“He did, yeah,” said Ester, who hadn’t missed the expression of surprise on her daughter-in-law’s face at the mention of the ten million. Money was Prunella’s great passion in life. That and her good looks, of course. Money bought her an extensive and expensive garderobe, the best hair stylist in Manhattan, regular facial treatments, massages, and of course visits to the plastic surgeon to keep looking as youthful and beautiful as she could. Her new boobs alone had set Kirk back an exorbitant sum.
“Why don’t you ever call us, Gran?” asked Sasha now as she grabbed Ester’s phone. “We’ve been trying to call you, but you never pick up.” She frowned at the phone. “Have you changed numbers? This isn’t the number we have for you.” She frowned some more. “And this isn’t my number, or Oscar’s. Where did you get these numbers?” She took out her own phone and showed it to Ester.
“Oh, that’s an old number,” she said. “I haven’t used that one for at least ten years.”
“But that’s the one Mom gave us,” said Sasha. She smiled. “No wonder we couldn’t reach you. You should have given Mom your real number.”
“Well, I did,” she said, glancing at Prunella, who was studying her gel nails intensely. “I guess she must have lost it.” And given her non-existent numbers for the kids in the process.
“Yeah, that must be it,” said Kirk, suddenly looking ill at ease. “So I’ve been thinking, Mom, with this murder business, and you being so far away from us… How would you feel about moving a little closer to home again? I mean, I know how much you like this place, of course. But as it happens, a room has come available at Dartmoor Gardens, which is just around the corner from where we live.”
“We talked about it,” said Oscar, “and if you were there we could visit you all the time, Gran. And you could spend the holidays with us again, just like you used to do before you moved out to the sticks.”
“The sticks,” Kirk chuckled, but it sounded strained. “I’ll have you know that Happy Home is one of the best retirement homes in the county. Your mother picked it out personally for its reputation.”
“Oh, so Prunella picked this place?” said Ester. “I thought you had picked it?”
“I defer to my wife in such matters,” said Kirk, smiling nervously.
“I simply chose what I thought was best for you,” said Prunella with a light shrug, but she wasn’t meeting Ester’s eyes. “Only the best of the best for Kirk’s mother.”
“Absolutely,” said Kirk.
“But now we want you to come home again,” said Sasha, and attached herself to Ester’s hand. “Please, Gran? We miss you so much.”
“Yeah, we miss you, Gran,” Oscar chimed in. “And we miss your pancakes. Nobody bakes pancakes like you. Not even that fancy bakery Prunella always takes us to.”
“Now how many times have I told you not to call your mother Prunella?” said Kirk sternly.
“Will you come home, Gran?” Sasha pleaded, still hanging on to her arm. “Pretty please?”
“Oh, all right,” said Ester, and didn’t miss the eye roll of annoyance from Prunella. “But only if your mom and dad agree.”
“Of course,” said Kirk. “I just figured you liked it out here so much you didn’t… I mean you wouldn’t… Well, of course we want you back, Mom.” He pressed an awkward kiss to her temple.
“Prunella?” asked Ester. “What do you think?”
Prunella made a slight gesture with her hand.“Fine by me,” she said. “Though nothing is better than Happy Home. Everyone says so.”
Better for her, maybe, thought Ester. But not better for the rest of the family. And most importantly, not better for Ester, who couldn’t wait to go back home again.
She offered the kids some cookies from her cookie jar, and promised to bake them pancakes as soon as she had moved back to Manhattan. And to satisfy her own curiosity, she asked Kirk,“Who told you about Henry?”
“Oh, some woman named… um… Corr, I think?”
“Janelle Corr,” said Prunella, and the way she said it made Ester think she had developed an immediate distaste for Janelle. Ester could hardly suppress a smile, though. And she said a silent thank you to her new neighbor.
She was going to thank her properly later on, but first she wanted to spoil her grandkids, and ask them about school, and about how they had been… They had a lot of catching up to do. Two years’ worth!
39
Gran had told us the reason why she had decided to stay at Happy Home for another few days. Bob was unhappy about his daughter breaking up with her fianc?, and couldn’t get himself to do something about it because he was afraid to pry—something Gran has never had a problem with. And Ester Teasle was unhappy because her family hadn’t paid her a visit in the two years she’d been there.
“So Gran is acting like a benevolent busybody,” Dooley summed up things nicely.
“A benevolent busybody,” said Harriet with a smile. “Now that’s the correct word for Gran. She’s a busybody, but she does it for all the right reasons—sometimes.”
“I wonder if she’s going to tell Dee she should break up with Brian,” said Brutus. “Because that man is going to break that poor woman’s heart.”