Selma turned her phone toward Drew, who was sitting next to her on the sofa.
“Hey, Gia.”
“Drew! What are you doing there? Mom, I thought you were working.”
“Nope. I came here to surprise Drew.”
“How are you, Gia?” Drew asked as she wrapped her arm around Selma’s shoulders.
“I’m good. Drew, the book you got me is so cool. Can I show you?”
Drew looked over at Selma.
“Go for it,” she said and handed Drew her phone. “I’m going to make dinner. Pasta okay?”
“Yeah, babe.” Drew’s eyes went wide.
“You said, ‘Babe,’” Gia pointed out, laughing.
“Yeah, I did. Your mom’s a babe.” Drew winked at Selma. “Gia, can we talk before you show me the book?”
“Okay.”
Selma wasn’t sure where Drew was going with this, so she remained sitting.
“I love your mom a lot. You know that, right?”
“Yeah, it’s pretty obvious.”
Selma laughed silently, and Drew smirked at her.
“But I also love you, too. And I was thinking about coming up there to stay for a few days.”
“That would be so cool. Can we go snowboarding?”
Drew looked at Selma, who nodded.
“Yeah, we can. But I wanted to ask you something. Would it be okay if, when I got there, I stayed with you and your mom?”
“Totally. You can sleep in my room.”
Selma’s little laugh escaped before she could cover her mouth. Drew managed to keep it together, though.
“I was thinking I would sleep in your mom’s room. But you and I will have a ton of time to hang out, too. How does that sound?”
“Yeah, okay. And we can really go snowboarding? You’ll coach me?”
“I’ll only be there for a few days this time, but I’ll show you what I can.”
“Oh, right. You’ll go back home.” The girl sounded disappointed.
“This time, yes. But I was hoping you and your mom could visit me here someday. She and I still have to talk about when, exactly, but how would you like to have your own room when you stay with me here?”
“What? Really? I’d have two bedrooms? That is so cool! Can I put a snowboard on one of the walls?”
“Maybe we could paint one together or something. It’s safer that way,” Drew suggested instead.
“Okay. Yeah, that would be cool. I can draw it.”