Page 81 of Crashing into Love

“Gia, it’s your mom, honey.”

“Mom!”

Selma brightened instantly.

“Mom?” Gia said again once she had the phone.

“Hi, baby,” Selma said.

“Did you win?”

“No, baby. But Drew did.”

“Drew won? That’s awesome! Is she there? Can I talk to her? You said we could last night, but then we couldn’t.”

“It was your bedtime, Gia. And she’s not here right now. I can ask if she can call you in a couple of days, okay?”

“I want to tell her, ‘Congratulations.’”

“I’ll tell her for you tonight, and you can tell her when you talk next.”

“Can I tell her about physics?”

Selma smiled and said, “Yes, I’m sure she’d love to hear about physics. Can you tell me about it right now, though? Grandma said you like it.”

“I do. It’s super fun. I get to do experiments.”

“What kind of experiments?”

“Ones where–”

There was a knock at her hotel room door.

“Gia, can you hold on one second for me?”

“Okay.”

Selma stood up and walked over to the door. She checked the peephole and noticed Drew standing there, not dressed in her snowboard stuff but in her jacket and a shirt under it. Selma swallowed and took a step back.

“Hey, Gia? Drew just got here. Want to say congratulations now?”

“What? Yes!”

Selma knew she was using her kid as a buffer, but she needed it right now, so she pulled open the door, and Drew gave her an awkward smile.

“You left without me,” she said.

“Gia’s on the phone. She wants to congratulate you.”

“Selma, we need to talk.” Drew tilted her head.

Selma covered the phone with her hand and said, “Can you just say hello to her, please? I’ll tell her to keep it quick.”

“Of course,” Drew replied.

Selma moved out of the way to let Drew into the room and said into the phone, “Gia, baby, no physics tonight. Just the congratulations, okay? Drew is… tired from the race.”

“Okay.”

---