A Wedding on Lilac Lane by Hope Ramsay (best book clubs .txt) 📕

With that affirming thought, she hurried to Granny’s front door, which was never locked. “Hi,” she called as she stepped into the front parlor. “It’s me. Are you in the kitchen?”

“No, I’m here,” Granny said, coming down the stairs.

Granny was a pretty woman for someone in her seventies. She had stark white hair cut in a short spiky style and wore cool tortoiseshell glasses. Today her ensemble included a pair of designer jeans, nicely creased, and a blue and white boatneck T-shirt accessorized by a chunky red bead necklace, matching earrings, and red canvas shoes. Granny had a style all her own.

“Hey, darlin’,” Granny said, coming across the parlor with her arms outstretched. “What brings you here?” Granny enveloped her in a big hug.

Ella let herself savor the contact for a long moment—the loving touch across her back and the scent of Yardley’s lavender that followed Granny everywhere.

“I assume you’ve heard the news?” Ella stepped back.

“About Brenda and Jim?”

Ella nodded.

“I have. And I’m surprised.”

“Surprised? Why?”

Granny shrugged. “To be honest, I’ve always worried that your mother is too much like me. I never thought she’d allow another man into her life.” Granny turned toward the kitchen. “Want some sweet tea?”

“Sure.”

Ella followed her grandmother into the brand new kitchen at the back of the house, with its shiny white cabinets and a quartz countertop. Ella sat in one of the kitchen stools while Granny pulled down a couple of glasses and poured tea from a pitcher in the fridge.

A bright marketing brochure featuring pictures of older people playing golf and tennis lay on the counter. Ella picked it up. THE BEST IN SOUTH CAROLINA ACTIVE LIVING was printed across the top of the brochure in a fancy script typeface.

Ella studied the marketing spiel all about lifestyle amenities at the Bayview Vistas development, which ran the gamut from art classes to Zumba lessons. She turned the page and found herself staring at glossy photos of various condo floor plans, each featuring a sizable “lanai.”

Did people have lanais in South Carolina? It seemed such a Pacific Coast concept. Down here, people had screened porches and verandas.

“Granny, what’s this?” Ella asked, just as her grandmother settled on the kitchen stool beside her.

“I’ve put down a deposit on one of those condos.”

“What?” Ella’s stomach flipped over as a horrible sense of loss slipped through her.

“I’ve decided to sell the house,” Granny said.

“But why?” Ella’s voice cracked with emotion. How could Granny sell this house?

“Oh, hon, I should have sold this place years ago. I’ve been living here with my sad memories of your granddaddy for way too long. I don’t know, maybe seeing Brenda and Jim get together made me think I needed to move on with my life, quit using grief as an excuse, and get on with living what’s left of the years I’ve got. When that tree fell on the roof last December, it shook my foundations.

“Look here,” Granny continued, pulling the brochure toward her and flipping pages. “This is the model I bought. It has an open floor plan and a big master bedroom with an en suite bath and a walk-in closet. I’ve never had an en suite bath or a walk-in closet ever.”

Ella blinked down at the floor plan for the one-bedroom condo as her plan for moving into Granny’s spare room went up in smoke. “So, when is this happening?”

“They have one ready for me to move into right away. I was just fixing to call your mother to let her know the news. I’m going to need some help packing. But I reckon it’s a good thing I did a lot of downsizing before the contractors came in here last January.

“Once I move into my new place, I’m putting the house up for sale. I’ve already talked to Bobby Don down at Berkshire Hathaway. He seems to think I’m going to make enough from the sale of this old place so that I won’t have to worry about money for the rest of my life.”

“That’s great, Granny,” Ella said, trying to sound enthusiastic. This development was like a gigantic fly in the ointment of her life. She wouldn’t be able to move in with Granny, but that was a minor point. She couldn’t stand the idea of some stranger living in this house. If she had the money, she’d buy Granny’s house right now. Unfortunately, she didn’t have a job and wasn’t creditworthy, thanks to Cody and her own foolishness.

Homelessness loomed large in her future unless she was willing to make good on what she’d just told Dylan—that she was fine with Jim living in the same house. And really, what was the problem with that, anyway? Hadn’t she shared space in the tiny RV with the boys in the band all those years on the road?

She didn’t care about the lack of privacy, but she hated the idea of Jim getting in between her and Mom.  After all the years apart, Ella had come to enjoy sharing the house with Mom these last few months. Jim would be like an interloper or something. Which was an ugly thought she immediately repressed. She loved Jim. He was a great guy. His son, not so much.

“Maybe I should call your mom right now,” Granny said, pulling Ella from her thoughts. “I figure she’s at the store. Maybe she can come on over for dinner, and we could talk about her engagement party and my moving plans. What do you say?”

Ella nodded. “Sure. I need to consult with her about the party anyway because Dylan’s made it clear he doesn’t want to help.”

*  *  *

Granny’s surprise move took up a lot of discussion time once Mom got off work and joined Ella and her grandmother for dinner. Mom wasn’t all that happy about this surprise news, mostly because she was stressing out about the wedding and needed Granny’s lifestyle change like a hole in the head.

Ella kept her head down for most of dinner. She