Her mother frowned.
“Well, that’s quite a welcome.”
Then she noticed my towel.
“Patricia, why are you all wrapped up?”
I looked at Vanessa.
So did everyone else.
That was when I realized karma hadn’t finished with her yet.
Vanessa’s mother looked from me to her daughter.
“Did I interrupt something?”
“No,” Vanessa said quickly.
“Yes,” Emily said.
“Emily.”
Her grandmother raised an eyebrow.
“Now I’m definitely interested.”
I should have stayed quiet.
For years, I’d believed family peace sometimes required swallowing a little pride.
But Vanessa had humiliated me in front of everyone and then called it honesty.
I wasn’t going to lie for her.
“Vanessa thought my swimsuit wasn’t appropriate.”
Her mother looked at my towel.
“What’s wrong with it?”
I untied the towel.
The black one-piece was fully visible again.
She stared for a moment.
“That’s it?”
“That’s it.”
She looked at Vanessa.
“What’s inappropriate about that?”
Vanessa rubbed her forehead.
“Can we please drop this?”
Emily answered cheerfully.
“Mom said Grandma has wrinkles everywhere and teenagers don’t want to see them.”
The patio went silent again.
Vanessa’s mother looked down at herself.
Then she looked at her arms and legs.
She was 71, and her body showed it proudly.
Finally, she looked at Vanessa.
“Interesting.”
“Mom, don’t.”
“No, I’d like to understand the rules.”
A few people tried unsuccessfully not to smile.
She held out one arm.
“I’ve got wrinkles. Should I leave?”
“Of course not.”
“Should I cover up?”
“No.”
“Why?”
Vanessa’s face reddened.
“Because you’re my mother.”
Her mother’s eyebrows rose.
“And Patricia is Daniel’s mother.”
Nobody said a word.
Vanessa looked trapped by her own logic.
“I wasn’t trying to insult anyone.”
“You told a 68-year-old woman that people didn’t want to see her body.”
Her mother glanced toward the teenagers.
“Did any of you complain?”
Several heads shook.
One boy muttered, “No.”
Another teenager said, “We weren’t even paying attention.”
That stung in the best possible way.
Of course they hadn’t been.
Nobody had cared about my wrinkles until Vanessa announced that they were a problem.
Her mother put down her beach bag.
“Do you know why I’m wearing this?”
Vanessa sighed.
“Because you came to swim?”
“Because you bought it for me.”
I looked at Vanessa.
So did Daniel.
Vanessa blinked.
“What?”
Her mother gave a humorless laugh.
“For Mother’s Day. You told me the yellow made me look younger.”
Recognition crossed Vanessa’s face.
