Page 43 of A Package Deal

Mrs. Hart bit her lip. “Better, but keep trying.” Conversation flowed around them. Pris asked Suzanne if she’d spoken to her husband recently. Nelie didn’t hear her response, but she saw Pris’s speculative look. Emily updated everyone up on Nate’s progress and Jackson asked what everyone thought about opening a Chance Resort in Minnesota or upper Wisconsin. Their partners at CHART, who managed the resorts in the Pacific Northwest, would be in Haven next week for a few days of strategizing, and alocalresort was one of the agenda items. Gus said it should be up north, by Canada, with lots of fishing. “And mosquitoes and ticks and no easy access,” Mrs. Hart said, sounding against that location.

“We’d want to include a spa,” Emily said.

“Of course we would, my little spa-slut.” Jackson tugged her hair. Emily had convinced Jackson to renovate several of their hotels to include day spas, arguing their guests would appreciate it and it would bring local people into the hotels. The first ones had been open for over a year, and those locations were seeing a bump in room bookings from the locals.

“Dad, what’s a spa-sl—”

“Hey, since dinner’s finished, why don’t the two of you help me get dessert dished up?” Nelie asked, jumping up and looking at Jackson as if to saywatch your mouth!He looked contrite. Ava and Piper didn’t have to be asked twice, and with their help, everyone soon had a bowl of bread pudding with its new, and hopefully improved, whiskey sauce.

Lola had been right. The sauce was too sweet, almost cloying, and it needed something to balance it without making it bland. During her recovery, Nelie dove into Pinterest, looking for inspiration. But all she’d come away with were craft ideas she didn’t have time to do and clothes she wanted but would never wear. In desperation, she’d texted Lola. The chef had responded almost immediately with one word: heat.

Helpful, not. Nelie had dragged herself off the couch and stared at her spice rack. Then stared again, but with the recipe in front of her. She’d pulled a few bottles off and held them in her hands, as if weighing them against Lola’s word. She’d opened the cupboard.Could I use hot honey instead of sugar in the sauce and add a pinch of cayenne?Nelie had baked and stirred, and when she’d dropped off a piece, Lola had texted that she’d scraped her bowl clean and finished the text with a kiss emoji.

“Pris, can you get the girls set up in front of the television? They can bring their dessert with them. And maybe fix your sweater, too?” Mrs. Hart asked.

“We never got to do that. She must like you better,” Pris said under her breath, and Piper giggled.

Nelie handed each of them a kitchen towel and told them to use it as a tablecloth over their laps. The only thing she wanted spilled tonight were the words coming out of her mouth. “You doing, okay?” Chet asked, close to her ear and Nelie shivered, in the best way possible.

“Nervous,” she said, opening a few kitchen drawers. “And I can’t find a corkscrew.”

“You told me they were screw-top, remember?” Chet dropped a light kiss on her mouth and squeezed her shoulder. “You’ve got this.”

“You don’t even know whatthisis,” she teased, stepping away to pull the bottles from the fridge, hoping everyone approved. The sparkling wine was from a Minnesota winery that combined Minnesota grapes with California-grown ones. The owners had stopped at the Galley last week with their sales pitch and Nelie had been impressed enough to buy several cases of their dry white bubbly, rosso, and sweet white bubbly.

Chet didn’t push for more before he carried the filled glasses to the table. Nelie handed a glass to Pris, with her sweater fixed, when she came back into the kitchen, and the two of them took their seats at the table.

“What’s the occasion?” Gus asked, looking at her expectantly, and Nelie felt flush. Maybe pairing her announcements with wine was making a bigger deal of things than they had to be. She should have been low key. Molehill not mountain. She should have subtly made her changes instead of charging in like a bull and announcing them.

“I think we should celebrate every time we can all be together,” Mrs. Hart said. “Nelie, would you do us the honors of a toast?” she asked, tossing Nelie a line as if sensing she was going under.

Nelie licked her lips and raised her glass, saying, “To oysters and Legos.” The others joined, looking confused, but then smiled as the crisp bubbly hit their tongues.

“Nelie-girl, it’s a good thing this wine is tasty, because that’s the weirdest toast I’ve ever heard.”Leave it to Dad to call out the elephant in the room.

“Let the poor girl explain.” Mrs. Hart swatted at Gus.

“Thank you, Meemaw,” Nelie said. Everyone cringed.

“Oma?”

“I’m not German-enough,” Mrs. Hart replied, sounding amused as Nelie struggled to find a name for the woman who was her newfound grandmother.

“Nanna? Glammy? Gigi?” Mrs. Hart shook her head after each one.

“Ohh. Glammy’s not bad.” Suzanne patted her chin with her finger. “Can I take that?” She looked at Jackson and Emily for approval. Nelie liked that Suzanne had asked permission, since everyone would be stuck using the term. They agreed, but Emily didn’t look sold on the moniker. Nelie thought it was cute and fit Suzanne perfectly.

“How about babushka?” Jackson deadpanned, and Mrs. Hart glared at him. Gus chuckled.

“Nanny?” Pris suggested.

“That’s a goat, dear.” Mrs. Hart said, patting Pris’s hand. Nelie had tried all the nicknames she’d found.Back to square one.She sighed.

“Well, Rosie, I’ll keep working on it,” Nelie grumbled, lifting her glass to her lips.

“Oh, my,” Mrs. Hart gasped and touched her hand over her heart. “I haven’t heard that in years. My father always called me that. Mostly to aggravate my mother, I think, but still.” She looked wistful, as if transported back to happy childhood memories. “Can we try that and see how it goes? If not, I’m sure Jackson and Pris won’t mind you co-opting Gram.”

Nelie slapped on a smile and nodded. She’d wanted a special grandmother-type name, not part of her first name. But Mrs. Hart,Rosie, had looked so happy hearing the name.As long as we know the truth, that’s all that matters, she consoled herself.

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