here and there. I'll be almost the way I was, just better.”
“These aren't small changes; it's a total transformation. Whip won't like it. Nor will Alex.” I returned the paper.
Merry folded it in quarters and tucked it into her purse.
“Em's already cast her vote.”
“You'll look like a stranger.” Emilie turned her back on her mother.
“You'd better have a long talk with Whip. You guys should decide this together.”
“It's my face. I can do with it as I please. Besides, Dr. Hunter said Whip will love the new me.”
“How does he know? Is he clairvoyant? He met Whip, what, twice? Does he know him well enough to make such a statement?”
“Get off my goddamned back.” Merry climbed into the passenger seat of the Infiniti. I looked at Emilie in the rearview mirror; she just rolled her eyes and shrugged. I noticed a bead of sweat on her upper lip.
I maneuvered onto I-95 and headed home. It'd take us almost an hour to reach Riverbend without traffic, but we'd been in the doctor's office so long we hit an early rush hour backup. I swore under my breath. The cars ahead of us were at a virtual dead stop.
Since we had time on our hands and Merry was captive, I grilled her. The more questions I asked, the vaguer her answers became. When she said it was up to Dr. Hunter to decide what to do and when, I lost it.
“Why are you so mad?”
“Because you don't know what all he's going to do. You don't know in what order. You don't know how long you'll have to recuperate between procedures.” More accusations stuck to the roof of my mouth. I honked when a Lexus cut me off. “You have no idea how long it's going to take from beginning to end.”
“It's none of your business.”
“That's not true. Until I go home, it's very much my business. Talk to Whip. You're going against his wishes.”
“I will. Just shut up.”
I didn't know who I wanted to flip off more, Merry or the stupid man in the silver Lexus. He was talking on his cell and holding a cigarette. Does he have a third hand?
“I want to look perfect. I'm going to be perfect. Nothing you say will make me change my mind.” Merry stared out the window.
“I don't like him,” Emilie chimed in. “He's fangy and creeps me out.”
Merry slipped a pill into her mouth. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the seat. I'd lost her again.
I delivered Alex to the bus for computer camp on the first and spent over twelve hours driving Emilie to yoga camp outside of Asheville, North Carolina. On the way home, I couldn't get Merry's desire to look twenty-one again out of my mind. Lord knew, that was all she talked about.
Now the three of us sat in chairs along the James, waiting for the annual fireworks show to begin.
“I don't want to come home and find a stranger. I want to come home to my wife.”
Merry turned away from Whip. “I want to be twenty-one again.”
Be? Not look? Where had that come from?
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
One night, about two weeks after Merry's first surgery, I lay in bed engrossed in a hair-raising Michael Connelly murder mystery when someone tapped on my bedroom door.
“Yes?”
“It's me,” Emilie whispered. “Sorry to interrupt your reading.”
“Come in, dear child.” I shifted my pillows higher and motioned for her to climb in on the other side of the bed. “Why are you awake so late?”
Emilie pushed and plumped pillows until she found the right mix. She wriggled into the pile and pulled the coverlet up.
“I don't feel right.”
I placed a hand on her forehead. Cool. No fever. “Do you feel ill?”
“No. It's Mom. She's all wrong inside.”
“How?”
“Well, since Mom woke up from the coma, she's been all wrong.”
I knew both kids resented being shut out.
“Help me understand. You ‘feel’ things I don't. Tell me what it's like so I can get it.”
I put an arm around Emilie and tried to snuggle, but her shoulders were rigid. I massaged her neck to see if I could get her to relax. It
“These aren't small changes; it's a total transformation. Whip won't like it. Nor will Alex.” I returned the paper.
Merry folded it in quarters and tucked it into her purse.
“Em's already cast her vote.”
“You'll look like a stranger.” Emilie turned her back on her mother.
“You'd better have a long talk with Whip. You guys should decide this together.”
“It's my face. I can do with it as I please. Besides, Dr. Hunter said Whip will love the new me.”
“How does he know? Is he clairvoyant? He met Whip, what, twice? Does he know him well enough to make such a statement?”
“Get off my goddamned back.” Merry climbed into the passenger seat of the Infiniti. I looked at Emilie in the rearview mirror; she just rolled her eyes and shrugged. I noticed a bead of sweat on her upper lip.
I maneuvered onto I-95 and headed home. It'd take us almost an hour to reach Riverbend without traffic, but we'd been in the doctor's office so long we hit an early rush hour backup. I swore under my breath. The cars ahead of us were at a virtual dead stop.
Since we had time on our hands and Merry was captive, I grilled her. The more questions I asked, the vaguer her answers became. When she said it was up to Dr. Hunter to decide what to do and when, I lost it.
“Why are you so mad?”
“Because you don't know what all he's going to do. You don't know in what order. You don't know how long you'll have to recuperate between procedures.” More accusations stuck to the roof of my mouth. I honked when a Lexus cut me off. “You have no idea how long it's going to take from beginning to end.”
“It's none of your business.”
“That's not true. Until I go home, it's very much my business. Talk to Whip. You're going against his wishes.”
“I will. Just shut up.”
I didn't know who I wanted to flip off more, Merry or the stupid man in the silver Lexus. He was talking on his cell and holding a cigarette. Does he have a third hand?
“I want to look perfect. I'm going to be perfect. Nothing you say will make me change my mind.” Merry stared out the window.
“I don't like him,” Emilie chimed in. “He's fangy and creeps me out.”
Merry slipped a pill into her mouth. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the seat. I'd lost her again.
I delivered Alex to the bus for computer camp on the first and spent over twelve hours driving Emilie to yoga camp outside of Asheville, North Carolina. On the way home, I couldn't get Merry's desire to look twenty-one again out of my mind. Lord knew, that was all she talked about.
Now the three of us sat in chairs along the James, waiting for the annual fireworks show to begin.
“I don't want to come home and find a stranger. I want to come home to my wife.”
Merry turned away from Whip. “I want to be twenty-one again.”
Be? Not look? Where had that come from?
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
One night, about two weeks after Merry's first surgery, I lay in bed engrossed in a hair-raising Michael Connelly murder mystery when someone tapped on my bedroom door.
“Yes?”
“It's me,” Emilie whispered. “Sorry to interrupt your reading.”
“Come in, dear child.” I shifted my pillows higher and motioned for her to climb in on the other side of the bed. “Why are you awake so late?”
Emilie pushed and plumped pillows until she found the right mix. She wriggled into the pile and pulled the coverlet up.
“I don't feel right.”
I placed a hand on her forehead. Cool. No fever. “Do you feel ill?”
“No. It's Mom. She's all wrong inside.”
“How?”
“Well, since Mom woke up from the coma, she's been all wrong.”
I knew both kids resented being shut out.
“Help me understand. You ‘feel’ things I don't. Tell me what it's like so I can get it.”
I put an arm around Emilie and tried to snuggle, but her shoulders were rigid. I massaged her neck to see if I could get her to relax. It
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