Mayor Thomas raised his hands to quiet the cheering and then began to give a little humble-braggy speech. Pinky supposed he couldn’t help it. He was a politician, after all.
She turned to her mom, with Samir at her side. “Thanks for the assist,” she said carefully, still not sure exactly what had transpired. “You… you didn’t have to do that.”
“Yes, I did.” Pinky’s mom stepped forward and put her hands on Pinky’s shoulders. “You needed my support and… I should’ve given it to you a long time ago, Pinky. A long, long time ago.”
“I’m going to go find Dolly.” Samir squeezed Pinky’s hand briefly and began walking away.
“What do you mean?” Pinky asked her mom, her heart thumping in disbelief. “Are you saying…?”
“I’m saying I’m sorry,” her mom said, looking her right in the eye. “For all the times I told you to change who you are. For all the times I didn’t support you like I should have. For all the times you felt so alone.” She blinked rapidly, her eyes pink around the edges. “I love you. You’re my only daughter, and I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
Pinky licked her dry lips. “Then why?” she asked. “Why have you always seemed so disappointed in me?”
Her mom smiled a little. “It wasn’t disappointment, Pinky. It was fear.”
“Fear?” Pinky frowned a little.
“I was so afraid you were turning into me. I was so afraid you were just like me.”
“But I thought you said we weren’t anything alike,” Pinky pointed out, remembering that conversation, the horrible sting of hurt and rejection.
“That’s what I wanted to believe.” Her mom shook her head. “I desperately wanted to believe that. Because who I used to be…” She stopped and looked away, as if gathering herself. “When I found out I was pregnant with you, my parents told me I was selfish. That I could never look after a child.”
Pinky was silent as she listened, not wanting to break the spell of her mom’s uncharacteristic candidness.
“They were being mean, but they were also honest. And they were right. I’d spent my life just flitting from one passion to the other, fighting for those less fortunate than me. A lot like you.” She caressed Pinky’s cheek. “And that was good for then. But when I got pregnant, I realized I had a little child to take care of. I realized how ill prepared I was for that. I’d lacked focus, and that would affect not just me, but you as well. It was the lowest point of my life. I was terrified; I sank into a depression for a while. I didn’t want that happening to you. I didn’t want you to ever feel like you didn’t know how to handle something life threw your way. I wanted you to be secure in this world, to be well set up. But you seemed hell-bent on following the same path I took.”
Wow. This was a whole different perspective from the one Pinky had had all along. Her mom had been motivated by fear? In a way, she hadn’t wanted to change who Pinky was.… She wanted to change who she’d been. “So, then, why are you here?”
“Two reasons. One, because I didn’t realize just how much the habitat meant to you. I thought… I thought you’d forgotten all the good times, Pinky.”
Pinky stared at her mom. “What? How could you think that?”
Her mom blinked and looked away, just for a moment. “We fight so much. It just seemed like… like you didn’t really care anymore.”
“Of course I care!” Pinky said, the lump in her throat reemerging.
“After you left the club last night, I knew I had to be involved. I was planning to come anyway. Then… Samir spoke with us this morning. He’d been reading the contract—apparently he’d emailed the mayor for a copy—and he thought he’d found a loophole. He asked me to do some research on other places DR Developments could build, and well… You know me. Research is what I do best.”
“Right.” Pinky’s eyes sought out Samir in the crowd. He stood by Dolly, laughing at something she’d said. Pinky’s heart squeezed with happiness and love.
“But more than anything,” her mom said, drawing her attention back. She held Pinky’s eye. “I want you to know that I’m so sorry for ever making you feel that I didn’t care or that I don’t love you exactly how you are. I’m sorry I doubted you and didn’t appreciate all the beautiful fire you hold inside you. I promise, I’m going to stop parenting from fear now.”
Pinky hugged her mom. “I’m sorry too, Mom. I’m sorry I’ve always been so hostile, pushing you and prodding you into fighting with me.” She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “I’m not proud to say this, but… I guess I felt, at least if we were fighting, we were connecting. I just wanted you to see me, in some way, even if it wasn’t in the best way.” She took a deep breath. “But from now on, I promise, I’m not going to get under your skin anymore.”
Her mom raised an eyebrow, and Pinky laughed. “Stranger things have happened!” And somehow, instinctively, she knew they were going to be okay.
* * *
They were walking back to her mom’s car when a woman in a Save our Habitat T-shirt came up to them. “Hi,” she said, smiling down at DQ, who was walking nicely on her leash. “This must be Drama Queen.”
Pinky nodded. “It is! I think she’s been our official mascot for this protest.”
The woman laughed. “Yes, I think so. But I was talking to Gabriella, and she said you’re looking to find a permanent home for her?”
Pinky glanced down at DQ and then back at the woman. “Yes, I am, actually.”
The woman extended a hand. “I’m Marie Trent. I volunteer at the Cape Cod Nature Preserve over on Nantucket. We specialize in rehabbing wounded native animals. I could take her off your hands if you’d like.”
Pinky glanced at Samir and Dolly, who gave her a small smile. Her mom patted her shoulder. Pinky scooped up DQ, who, of course, immediately died. She handed her prone body to the woman. “She does that a lot,” she said, hearing the wobble in her voice. “But she’s a really good possum. I have some money saved up, and I’d love to donate it in her name to your habitat. Since you’re going to be giving her such a good home and everything.”
“That would be lovely, thank you. I’ll be in touch about that via Gabriella soon.” Marie took DQ with the utmost care and gentleness, as if hauling fake-dead marsupials was something she did all the time for fun. “And I can send you pictures of DQ to keep you updated on her progress, if you like?”
Pinky smiled. “Yeah. I would really like that.”
They watched Marie walk away with DQ. After a moment, in unspoken agreement, they all climbed in her mom’s car and headed home. Summer break was officially winding down.
CHAPTER 22 Samir
“I was very impressed by the feasibility clause you found,” Pinky’s mom said to Samir a few days later. “Truly.”
“Yes, Veena told me about it, and I have to agree,” her dad added.