– How is that possible? You sold it without my permission? – Larisa Petrovna screamed, no longer holding back her emotions. – How could you, Grisha? I didn’t expect that from you!
– Mom, why are you shouting? Yes, that’s how it happened. A buyer was found quickly. And we urgently needed money. You know, Alla is starting her own business. So what, we had to wait until you came home from the sanatorium to ask you if you were against selling our dacha? Is that it? – Grigory argued with his mother indignantly.
– How can this be, son? After all, I have so many memories associated with this house! – Larisa Petrovna continued offendedly. – And you do too. And it wouldn’t hurt to consult!
“Mom, I’ve already explained everything to you,” Grigory said with annoyance and hung up.
Larisa Petrovna was indignant. Lately she felt unwanted and abandoned. Some kind of outcast in her family. And she, her son’s young wife Alla, was to blame for everything.
It was with her appearance that Grisha became completely different and absolutely ignored all his mother’s desires and aspirations.
And today the woman felt completely unnecessary. Moreover, she was upset by the latest news.
When her husband Dmitry insisted on giving Grigory, their only son, his parents’ old dacha as a wedding present, she was against it. But her husband was adamant, and Larisa had to give in.
– Dima, they’ll sell it on the second day! Don’t you feel sorry for this house, it’s a memory of your parents, of your childhood? – she argued with her husband.
– Larisa, why are you clinging to this house? You and I don’t need anything anymore except our apartment. And let the young people decide for themselves whether they will live there or sell it. We haven’t saved up enough money to give our son a good present. So we’ll give him a dacha for the wedding. And that’s it, don’t argue with me. That’s what I decided.
And now, five years after the wedding, the son told his mother that he had sold her beloved dacha. If Dmitry were alive, he would not have approved of his son’s decision. Larisa Petrovna was sure of it.
This dacha was simply wonderful! A wooden two-story house with large windows, a light glassed-in veranda and two balconies, as well as wooden carvings on the facade, was located in a village of scientists. Nearby was a pine forest and a large lake.
Once upon a time, right after their wedding, young Larisa and Dmitry lived there for some time. And Larisa Petrovna always remembered those days as the most magical in her life. There was no need to go to any resorts – everything was there!
And nature in all its beauty, and a quiet village with polite and friendly neighbors, and natural products – milk, sour cream, cottage cheese and eggs, ripe aromatic strawberries and pimply crisp cucumbers, which were brought to the summer residents for sale by residents of a neighboring village located a couple of kilometers from the village.
Larisa Petrovna’s father-in-law was some great scientist, and her husband inherited this dacha from his father.
It was there that Larisa once learned that she would soon become a mother. Yes, the memories associated with the dacha were the best.
At first, Larisa Petrovna was happy in her heart that her daughter-in-law Alla, this affected and arrogant person, did not show much interest in the gift from her father-in-law and mother-in-law. She rarely came to the dacha with their son. And there was no question at all about staying there overnight or even living for a week or two away from the bustle of the city. She did not like nature, as she often admitted to her husband’s parents.
– I am a child of the city and I love it immensely. I get bored in nature, and to be honest, it’s uncomfortable – the heat, the dust, those horrible insects. No, no! Only comfort and coziness. And air conditioning! – Alla said, waving her small, neatly manicured hand.
Larisa Petrovna continued to go to the dacha, first with her husband, and after his death – alone. And in her heart she rightfully considered this dacha hers. And she was even sure that one day her son would say that he was giving this house to his mother so that she could spend the rest of her days there, in peace and quiet.
Larisa Petrovna often invited her friend Margarita there to visit, to live with her in peace and quiet, to take a break from the hustle and bustle and worries.
– You have a nice dacha, Larochka, a rich one. If you sell it, you can get good money. Nowadays, such old, solid houses are very expensive. Moreover, the nature here is better than at any resort. And there are few people, which is also important, – the friend said authoritatively.
– No, we won’t sell it. Why? It’s so nice here. And this house is dear to us, – Larisa answered her friend.
And she already dreamed about how she, having once become the sole owner of this house, would live here permanently. Receiving guests, friends and relatives, and maybe even renting out part of the house in order to have a good increase in her pension, which the woman had recently received and was very upset by its size.
If it weren’t for her daughter-in-law…
Alla was an economist by education. After working in the accounting department of the sports complex for several months before going on maternity leave, she never returned there.
“I can’t work for such a pittance,” Alla boldly declared. “It’s simply humiliating. I didn’t study to vegetate in some miserable accounting office without hope of earning decent money.”
– Well, fine. Stay home with Artyomka. What I earn is enough for now, – Grigory, who worked as a service engineer at one of the city’s developing enterprises, told her.
Alla sat there for a while. But then she got bored. Her son was growing up, he no longer needed such close care and attention from his mother as before. And Alla suddenly decided that she should open a beauty salon.
– That’s it, I’ve got it, dear! I’m going to go into business, – Grigory’s wife happily announced. – We’ll sell our dacha and buy a space for my salon. There’s a suitable one for sale not far from here. And the price is okay, I checked.
“Do you think you can do it?” the husband doubted. “You’ve never done this before.”
– It will work! Am I stupider than others? I’ll find good girls who can do the work. And I have the right education. I just need to sell the dacha quickly. Will you do it? By the way, I’ve already posted an ad. Your number is there, if anything happens, don’t be scared.
– Listen, Alusik, well, it’s a pity about the dacha. After all, it’s not just a house. It’s a memory of my grandparents, and of my father, too. Several generations of my family lived there. Maybe we should take out a loan to open a business and leave the dacha? – Grigory doubted.
– No! No loans! We’ll sell the dacha, it’s worth a decent amount of money. And we’ll have enough for everything. Why feel sorry for it – an old dusty house that smells of mothballs! While you can still get a good sum for it, you have to sell it, Grisha. Who knows, maybe in ten years it will lose all its value. Some oligarch will buy the land there and start building high-rise buildings. Haven’t thought about it? That’s it! I already thought about it.
Alla, as always, was very convincing.
– Mom will be upset… She loves this house so much.
– Nothing will upset her. She has an apartment, and a very nice one at that. And if she wants to work on the land so much, she can rent a small plot of land in a regular gardening association. It is not necessary to use an old dacha worth several tens of millions for this. And then – don’t forget – the dacha belongs to you and me, not your mother! And we don’t need it.
Grigoriy had to hire a truck on his day off to take some furniture and his mother’s things out of the house. Larisa Petrovna was vacationing at a sanatorium on the Black Sea at the time, where her son and daughter-in-law had sent her, giving her a trip for their anniversary.
And now, having returned home from the sea, where she had such a wonderful rest and treatment, Larisa Petrovna learned with horror that the dacha had been sold. And that meant that all her dreams of living in this paradise had been destroyed.
Larisa Petrovna disliked her daughter-in-law even more. It was she who embarrassed Grisha, and he decided to sell the family home.
– Can you imagine, Rita, selling the family estate, such a wonderful house, to open a hairdressing salon! Is it even possible to compare it? – Larisa was indignant in a conversation with her friend.
– So the salon brings in money, and what about your dacha? It’s just sitting there uselessly. So your youth decided that it’s not profitable for them. Nowadays, Larochka, everything is measured in money. People have nothing sacred left. And it’s a pity about the house, yes! We had a wonderful vacation there. Eh…
Larisa rarely visited her son and daughter-in-law now. It was unpleasant and even painful for her to listen to Alla excitedly talking about her salon. About how successful it was, and how everything turned out the way she planned. And clients signed up for a month in advance, and everyone thanked her without fail for opening such a wonderful salon in their area.
– Can you imagine, Grishenka, one of my wealthy clients suggested that I open another outlet. Or maybe even two! You, she says, Allochka, have such taste, such financial intuition – this is the only thing you should do. And also that success awaits me in my business.
– She’s not a gypsy, by any chance, that she wrote everything out for you in advance? – Larisa Petrovna asked sarcastically, who was forced to come to her son today to congratulate her grandson Artyomka on his birthday.
– You shouldn’t laugh. This client is a very influential person and promised to help me with premises for my new salons, – Alla retorted.
– Well, of course. You are businessmen now, all your thoughts are about this. There is nothing sacred left in your soul. Everything is about profit, about wealth. You are even ready to sell the memory of your ancestors, – the mother-in-law continued discontentedly.
– You shouldn’t say that, Larisa Petrovna. What’s wrong with the fact that we will have money, and your grandson will grow up in a well-off family that can give a lot for his development?
“That’s right, all the talk is about money,” the husband’s mother continued.
– Don’t forget that you also enjoy using our help. All these trips to sanatoriums, fresh renovations in the apartment, purchase of new household appliances – none of it would have happened without my money, – Alla proudly said.
That day, the mother-in-law left them again in a bad mood.
– Grisha, why does your mother dislike me so much? I’m trying for the family, for all of us. And for her as well. I understand that she can’t forgive us for selling the dacha. But how much longer can we go on? It’s time to forget and move on.
– You know, Allochka, you need to get her involved in something. Before, she used to go to the country house, get distracted. But now she sits alone in the apartment all day and winds herself up, – Grigory explained.
– Maybe she should join some kind of club? – suggested Grisha’s wife. – After all, there are some for pensioners.
– No, something else is needed here… You see, you need to have common things and interests with her.
“And what are you suggesting – give my mother-in-law the position of administrator in my salon?” Alla was surprised, understanding where her husband was heading.
– A smart wife is a man’s happiness! Well done! That’s exactly what she lacks. Mom will immediately perk up, she will feel needed, necessary to us. She will start looking after herself, she will remember all her business qualities. And how many common topics you will have to discuss! – Grigory said smiling.
– Well, I don’t know. Will your mother agree? – Alla said doubtfully.
– You try it.
Larisa Petrovna was especially sad that day. Her only son didn’t even remember his parents’ anniversary today and didn’t congratulate his mother. She cried and started thinking about how to spend the day.
The bell rang.
– Well, finally! I shouldn’t have thought so badly of my son, – Larisa said out loud, heading for the phone.
But when she picked up the phone, she was surprised.
“What?” she asked, dumbfounded, after listening to her daughter-in-law, who called her to invite her to work at her salon.
– Exactly what you heard, Larisa Petrovna. Agree. You will succeed, – her daughter-in-law began to assure her.
– Well, I… I don’t even know. It’s somehow unexpected, Alla.
– Firstly, I need my own person in the salon to keep order while I’m busy opening new spots. And secondly, all the care for you is free. Hairdo, face and hair masks, massage and many other pleasant procedures, – cooed Alla. – Yes, and I will pay you well, keep that in mind, Larisochka Petrovna.
Half a year passed. Larisa Petrovna was now so busy that she couldn’t even meet with her friend Margarita.
But their meeting did happen, and completely by chance.
– Lara, is that you? – her friend accidentally saw her in the supermarket and was even confused.
– Yes, Rita, I am, – Larisa Petrovna smiled. – I’m in a hurry, really. But I’ll give you a couple of minutes. How are you?
– Oh, what am I saying! You’re completely unrecognizable. Listen, how you’ve changed, you’ve looked younger, my! – Rita couldn’t believe her eyes. – Did the rejuvenating procedures at your daughter-in-law’s salon really work that well?
– And they, of course, too. But that’s not the main thing, – Larisa smiled. – You see, Rita, I felt needed. They need me, and I can be useful. And I like doing all this so much, you can’t imagine!
– What about the house that your daughter-in-law sold? Did she really forgive you? – her friend asked with doubt and envy in her voice.
– I forgave. And forgot. The memory of the past remains in our hearts. And there is no point in clinging to the past. But we must move forward while we are alive. And we can still help our children with something. I wanted to give it all up and take care of my granddaughter – Allochka will soon give birth to a girl for us. But she won’t let me go – no way! She says I can’t survive without such an administrator now. She opened two more salons, she’s so smart!
Ignoring her friend’s sour smile, Larisa hugged her wholeheartedly and ran off to her new happy life.