Page 54 of Advice from a Sunflower
Ma’s health was on a downward spiral and there isn’t a nursing home within fifty miles of The Hollow. Between that and trying to make a long-distance relationship work with Lyla while she came back to handle her career, the decision to leave wasn’t a hard one. We’d only been together for three months by then, but I had no doubt in my mind that she was the woman I’d spend the rest of my life with. We found a place for Ma that’s five minutes away from our apartment and I got a job right around the corner. And call my crazy, but I think Ma’s health has actually improved since we left that place. There’s just too much bad blood in that town for anyone to thrive.
“Oh my God, Ly. This is amazing!” Natalie wraps her wiry arms around Lyla’s neck, effectively tugging her away from me. When they pull away, she grabs my girl’s hand and walks beside her, forcing me to stay behind.
I’m used to this kind of treatment by now, so I take the opportunity to search the crowd for Marnie and Denise. There’s a lot more people here for the exclusive advanced showing than we were expecting. Natalie wanted to fly somewhere nicer like New York or LA, but Lyla shot down that idea faster than Natalie could get it out of her mouth. She wanted to have something intimate and close to home, or nothing at all, so Natalie made it happen right here in our city.
I spot Marnie’s sandy hair from across the lobby and raise my arms to get her attention. She and Denise see me and fight their way through the crowd, their eyes ping-ponging around to find Lyla, who I now realize has gotten away from me.
“I can’t believe how many people showed up,” Denise marvels proudly.
She’s quietly been one of Mouse’s most avid fans throughout her whole career. I can’t imagine how happy she must be to finally see her daughter making something of herself. She hasn’t always been the most perfect parent, but I’ve seen her make an enormous improvement over the past few years with Marnie, and now with Lyla.
“I’m ready to grab a drink and a seat,” Marnie says, fanning her face with her tickets. She left the girls back at the hotel with Tim for the night, claiming she needed a night away from kids. I can see she’s taking full advantage of her time alone.
We head over to the bar and grab some drinks before following the herd of people into the theatre to watch a movie that wouldn’t be possible without our girl.
Mouse finds us just as the lights go down. She shimmies past the line of seats to get to the one we saved for her and politely accepts Marnie and Denise’s congratulations before turning toward me and tugging my face toward her for a kiss. When she pulls away, I offer an encouraging smile, grabbing her hand just as the movie starts. She pulls our clasped hands over to her stomach and rubs the small growing bump, secretly including our newest gift in her big night.
