Grandma came by the house, allegedly to discuss the season premiere of our show, but she ends up sneaking out in the garden with Mom right away. I mean in this outfit, I’m pretty sure she can’t possibly fear the cold.

I don’t actually hear this conversation, I only see it happen from the windows of the poolhouse. I wouldn’t know the exact contents of that talk until much, much later. Well, the general idea, but I can fill in the blanks.

“Grandma? Can we talk?”

“Why do you think I came? Let’s just sit down.”

“It’s Hannah, Grandma. She’s asking questions, more and more questions.”

“You know how she is, she won’t let go. She needs to know. She needs to know everything that intrigues her.”

“And the truth is, I’m not sure I’m the right person to tell her. I barely understand any of this.”

“You have to tell her, Azalea. That’s the way it goes, mother to daughter.”

“Precisely. And Mom never explained any of this to me.”

“I know. Your Mom never really cared for any of this. If anything, she avoided it. But this is why I’m here. To fill in the blanks. Get ready to hear it all.”

“Really?”

“I’m ready!”

“Ease up, kiddo. It’s a really long story.”

“It started twelve generations before you were born…”