LOL absolutely not.
Then another message.
I’m not paying $347 for a mixer from the 80s.
And finally:
You should be thanking me for giving you an excuse to replace it.
I stared at my phone.
Sophie read over my shoulder.
“Mom?”
“Yes?”
“Can I say a bad word?”
“No.”
She paused.
“Can I think one?”
“Absolutely.”
That evening, I paid for the repair myself.
Then I went home and printed a document.
Denise’s niece was graduating the following weekend.
I knew because a large congratulations sign had been sitting in Denise’s front yard for two weeks.
She was hosting the party.
Forty guests.
Maybe more.
Three days before the celebration, there was a knock at my door.
Of course there was.
Denise smiled.
“Hey, neighbor.”
“Hi.”
“I need to borrow a few things.”
Naturally.
“What?”
“The big cooler.”
I waited.
“Your crock pot.”
Of course.
“And those folding tables you have in the garage.”
“Yes, I still have them.”
