“It’s not you I’m looking for; I want to speak to Sonia. Is she there with you?” Grace asked on the other line, prompting Charles to glance over at Sonia.
“She’s here,” he answered.
“Pass the phone to her.”
Having made a noise of agreement, Charles handed Sonia his phone while saying, “Here, it’s my mom.”
Sonia took the phone over and greeted pleasantly, “Mrs. Lane.”
“Sonia! I’ve missed you so much.” Grace beamed as soon as she heard Sonia’s voice on the other end of the call.
Sonia, on the other hand, smiled as well. “I’ve missed you, too, Mrs. Lane.”
“You could always drop by to see me, you know,” Grace pointed out, feigning dejection.
“Sorry, Mrs. Lane. I’ve been tied up with tons of stuff recently. I barely have time to breathe,” Sonia winced and said apologetically.
“Well, you could come over for a meal right now if you have the time. I’ll bust out a few of my best recipes for you,” Grace cajoled kindly.
Sonia was just about to say something when Charles—who had been eavesdropping—spoke up instead. “Mom, I’m bringing my darling for seafood.”
Grace, however, was insistent as she countered, “You know how restaurants never run a quality check on their seafood supplies, and it’s not as if they could do better than me when it comes to cooking.”
Mrs. Lane. We’ll go
Grace chortled happily, elated that the younger girl
Charles put his phone away and gave Sonia a resigned look. “Well, it looks like we’re going
time, anyway. Now, we should probably go and pick out gifts
the mall, they finally picked out an elegant cloak
particular, Grace had been best friends with Sonia’s mother. As far as Sonia was concerned, Grace was like a
and Sonia pulled up in
time Sonia had dropped by in six years, though she noted that the house looked the same as it had before. As such, she did not feel out of place at all and rather felt a warm
she heard the sound of the car pulling up. Her eyes lit up at
greeted with
women embraced, Charles stood by the side and drawled sarcastically, “Don’t mind me, Mom. I’m just
Sonia now. Come here, Sonia, let me take a good look at you!” She clasped Sonia’s hands in hers and
somewhat amused by the
have,” Grace insisted. “Your face
lost all my baby fat, so now I appear a little more slender
Come along, then.” Grace took her by the
at home but them, and she couldn’t help but
you’ve been for the past six years.” Ever since Grace watched
life she had had with the Fullers, though she kept it
when she heard the last of the story. She slapped the edge of the coffee table in a physical show of frustration and snapped, “I knew those Fullers were rotten! You should have told us how badly they were treating you,
into an apple. “That’s
wounded him, and the rage he felt never went away. That being said, he was less angry with her than
through her. Tears pricked her eyes as she
she had to a family was Grace and the rest of the Lanes. She might have been able to get them to stand up for her throughout her marriage to Toby, but they couldn’t come to her defense all the time. Besides, they weren’t actually related to her, which meant her troubles
you?” Grace gently prodded the
but she smiled good-naturedly as she wrapped
this gesture and smoothed
Charles frowned as he sniffed the air curiously. “Mom, what do you have on the stove? I think it’s
out of her thoughts, and her eyes lit up with panic. She rose to her feet in a flurry and exclaimed,
toward the kitchen to salvage the chowder simmering in the pot, and thankfully, she made it in time to keep the chowder
of juice over to Sonia and said, “Here you go, Sonia. Have some juice while you watch a bit of television; I’ll
Mrs. Lane.” Sonia nodded
a look. “Come and help me out in
just heard as he pointed at
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