the money issues somehow, I promise. You canât eat an elephant in one bite. But, you must remember, unhappiness can consume you entirely, without you realizing. Happiness is a choice.â
Lolly tilted her head at her daughter, and gave her a knowing smile.
âLetâs have a little breakfast and then head to the beach. I donât have to be at work until late this afternoon, so letâs enjoy the magic of this beautiful day,â Lolly added.
âMom, I probably need to work. Weâve already been here four days, and I need to reach out to my boss. I needâ¦â
â⦠to have some damn fun!â Lolly inserted. âI might have to stick to my routine, but youâre on vacation!â
âMother!â Arden started to argue.
âYouâre on vacation, my dear. Be! On! Vacation!â
Â
Eleven
The winding road to Scoops Beach reminded Arden of the old Thanksgiving song, âOver the River and Through the Wood.â It was an adventure to get there.
The tiny, two-lane road to the beach paralleled the river that meandered alongside the downtown, and eventually fed into Lake Michigan. The river dissected the beach road from downtown Scoops, which Arden could see was already jammed with returning resorters and fudgies already in town for Memorial Day.
The beach road wound past a series of cracker-barrel cottagesâall shake shingles, shutters, and mossy roofsâwhich were among the original summer cottages built in the late 1800s. The road slowly climbed a tall dune to breathtaking, 360-degree views of the river, downtown, and Lake Michigan. Here, mammoth summer homesâmultistoried behemoths with turrets, towers, and decksâperched on the dune.
Lolly had won the argument, and now they were all on their way to the beach, though Ardenâs mind was still preoccupied.
Dean Martin began to blare from the backseat, and Arden jumped.
âFound it, Grandma!â Lauren laughed.
âMy Dean,â Lolly sighed. âAinât that a kick in the head?â
âWhat, Grandma? I donât understand.â
âThatâs the name of the song, my dear. Time I teach you a thing or two about my music. Turn it up!â Lolly shouted.
Lolly began to sing, and Lauren rested her chin on the cushion of the front seat and beamed at her grandmother.
Why canât she just be quiet and relax? Arden thought .
Even over the music, Lollyâs âWoodieâ groaned as it continued to climb the massive dune.
âAttagirl.â Lolly patted the dashboard tenderly. âYou got it.â
The 1950 Buick Roadmaster was as much Lollyâs little girl as Arden and Lauren. Lollyâs father had given it to her. The Woodie was the color of the lake, the ultimate beach car: pure nostalgia, unconventional, total fun.
âYour father spent years restoring this car for me,â Lolly said to Arden, repeating the lines she said every time she drove the old car. âItâs a part of the family.â
Les Lindsey had indeed spent years restoring the car for his wife, returning the outside woodwork of white ash and mahogany trim to its pristine state, painting the car a vintage pearlized green, clear-coating the exterior to make it look as if it had been dipped in wax, and turning the interior into a white-and-pink leather wonderland befitting Lolly. The car was huge, with a backseat and trunk that could hold four kids and enough beach stuff to keep them entertained for a week. Lolly had even used the family sewing machine to add mismatched curtains in the back windowsâvintage prints of cherries, stands of pine trees, and bobbing sailboats on a lake.
Yes, âWoodieâ was Lollyâs beach car, andâsince her husbandâs death many years agoâthe two had become nearly as famous as Scoopsâs fudge, two bigger-than-life personalities, both from bygone eras, roaming the resort town.
At the top of the dune, Lolly turned
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