Friday morning the phone rang. Lolly glanced at fuzzy duck clock. It was only 8:30 a.m. She heard Pa answer the phone. A few seconds later, he knocked on her door.

“Come in.”

Pa said, “The phone’s for you. It’s Trevor.”

“Thanks, I’ll take it in Grandma Toady’s room.” Lolly got up and went to Grandma Toady’s room. She flopped down on the bed and picked up the receiver. She said, “I got it Pa.” She heard the click as he hung up the kitchen phone. “Hey Trevor.”

The voice that greeted her did not sound happy. “Hey Lolly.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” His response was not convincing. “My dad said I could come home with Amber today. Would it be all right if I came over tonight?”

Pa was leaving tonight. As much as she wanted to see Trevor, she was going to have to say no. Grandma Toady had a firm rule about when Pa left. Nothing and no one came before that. Lolly thought it might have something to do with Uncle Terry and Uncle Beau. One was in heaven and one was in Canada. While Grandma Toady was earth bound there was a strong possibility she would never see Uncle Beau again. She could still see Pa, still hug Pa and letting go of him was hard on her. Add Estelle to the mix and tonight was going to be a tear festival. Lolly said, “My Pa is leaving tonight. I can see you tomorrow for sure.”

His voice broke a little and he asked, “Could I please come over. I promise I won’t stay long. I just need to see you. Afterwards I will literally run home.”

Normally, Lolly wouldn’t even consider asking Grandma Toady to break one of her hard fast rules, but something was wrong. Lolly said, “Hold on, let me ask.” She put the phone down and went to the kitchen. Grandma Toady was at the table reading the paper and drinking coffee. Lolly said, “Trevor’s getting in today and he would like to stop by tonight. He promised he won’t stay long and that he will just run home. You know, I wouldn’t ask because Pa is leaving, but he sounds really upset about something.”

Grandma Toady asked, “Any idea what the something is?”

“No, Ma’am, he didn’t say. You know I wouldn’t ask you unless I thought it was important.”

Thoughtfully Grandma Toady stirred her coffee. “I know. Tell him he can come over and we’ll take him home.”

“Thank you!” Lolly gave her a quick hug and rushed back to the bedroom.

In Grandma Toady’s bedroom, Mitzi was on the phone. Tucked under her arm was a new pink bear. She told Treavor, "Yeah, Puccini got a sister for Christmas and he is so jealous! I keep telling him I will always love him most, but he doesn’t believe me. He calls her, ‘That stupid bear,' even though her name is Pepperoni! He has spent most of the day in time out.” So that explained why Puccini was facing the wall on the top of the refrigerator. Mitzi glanced at Lolly, “Talk to you later Trevor.” She held the phone out for Lolly.

Lolly took it. Mitzi sat down on the bed beside her. Lolly said, “No ma’am. This is a private conversation, so scoot.”

Mitzi rolled her eyes, but she and Pepperoni did leave.

“Sorry about that, Trevor.”

“It’s okay. She is so cute. I wish I still believed in Santa Claus.”

Lolly still did, not as a person, but as an entity, but she knew what Trevor meant. She said, “Yeah, me too.”

With more than a hint of desperation in his voice, Trevor asked, “What did she say?”

“Yes, at 7:30 and we’ll take you home.”

“That sounds good. Tell Grandma Toady I really appreciate her letting me come over.”

“I will.”

“I can’t wait to see you. I thought about you all night last night. I have missed you so much.”

“I’ve missed you too. Are you sure you’re okay.”

There was a pause and he said, “I will be when I see you.”

Instinct told Lolly to let it rest. Curiosity was waging war for her to ask more questions. She followed her instinct. Whatever was bugging Trevor he would tell her or not tell her when he was ready. In the back ground, Lolly heard a female voice. It was not Amber’s. Trevor said, “I gotta go. My mom wants us to bundle up and go the the beach. I hate the f—n’ beach.”

He usually didn’t use that word, at least not around her. Fear rolled around in Lolly’s stomach.

*

The time had come. The weather was bad. Estelle was weeping, not sobbing, just weeping. She was doing better than Lolly had predicted. This time, Estelle didn’t cling to Pa like a drowning puppy. In three weeks, he would be home and they would be married. In a month, the trailers would be moved onto the farm. Lolly would still have her same house, but the landscape around it would be different as would the bus ride to school. She would also be much closer to Trevor’s house. He would be within running distance. For now though, she was here. Pa was leaving. A lot could happen in a month’s time.

Mitzi and Max were spending the evening with Uncle Luke, while Aunt Jessie pulled a double shift. Munch of course wasn’t there to send Pa off. Lolly imagined he was grateful for the interlude. He had three weeks left of life as he knew it and then it would be very different. It would all be very different. Tonight, Lolly felt like she was saying good bye to an old way of life. When Pa went back to work after the honeymoon, he would do so from Estelle’s house. He would sleep in Estelle’s house. In time it would be his house. How would that go?

When Pa hugged her good bye, she didn’t want to let go. She felt a measure of the jealousy that Munch must feel. For so long, she had been the center of Pa’s world, she wasn’t any more. Estelle shared the center with her. Pa released her and cupped her chin with his hand. “You be good Short Cake.”

“I will.”

Gently, he kissed her forehead. He went to Grandma Toady and said, “Bye Mama.”

Grandma Toady gathered him in her arms and said, “Bye Son, you be careful. "I will.” Pa let go of her. For a moment they just gazed into each other’s eyes. What thoughts passed between them, Lolly could not tell. Grandma Toady let go of him. He took a step away and then another. He grabbed his duffle bag full of clean laundry off the floor. Even though it was raining, Estelle followed him out into the weather. She had her purse with her. She would not be coming back inside.

When the door closed behind Pa, Lolly felt like crying. People shouldn’t have to leave the people they loved. They just shouldn’t. Silently, Grandma Toady went into the kitchen. Lolly knew she didn’t want company. An era in their lives had just ended and it hurt. Lolly went to her room and tried to focus on the last chapters of Julie of the Wolves. Unable to focus, she took Fluff into her lap and scratched his back. He purred in contentment.

At 7:30 p.m. there was a knock at the door. Lolly dumped Fluff on the floor and rushed to the door. She swung it open. Trevor stepped through and gave her a fierce hug. His grasp was so tight, she almost couldn’t breath. He just held on like he was drowning or something. The fear that had been rolling around inside of Lolly became full blown. In his ear she asked, “What’s wrong?” On her neck she felt a tear, his tear, slide down her neck. She pulled away from him and said, “Please tell me.”

With the back of his jacket sleeve, he wiped his eyes. He looked as bad as Estelle had looked the first time she had to let Pa leave. Lolly lead him to the couch. By God’s grace or Grandma Toady’s intuition, Grandma Toady stayed in the kitchen. On the couch Trevor grasped both of her hands. He was scaring her. In a voice that trembled he said, “I got bad news. My mom wants to live in Corpus Christi.”

The sentence tumbled inside of Lolly and hit her hard in the stomach. “What?”

Trevor looked down at their hands. “I know Dad doesn’t’ want to move, but Mom hates it here in what she calls this Podunk town.” His voice became bitter, “She’s too far from theaters and museums and other people who like to show off their money. I thought when Dad retired we would stay in one place. I thought I would get to graduate with my friends.” He looked up at Lolly. Fresh tears were in his eyes. “I want to stay here. I don’t want to leave you.”

How to respond? Lolly’s brain was reeling. She couldn’t quite grasp what he had just said. Suddenly, he kissed her. All the desperation inside of him passed from his lips to hers. Was he going to start sobbing? She wrapped her arms around him and ducked out of the kiss. Think, she had to think. She tilted his chin up so she could look him in the eyes and asked, “Have you talked to her about staying?”

“It wouldn’t do any good.”

“Maybe not, but you have to try. If she can just wait two and a half years you will be graduated. Ask her to give you that.”

“She won’t listen. If Dad hadn’t been so sick she never would have agreed to live here in the first place. He is doing better and she’s ready to start up her own agenda again.”

Lolly asked, “How does Amber feel about this?”

Trevor said, “She doesn’t know. I over heard Mom and Dad arguing last night. Amber was on the phone with Bill.”

“So, its not a done deal?”

“Not yet, but it will be.” He sounded so certain.

“Talk to your dad. Tell him how you feel. Maybe he can convince her to stay.”

Bitterly, he said, “My dad lost his balls the day he married my mom. He was a lonely man with money whose wife had just died. My mother swooped in and scooped him up. Bam she got everything she wanted.”

In their time together, Trevor had said very little about his mom. It sounded like he hated her, at least he hated her right now. Lolly said, “Don’t just give up. If you, your dad and Amber all want to stay here, then maybe she will see reason.”

“You don’t know my mom.”

It was true, she didn’t and she wasn’t sure she wanted to know her. She released Trevor's face and said, “We are going to figure this out.”

Still not convinced, he leaned in and kissed her. There wasn’t any passion in this kiss. He just wanted to be as close to her as he could be.

At the kitchen door, Grandma Toady cleared her throat. Trevor moved away from Lolly. Grandma Toady said, “I thought you two might like a snack.”

The look Grandma Toady gave Lolly, let her know, she had heard the whole thing, but Lolly wasn’t angry with her. She was out of her depth with Trevor and she welcomed the company of Grandma Toady.