“No, that’s Pop-pop’s old furniture with slipcovers on. Isn’t it great? No more brown and beige plaid. The curtains and rugs came from the Cost-Saver warehouse store in Rochester. Tani and I went up there a few weeks ago. Come on, Hazel. What do you think?”

She didn’t answer right away. Instead she turned in the middle of the room, examining every detail as if she was judging that design challenge show she liked so much. A slow smile spread across her face.

“I like it.”

That’s it? Zoey’s shoulders fell. Hazel had complained nearly nonstop about the old house not feeling like home, not feeling like them, still feeling like her grandfather’s house. Too old-fashioned. Too boring. Tacky. And worse.

And all she could say was I like it?

“Is that really all you can say? You like it? You showed me that video by the design influencer you liked, and it turns out Tani follows her, too. We all worked really hard on this...”

“Mom, it looks good. I like it.” Hazel seemed confused. “Why are you pressed right now?”

She ran through her mental file of current teen terms. Pressed meant irritated.

“I’m pressed because...” Because her daughter didn’t react as expected. Which was totally on Zoey. She’d never get used to this whole Teens Are Never Impressed phase. “You know what? I’ll take I like it. It’s definitely better than before, right? At least admit that much?”

Hazel gave her a reluctant smile. “It’s better than before.” She looked around. “The gray is a miss for me, but I like the accent wall.” She walked over and struck an exaggerated pose, with her arms open wide. “It’s spectacular, Mother!” Her arms dropped. “Is that better?”

Actually, it was better, but she didn’t admit it. “Whatever. I told you we could make this old place meet your very high standards. One room at a time. By the end of the year, it’ll be a whole new house. In fact, why don’t we do your room next?” The kitchen could wait.

That got Hazel’s attention. “Yes to doing my room next! But I want to make all the decisions.”

“We have a budget, young lady—that’s why I got slipcovers instead of new furniture. But you will definitely get to make your own choices...within reason.” She took Hazel’s hands. “Now tell me how the weekend was with your dad.”

Just like that, Hazel’s smile was gone again. Uh-oh.

“Uh...maybe we should sit down, Mom.”

“What happened? Did you and Dad argue? Was it Genna-with-a-G?”

“Mom.” They sat on the sofa and Zoey waited. Her parental radar was sounding all kinds of alarms in her mind. Did she need to be a mama bear for her little girl, or give her a shoulder to cry on?