Must Love Otters Read Online Free PDF Page B

background. “Yes, Herb knows everything about the ducks and geese. We get quite a lot of Canada geese.”
    “Sounds wonderful,” I say.
    “Got married right there in that park. Ducks even came to the ceremony. That was a surprise. We had such a beautiful wedding, didn’t we, Herb?”
    “Expensive,” Herb adds. Mona giggles.
    “That Spanish lace wasn’t cheap. And this was before girls were really out in the work world, so we had to be careful with how we spent our money.”
    “How long before you had kids?” Herb sounds like he’s awake again, and I like Mona. She must be like Everyone Else’s Grandmother. I never had one of those. She is a foreign entity—I want to talk to her while we wait for the ambulance, protocol be damned.
    “Oh, well, little Joey came around about two years after we were married. Then they were two years apart.”
    “A lot of diapers,” Herb says. He sounds closer to the phone.
    “Mona, is he trying to get up?”
    “Herby, you lie back and wait. We’ll just sit here until the medical people come help. What’s your name again, sweetie?”
    “I’m Hollie.”
    “Herby, Hollie says you have to lie still. So, Hollie,” she shuffles the phone again, “are you married, dear?”
    “No.”
    “So no kids.”
    “Nope. No kids.”
    “Well, you sound young. I’m sure Prince Charming is out there waiting for you …” I laugh. The Disney regurgitation of Prince Charming never included a man with a weird attachment to medical supplies or pocket-sized terriers. I’ll bet Prince Charming never burned Cinderella’s nipples with Sriracha sauce.
    “Probably. Yes. Someday, I suppose.”
    “You know, you should meet my Daniel. He’s absolutely adorable. And he’s single … He’s in real estate. Makes lots of money. Drives a fancy car.”
    I laugh. Mona is trying to set me up with her son while her husband waits for his ride to the hospital. This is a first.
    “You know, Hollie, you only get to live this life once. I know that sounds like silly advice from a silly old woman, but don’t waste a second, sweetie. If I could go back and do it all over again, I’d still pick my Herby. It would’ve been nice to have a little girl, but my boys gave me granddaughters. There’s no bigger happiness in this world than your family.”
    “Indeed, Mona. You’re so right.” That choky feeling surges in the back of my throat, the one that happens right before tears make an appearance. I am losing my bloody mind.
    A siren wails in the background. The radio squawks at me that the EMTs have arrived. “Mona, sounds like my guys are there. Herb is a lucky man to have a wife who loves him as much as you do. You really did well here today.”
    “Thank you for all your help, Hollie. Herby, tell Hollie thank you.” He does, his voice a little slow. I hope this is just insulin related and not something more serious.
    “You take care, Mona.”
    “You too, dear. Thank you again.” She hangs up, even though I don’t want her to. I want to sit here and listen to her talk about dance halls and her son Daniel and her grandbabies and all the silly, romantic things I’m sure Herb did for her, even if he didn’t and I’m romanticizing this invisible couple and their perfect, blissful life with lampshades and couches still covered in plastic and Hummel statues and collector’s spoons in a glass hutch in the dining room.
    The screen to my right is black; my reflection stares back at me. I missed some mascara on my cheek, its dark smudge reminding me that I am not whole.
    My otter figurine clutches her tiny baby to her chest who in turn clutches her little white clamshell. They smile at me in perpetuity, a constant reminder that they have one another and I have no one. I don’t have a clamshell to hold onto for dear life.
    “You only get to live this life once.” And this is how I’m spending it?
    “Hollie?” Patty the supervisor is standing behind me. I turn and find myself eye level with her