office.”
“Hell!”
“I put some in the picnic basket, just in case.”
“I guess that’ll show me. Women’s rights, and all.”
“Yep.” Shesnuggled into him
.
“Since we’re equal partners in this, let me know when you’re ready again, babe.”
“Okay. I like cuddling, too.”
He never had. But tonight was different. He savored her nearness, the feel of her naked body. Just staring at the stars with her. But then her hands got busy stripping off the rest of his clothes and retrieving another condom.
It was a long time beforethey talked again.
Chapter 9
On Saturday night, Donuta stood before the mirror and her eyes widened. “I do not even resemble myself,
corka
.”
Magdalena, the most sophisticated of her children and the most discreet, smiled at her from where she lay on the bed. Even lounging in the house, this daughter wore a copper silk top and pants to match. Her eyes glowed with the color. “You looklike who you were,
Matka
.”
“When I was young.” She touched her hair. “I did not even know it would curl this way.”
“And the makeup I forced you to wear is just right.”
“It does flatter me. And the dress. Beautiful but too expensive.”
“Gerald will appreciate it. That’s enough.”
When the man had asked Donuta to go to the private screening of a new Broadway show,
All of Me
, andthe after party,
Matka
had said no. Gently, Gerald had told her if she didn’t have anything to wear, his assistant would help her pick something out and he’d pay for it. She’d given him her best haughty look, the one she’d used to face down Stash, her Old World husband, many times.
I would never allow that. I am thinking about the
logistics
, I believe is the right word.
In what way?
Getting there, getting home.
I have a car for all that.
Perhaps I would rather stay in Manhattan with one of my daughters.
Anything to get you to come.
All right. And I will take care of my appearance…
“I wish you’d let me pay for the dress.” Magdalena had offered, of course.
“I have money. Enough for this, but it is extravagant.” Donuta remembered going without new clothesfor years to provide them for the children. “You paid for this hairdo, which I fancy, and”—she held up her finger—“this frivolous but lovely manicure.”
The doorbell to Magdalena’s home buzzed. “He’s here.” She watched her mother as she rose. “Are you nervous?”
“I was nervous when I flew to America by myself to marry your father. When Lukasz got shot. When Sofia was diagnosed. This, mychild, is nothing.” “
Kocham ciebie
,” Magdalena said to her.
“I love you, too.”
Gerald was handsome as sin in his tuxedo. The sight of him made Donuta’s pulse quicken. At sixty-five? She chided herself for her self-doubts. She wasn’t dead yet.
“I’m speechless,” Gerald said when he saw her. “You are lovely, Donuta, when you want to be.”
She shook her head. “It is not important tome.”
He kissed her cheek. “That makes how you look even more special.”
They rode to the play in his town car—with a driver! At the theater, their seats were in draped boxes along the side wall. Donuta enjoyed the story about a working-class woman trying to make it on Broadway. A famous movie actor starred as the father, though she didn’t know him because she rarely went to films. The partyafterward was held in the penthouse of one of the patrons.
Dazzled by the glitter and glamour of the guests mingling in the huge space, Donuta accepted a glass of champagne from the waiter, then turned to search for Gerald. Instead, her eye caught on someone familiar. It took her a moment to realize it was Adam Armstrong. The man who was sweeping Paulina off her feet.
oOo
“Where’s
Matka
?” Ben asked. “I’m hungry. “She said she’d fix me pancakes today before church.”
Nia sighed. “We overslept and missed church. And
Matka
had…plans last night so she stayed with Aunt
“Hell!”
“I put some in the picnic basket, just in case.”
“I guess that’ll show me. Women’s rights, and all.”
“Yep.” Shesnuggled into him
.
“Since we’re equal partners in this, let me know when you’re ready again, babe.”
“Okay. I like cuddling, too.”
He never had. But tonight was different. He savored her nearness, the feel of her naked body. Just staring at the stars with her. But then her hands got busy stripping off the rest of his clothes and retrieving another condom.
It was a long time beforethey talked again.
Chapter 9
On Saturday night, Donuta stood before the mirror and her eyes widened. “I do not even resemble myself,
corka
.”
Magdalena, the most sophisticated of her children and the most discreet, smiled at her from where she lay on the bed. Even lounging in the house, this daughter wore a copper silk top and pants to match. Her eyes glowed with the color. “You looklike who you were,
Matka
.”
“When I was young.” She touched her hair. “I did not even know it would curl this way.”
“And the makeup I forced you to wear is just right.”
“It does flatter me. And the dress. Beautiful but too expensive.”
“Gerald will appreciate it. That’s enough.”
When the man had asked Donuta to go to the private screening of a new Broadway show,
All of Me
, andthe after party,
Matka
had said no. Gently, Gerald had told her if she didn’t have anything to wear, his assistant would help her pick something out and he’d pay for it. She’d given him her best haughty look, the one she’d used to face down Stash, her Old World husband, many times.
I would never allow that. I am thinking about the
logistics
, I believe is the right word.
In what way?
Getting there, getting home.
I have a car for all that.
Perhaps I would rather stay in Manhattan with one of my daughters.
Anything to get you to come.
All right. And I will take care of my appearance…
“I wish you’d let me pay for the dress.” Magdalena had offered, of course.
“I have money. Enough for this, but it is extravagant.” Donuta remembered going without new clothesfor years to provide them for the children. “You paid for this hairdo, which I fancy, and”—she held up her finger—“this frivolous but lovely manicure.”
The doorbell to Magdalena’s home buzzed. “He’s here.” She watched her mother as she rose. “Are you nervous?”
“I was nervous when I flew to America by myself to marry your father. When Lukasz got shot. When Sofia was diagnosed. This, mychild, is nothing.” “
Kocham ciebie
,” Magdalena said to her.
“I love you, too.”
Gerald was handsome as sin in his tuxedo. The sight of him made Donuta’s pulse quicken. At sixty-five? She chided herself for her self-doubts. She wasn’t dead yet.
“I’m speechless,” Gerald said when he saw her. “You are lovely, Donuta, when you want to be.”
She shook her head. “It is not important tome.”
He kissed her cheek. “That makes how you look even more special.”
They rode to the play in his town car—with a driver! At the theater, their seats were in draped boxes along the side wall. Donuta enjoyed the story about a working-class woman trying to make it on Broadway. A famous movie actor starred as the father, though she didn’t know him because she rarely went to films. The partyafterward was held in the penthouse of one of the patrons.
Dazzled by the glitter and glamour of the guests mingling in the huge space, Donuta accepted a glass of champagne from the waiter, then turned to search for Gerald. Instead, her eye caught on someone familiar. It took her a moment to realize it was Adam Armstrong. The man who was sweeping Paulina off her feet.
oOo
“Where’s
Matka
?” Ben asked. “I’m hungry. “She said she’d fix me pancakes today before church.”
Nia sighed. “We overslept and missed church. And
Matka
had…plans last night so she stayed with Aunt
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