Page 30 of Finding Wonderland

Mason looked momentarily shocked by the random profession. But she smiled back at her and said, “I love you too, Mommy.”

“Do you want to go get pizza tonight?”

“Yes!”

Hand in hand, the two headed toward the apartment. But Isla stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of her front door being wide open.

“What in the…”

Her blood ran cold as she tried to process what to do. What if someone was breaking into her house? Why would someone want to break into her house? She had nothing. So, what was happening? There was only one way to find out.

“Mason, stay behind me.”

Pushing Mason behind her legs, Isla slowly walked toward the front door. She stepped inside, and instantly became even more confused. A fresh coat of paint covered every wall and plants and photo frames and a rug adorned the entire room. Isla checked the number on the front door to make sure she had the right unit.

Which she did.

“Cool!” Mason gasped as she ran past Isla into the apartment. She looked around the room with her mouth agape, the same as Isla. “Mommy, did you do this?”

“No, I don’t know who did, sweetie.”

It was then Vera rounded the corner with a sheepish smile on her face and Isla felt her heart start to melt.

“You,” she barely whispered.

“Me.” Vera grinned. “Do you like it?”

“I love it!” Mason jumped up and down before running over to Vera. Scooping her up in her arms, Vera kissed her cheek and gave her a hug. “Thank you!”

“You’re welcome, Mason.” Vera kissed her cheek again. “Hey, is it okay if I talk to your mommy alone for a minute while you go play in your room? I left you some new toys there.”

“Okay!”

As Mason ran off to her bedroom, Vera slowly walked over to Isla. She was still too stunned to speak as her brain tried to take in everything all at once. The perfect paint color on the walls; the throw rug that brought so much color to the room. The framed photos of Mason and Blake that had been sitting in a sewing box on the kitchen table. Everything was perfect.

“Do you like it?” Vera repeated.

Isla realized then she had been crying, and quickly wiped the tears from her eyes. “I love it.”

“Oh, good. I thought for a moment you hated it.”

“How could I hate this?” Isla gestured around the apartment. “You did all this for me?”

Vera shrugged sheepishly. “And Mason.”

“Why?”

“I’m sorry?”

“Why did you do this? For me,” Isla’s voice cracked. “I don’t deserve this. This is too much.”

“Isla.” Closing the space between them, Vera placed her hands on Isla’s shoulders. “You deserve this. I wanted to do this for you because I know this last year has been hard for you and Mason. I can’t change those circumstances, no matter how much I wish I could, but I could do this for you. And Mason.”

“It’s too much.” Isla looked around the room again. “My head is spinning.”

“Probably the paint fumes,” Vera chuckled. “That’s why I had the door open. I was letting it air out. And I might have gone overboard and painted your room and the bathroom too.”

“Vera,” Isla felt her legs go weak as Vera put an arm around her waist, “that’s too much.”

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