The following night, after Sonja left to have dinner with her mother and aunt who had arrived back in Minneapolis the day before, Mom commanded everyone into the kitchen for a discussion. “We need to talk—”
“Is this one of your meanings?” Dad asked, yawning.
Mom cut him off. “Now’s not the time. I met with Sonja’s mother and father this afternoon.”
“When was that planned?” I asked. “Sonja didn’t mention it.”
“She didn’t know. I called them this morning. I thought there might be some misunderstandings.”
Mom glanced around the table. “Apparently Sonja told her parents she can live here—”
Will’s mouth fell open.
“Why can’t she?” Dad asked.
Mom’s eyes narrowed. “Did you tell her she could live here?”
“She’s Fran’s best friend.” Dad shrugged. “I said she was always welcome. Isn’t she?”
“Did you ask your daughter what she wants?” Mom’s voice rose. “Or your son?”
“It’s not like she’s homeless,” Will said. “She has a mansion.”
Dad looked around the table as if he didn’t understand, his eyelids suddenly heavy with fatigue. He stared at me. “You don’t want her here?”
“It changes our friendship—”
“Me either,” Will said.
“She’s going through a very hard time,” Dad said, defending Sonja. “We’re her safe place. Doesn’t that mean something to you?” He kept his gaze on me. “Fran?”
“Even so.” Mom shook her head at Dad. “She shouldn’t be here alone with you every afternoon.”
“She makes tea and asks me questions. What’s the harm?”
Mom frowned. “It’s inappropriate. If you were a teacher, it would be against the rules.”
Dad’s mouth fell open, stunned by Mom’s implication. “I’m helping her research her museum of love—best love songs from around the world.” Dad shook his head. “We’re going through my record collection. I would never let anything happen.”
“You don’t have to let anything happen,” Mom said. “Sonja has issues. Father issues. I don’t want her in your study unless she’s with Will or Fran.”
“That’s ridiculous.” Dad’s cheeks turned red. He glanced around the table at each of us. “I thought we were a different kind of family. She needs us, and I can’t believe we’re abandoning her.”
Mom breathed in deeply. “We’re not abandoning her. She’s still welcome here. We just have to be clear that she is not moving in permanently. That would not be good for our family.”
When Sonja got back from dinner, she knocked on my door and opened it, her voice distraught. “Your mom told my parents I can’t live here. Is it your brother? He doesn’t want me here anymore? I’ve tried to give him space.”
“It’s Will’s last semester,” I said. “Mom wants family time.”
She stared at me with a hard gaze. “Tannen family time. The perfect family.”
“I never said we were perfect.”
She sat on the side of the bed with her back to me. “My mother has agreed to sign the divorce papers if she can keep the house, and if that happens, Aunt Tessa will stay and help her.”
“That’s great. You won’t have to move.”
“My dad still wants me to come live with them,” she explained. “He and Cynthia meet with the lawyers next Thursday.” Sonja hesitated, her voice trembling. “Will your mother allow me to stay until the papers are signed?”
“Of course. We’re still best friends. This doesn’t change anything.”
“For me, it does,” she said, rising from the bed. Without another word, she left my room, closing the door behind her.
Her words kept me awake. I knew my mother was protecting me, protecting Will.
I also felt like a hypocrite—we were best friends, but I wanted her to leave. The very thing I’d loved most about her, her big personality—humor, creativity, and intensity—took up all the space in our friendship, all my energy. I wondered how you loosen a friendship, form new habits. Because at that moment, Sonja wanted way more than I could give, and I was grateful to Mom for being the one to draw lines.