Zoey 101: All Or Nothing ☑

Chapter 19

Zoey POV Continued

 I nodded. It was still hard. At first I was in shock, then angry. Anytime I thought about her, I was mad. Furious that she was taken from me. So I tried desperately to get her out of my mind. But no matter how much homework and cooking I did, she was always there. And then it became comforting to me.

Because even though she wasn’t physically there, she would always be with me.

“You know what I think we should do?” Grandma asked.

“Go get ice cream at Murphy’s?”

She laughed the same laugh as Mom. “Well, of course, but I also think that every night at dinner, we should share a favorite memory of your mother. Would you like that?”

Four years ago, I would’ve hated it. Four months ago, I would’ve felt uncomfortable about it. But now, here, I was finally ready to celebrate my mother’s life with others.

“I’d like that.” I paused. “And I think Mom would really like it as well.”

She gave me a little squeeze. “Yes, she would.”

We continued walking, both of us inside our own thoughts. Although I was pretty sure I knew what occupied our minds.

There was almost a lightness to me once we started our ritual. Every night we’d tell a story, usually a funny one. Grandma and Grandpa would break out their old photo albums and I’d be amazed at how similar I looked to Teen Mom.

It had taken me a long time to open up to Chase about Mom. But now I found it easier to talk about her. I’d even mentioned her a few times to Liam.

“She sounds brilliant,” Liam said as he drove us around the peninsula.

“She was.” I took in the breathtaking views. It didn’t matter that I’d been there for over a month; I still hadn’t gotten used to the sheer magnitude of the beauty.

“By the way, you should’ve come last night.” Liam glanced at me. “It was great crack.”

I was stunned into silence.

He started laughing. “Oh, relax, Yank, it’s C-R-A-I-C. Craic means good fun, conversation, atmosphere. Did ya think we were doing drugs?”

“No, of course not.” Although I totally had.

“Here we are.” Liam pulled off to the side of the road. We were surrounded by lush green hills. And down below, we could make out the tiny town of Dingle.

“It’s gorgeous.”

“You haven’t seen anything yet.” Liam led me to another rocky hill, which had a small waterfall flowing into it. “What do you think?”

I started to carefully climb up the rocks. “It’s amazing. Thank you so much.”

“Well, I plan on you giving me the ultimate American tour when I come to the States.”

I turned around to say something to him when my foot missed the rock. Before I knew it, I was ankle deep in mud.

“No!” I pulled my foot out, but it was too late. My entire canvas shoe was covered.

Liam jumped up to help me back down. “Well, that won’t do.” He bent down and removed my shoe. I was horrified by my clumsiness. He went over to a shallow puddle of water and started cleaning off the mud. I could do nothing but stand there with my one foot off the ground, hoping I wouldn’t fall over from my lack of balance.

The shoe was considerably cleaner, yet it was soaking wet. We both stared at my dripping, dirty shoe, before Liam shrugged and took both his shoes off. “You know the saying, when in Dingle …”