Page 56 of Payback
“So, how exciting,” Bella said. “You moving here. Tell me about the house you’d like me to design for you, Ms. Loran.”
“Oh, you have to call me Valerie. Val, in fact. All my friends do.”
“Okay, Val.” The smile in Bella’s voice was apparent when she asked, “One or two-storeys?”
“Just one. And something small. I don’t like to accumulate a lot of stuff. Actually, I’ve had all my furniture for a really long time so I’m not even sure it would be worth it to move it clear across the country.” She laughed. “The movers would probably charge more than the furniture is worth.”
“Clean slate,” Loran said. “New furniture. All new stuff. Just pack up the mementoes that mean the most to you.”
“I’ll have a garage sale,” she said, sounding excited at the prospect. “And whatever I can’t sell, I’ll donate.”
“Whatever you want, Mom.” Loran couldn’t help but roll his eyes. He didn’t know why she’d want to go to the trouble of having a garage sale when she could just donate the lot of it. But his mother had always been frugal. That’s how she’d managed to raise a family by herself on a social worker’s salary.
“Sounds like you’ve got it all figured out, Val,” Bella said, laughing. “So in terms of bedrooms? How many do you think you’ll need?”
“Well, one guest bedroom would be nice. In case friends come to stay. Or my grand—”
Loran placed a finger over her lips. He was not going to let her go there.
“Sorry?” Bella asked, sounding confused. “I missed that.”
His mother gripped his wrist and tore his hand away from her mouth, narrowing her eyes at him. “I was thinking about one of those tiny houses, Bella. That’s all I really need.”
“Well, those can be fun,” she conceded, sounding uncertain. “But I think I could design something even better if we went just a little bigger. I’m confident we could keep it under a thousand square feet, with an efficient use of space. How many bathrooms do you need?”
“Oh, one is plenty.” She laughed. “When my boys were growing up all three of us shared a bathroom until I’d saved up enough to have a second one installed when they were teenagers.”
It hurt Loran to remember how much his mother had struggled, but he’d never once heard her complain about having to take care of them by herself. She’d never made disparaging remarks about his father, or talked about how tired she was of being their sole provider. Loran only hoped he could be half the parent she was.
“Okay, so two bedrooms, one bath. Got it. Do you need another room, a small den or craft room, maybe? How about a dining room?”
“Oh, a craft room would be wonderful! Do you think we could fit that in and still keep the footprint small enough? I’m not even sure what this will cost to build… and buy the land. Hopefully I’ll get enough from selling the house here. Maybe I should talk to a Realtor first. Make sure the numbers make sense before we take this any further.”
“Mom,” Loran growled. “This is my treat. Don’t think for a second I’m going to let you pay a dime.”
“You can’t do that!”
“Yes, I can. And I will. Now say good-bye to Bella.”
“But—”
Loran started walking towards the door with his phone. “Say good-bye now or you’ll lose your chance.”
“Oh, you! Good-bye, Bella. It was lovely talking to you, dear. I hope we’ll get to meet each other real soon.”
“I’m sure we will, Val. And don’t you worry about a thing, other than getting well. Loran and I have this under control.”
Loran liked that she was thinking of them as a team. It was definitely a step in the right direction.
When he stepped out into the hall, he pressed his back against the wall as he returned the phone to his ear. “Sorry about that, baby. I hope you didn’t feel pressured into going along with that. I know how busy you are, but—”
“Loran, are you kidding? I want to do this for your mom. I know how much she means to you. Besides, she sounds like an incredible woman.”
“She is.” He glanced through the window in her door. “Although a little misguided at times. She can’t wait to get me married off so I’ll be some other woman’s problem. She’s worried about me for long enough.”
Bella laughed. “I’m sure she’ll always worry about you, even when we are married.”
Loran could have sworn his heart skipped a beat. It was the first time she’d been the one to bring up marriage, as though it was a forgone conclusion.
