I follow her in, shut the glass door behind us, and spray as much mud off Janey as I can before applying the shampoo, which takes quite a while to rinse out of Janey’s thick fluff. Finally, after she’s shaken a few more times, I let her out and towel her off as best I can.

Lukewarm water may have been fine for Janey, but it isn’t nearly warm enough to shake the chill from my bones. I turn the faucet handle closer to the “H” mark.

The mirror is completely fogged over by the time I exit my wonderfully steamy shower. I dry off, tuck a fresh towel around my body, slide the door into its pocket, and... scream.

“Mom! I didn’t know you were home.”

My mother stands in the doorway of the mudroom holding a cast iron skillet above her head.

“Faith?”

Janey growls, leaning back on her haunches, her attention riveted on the person she perceives as a threat to her master.

“Janey, sit. Mom, put the pan down. You’re scaring her.”

Mom blinks and lowers the skillet. “I’m scaringher?” She takes a shaky breath and sets the skillet on top of the dryer. “You scared me half to death!” Her hand flutters over her heart. “I thought some crazy homeless person had broken into our house to take a shower! And then you opened the door andthat dog—”

“Didn’t you see my car outside?”

“Your car . . . ? I didn’t think to look for a car.”

“Please tell me you didn’t call the police.”

“I didn’t.” Mom blinks again. The corner of her mouth twitches. “That was pretty stupid of me, though, wasn’t it?” She laughs andlooks at the skillet. “I mean, what was I going to do, invite some vagrant into the kitchen for a grilled cheese sandwich?”

I can’t help myself. I laugh. “Sorry. I should have called or something, but my phone died a couple of hours ago. When I opened the garage door and saw your cars were gone, I just assumed...” I shrug and reach for another towel. “I didn’t think anyone was home.”

When I move to the side, Mom peers past me.

“What in theworldhappened to you two?”

“I’ll clean it up. I promise. We got caught out in the storm. In the woods.”

“You were in the woods?Tonight? For heaven’s sake, Faith, we’ve been under a tornado watch since three o’clock this afternoon! They’ve been sighting funnel clouds along the path of this storm since it started to move up from Kansas. And the lightning!” She leans against the dryer. “You could have been killed.”

“I didn’t know the weather was going to be this bad. I didn’t think to check the forecast before I came down. Sorry.”

“Well,” Mom says, crossing her arms, “maybe if you hadcalledand told me you were coming, I could have warned you about the weather.”

“Well, maybe not everybody freaks out over a little storm like you do.” I bite my lip, wishing it would have been my tongue, about two seconds ago. “That came out a little harsher than I intended. I’m sorry, I’m just... tired. I hadn’t planned to—”

I don’t finish the sentence. But from the hurt look on her face, I realize I don’t have to.

We stare at each other in silence for a long moment.

“You planned a trip to Kanton, but you weren’t going to comehere.”

There’s knowledge in my mother’s tone, but strangely, no recrimination.

“No. I was going to go right back home.” I bite my lip. “To Ann Arbor, I mean. I have to work tomorrow night.”

“At the spa?”

“No, my other job.”

Mom nods. “That’s right. Ryan said you met some kids from thatprogram you’re going into and got a job singing with them somewhere.”

“Mm-hmm. One of my roommates got me the audition. They schedule us together usually, so we can drive over together. To Detroit. The club is in Detroit.”