hospital room asking for the first payment.
“How much?” I asked.
Brielle glanced at my mother.
That look should have warned me.
“Twenty-seven thousand.”
I laughed so abruptly that pain tore through my incision, turning the laugh into a gasp.
“You came here for twenty-seven thousand dollars?”
“It’s a deposit.”
“It’s a birthday party.”
“It’s my thirtieth.”
“You’ll survive turning thirty without an orchid wall.”
My mother moved closer.
“You don’t have to be cruel.”
I looked at her.
“Cruel?”
Clara shifted, so I lowered my voice.
“Diane, my baby
