Laura answered first. “Allowing the soil to dry so the stems become tougher.”
Mom shook her head. “You gradually get plants grown indoors used to outdoor conditions. A little time outside, then more over several days.”
Nobody was supposed to know everything.
“The ones on your windowsill?” Nathan asked.
“Yes. I took them out for an hour yesterday.”
Laura reached toward her handbag. Then stopped.
I noticed. So did Nathan.
I read the next question. “To check whether a shelf is horizontal, would you use a spirit level or a plumb line?”
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Laura reached toward her handbag.
Laura’s eyes flicked toward the bag again.
“A plumb line.”
Mom turned her pen between her fingers. “A spirit level. A plumb line tells you whether something is vertical.”
“You’re sure?” Laura asked.
“I installed the shelves in my living room. The bubble needed to sit between the marks.”
“You’re sure?”
My uncle laughed. “That explains why my shelves look drunk.”
A few guests joined him. Laura didn’t.
I looked down at the next card. “What percentage of Earth’s water is fresh water?”
Silence.
I didn’t know the answer myself.
Nathan wrote something.
“What percentage of Earth’s water is fresh water?”
Mom shrugged. “No idea.”
Laura’s fingers moved toward her handbag for the third time.
This time Ronald spoke. “Laura.”
Her hand stopped. Nobody said anything. She slowly placed it back in her lap.
“I don’t know,” she said.
“No idea.”
It was the first time I’d heard those words from her.
Mom looked at her. “Neither do I.”
Laura’s face changed slightly.
I glanced at the next question, but Mom placed her card flat on the table. “Three questions are enough.”
“Five,” Nathan corrected gently.
Mom smiled. “See? Apparently, I can’t count either.”
“Three questions are enough.”
A few people laughed.
“I got things wrong,” she continued. “Probably would’ve gotten plenty more wrong.”
Laura said nothing.
“But if you made a mistake in my garden, I wouldn’t call you stupid. I’d show you what to do.”
