"Cat eyes." I looked at her in exasperation. "Tal, if you're going to spout more words that doesn't make any sense—" "You'll be okay, Kar. Cat eyes," she repeated, and this time she was smiling. "Why do you keep saying that? I'm not getting a cat," I said. "Where am I going to put it?" "Here." "What?" "Listen," she said, suddenly looking nervous. "I need you to hear me out before you say anything, okay?" I put down the roasting stick and leaned back against my chair, crossed my arms in front of me and focused on her. She licked her lips nervously and blinked several times. What's going on? "This house holds a special place for Ma. It's where Lola lived her last days before she passed away." Lola is grandmother in Filipino. I've only met Lola a few times, but I remembered her kind eyes, how caring she was to me—a stranger, and always packed food for me to bring to my family. I also remembered how very close she was to Mrs. B and Tala. "Ma doesn't want to sell it, but she's worried that it would go into disrepair since no one would live here." She paused. "We'd like you to live here." If I were drinking something, I would have choked. "What?" "Instead of us hiring a house sitter who's a stranger, we'd like you to live here instead. We'll pay you." "What the hell are you talking about? I can't do that, Tala." "Why not?" "Because!" "How? The house is paid for. You just need to pay for electricity and water. It will just be you, unless you decide to rent the bedrooms out, the bills shouldn't be too much." "Hold up, hold your horses, holy smokes. Why are you talking about renting the bedrooms? What the hell is happening?" She let out a loud sigh. "Ma was the one who suggested to rent the bedrooms to your friends if that would help you with money. I told her you don't have any friends except for me and Damon who's always gone anyway, so there's no point. But there it is. If you're comfortable renting it out to strangers, that's fine too. As long as you live in the house, take care of it." "My head is spinning." "Ma wanted to talk to you about this, but I told her I would. She needs your help. A last favor before we leave. Besides you're family to us. Ma won't worry if it's you taking care of the house. You need to calm down, take deep breaths." I wanted to cry. There were nights when Mrs. B and I drank together, and we'd confide in each other. She knew that I wanted to get my own apartment someday, how I was saving up a lot to pay off my uncle's shares at the shop. She also knew I wouldn't accept any money from her. This was her way. My body felt hot. I was overwhelmed. "You know it's designed for Ma," she went on, as though we were discussing her lending her hair dryer to me. "So if you don't mind the low sink in the kitchen and in the master bathroom, then it's all good. Also, you know how you kept hounding me to paint the front of the house? Well, I hired someone to do it. They should come by next week." "Wait. Wait." There were so many things to consider, I didn't know what to think or ask first. "Aren't you going to be back?" "Not for a while." She gave me a sad smile. "Ma would probably want to stay at her sister's place. We'll let you know in advance if that happens and if possible, we can all live here together." I worried my lip. "Tal, I don't know." "Accept it. You know we don't need the money, Kar. You're like a sister to me and Ma treats you like a daughter. Don't make her feel bad. Do this for her." "I have to talk to Dad. I don't know if he and Dylan—" "Stop. Shut up, Kara Cammilla Hawthorne. What did your dad tell you about this? He said they will be fine. It's not like you're moving to a different planet. They're just a car ride away, and you know your dad needs that bedroom so he can stop sleeping on the living room couch." "I won't let you pay me to live in your house for free. I won't do it." "I knew you'd say that. Okay, fine, we won't. Everything's decided then. You can move in next week. I'll give you the keys—" "Wait! No. Not yet. Let me—" "You'll be doing us a favor, Kar. Please. Give it six months, and if you still can't adjust and if it doesn't work out, we'll hire a stranger that we don't know and who'd probably steal from us and have parties here and thrash the house that Ma loves so much." "I know what you're doing, you sneak." She grinned. "You need your creative space. You can use the garage for your furniture building, refurbishing. There's one favor I'm going to ask. Remember how we talked about living together and shopping for a couch? I want us to get one before I leave." I laughed. "Let me think about it." She grabbed my hand, squeezed it. "Please, Kar. Don't think too much. Just do it. Will you be here on Monday? Spend time with me?" I reached for her hand, squeezed it. "There's nowhere else I'd rather be."