“Grandma, I’m out of time.”
“No,” she replied. “You’re out of patience. That’s different. Hold on until your birthday.”
My chest tightened. “Why?”
There was a pause.
Then she said, “Because I already put something in motion, and when it arrives, your mother is going to choke on it.”
The driver lowered the bed of the truck with a mechanical whine that seemed to drown out the sound of my own heart. As the vehicle slid into view, the sunlight caught the polished chrome and the deep, midnight-blue paint of a pristine, late-model SUV—the exact one my mother had been eyeing for Chloe.
My mother, Dana, stepped forward, her hand trembling as she wiped coffee from her blouse. “There’s been a mistake,” she said, her voice high and tight. “I haven’t finalized the paperwork on that yet. It was supposed to be a surprise for my other daughter next month.”
The driver looked at a clipboard, then back at me. “Audrey Miller? 114 Juniper Lane?”
“That’s me,” I said, my voice steadier than I felt.
“Paperwork’s finalized, ma’am,” the driver said to my mother, though he was handing me a thick leather folder. “Paid in full. Title, registration, and a year of insurance pre-paid. Gift from an Eleanor Vance.”
My mother’s face went from pale to a blotchy, furious red. “She can’t do that! That’s my mother’s inheritance money! She’s supposed to be sensible with it!”
“She was,” a voice called out from the sidewalk.
We all turned. Grandma Eleanor was stepping out of a taxi, looking sharper than I’d ever seen her. She didn’t look like the quiet woman who sat in the corner of parties anymore. She looked like a woman who had just won a war.
She walked straight up to me and kissed my cheek. “Happy birthday, Audrey. It’s a hybrid. I know you have a long commute to that internship.”
“Grandma, I don’t know what to say,” I whispered.
“Mom!” Chloe shouted, stomping out onto the porch, her eyes glued to the sleek car. “Is that for me? You said I was getting the upgrade!”
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