you’ll ever kiss again? I mean, isn’t that a little scary?
She had me on the ropes with that. Of course, I had thought about it. Over the past few years, Loretta had only delivered the perfunctory variety of kisses—skin stretched over teeth—but that lack of wild passion wasn’t something that had kept me awake at night. I had grown accustomed to what we had and didn’t have.
Look, of course I have wondered what it would be like to sleep with someone else. I’ve been wondering about it intensely for the past few minutes. But that’s what you get when you sign on for marriage — that old till death do us part thing, you know? Virtue is its own reward crap? And, then there’s the office problem. You just can’t have an affair with someone who works for you — remember Monica? There are laws — stupid laws — but laws.
Well, I say bull to all that and I think I’d like the chocolate cheesecake with chocolate sauce and whipped cream and a double espresso.
Amy, you are the most desirable of all women but this is the wrong time and the wrong situation....
Like the song, right? Okay, enough said. For now, anyway .
I put my fork and knife on my plate and smiled. She was right but she’d never hear me admit it. I had my high moral ground staked out and I wasn’t about to budge.
Had Amy ever called? No. Had anyone? Only Loretta when she didn’t want to act like a parent. I rarely saw Alex. Loretta saw to that. I was alone. Maybe that was the way things were meant to be.
SIX
BOATHOUSE
“SO, this is what two hundred thousand dollars buys today? A gentrified but ramshackle two-bedroom carriage house in the old village?” I said.
“Linda! Look! It’s got a view of the harbor,” Mimi said.
“Yeah, if I hang out the window by my knees, lean to the left and risk my life. . . .”
“And, the kitchen’s bright and sunny!” the broker said.
“If you overlook the flocked metallic neon wallpaper,” I mumbled.
“I’ll repaper the kitchen for you,” Mimi said. “Hey! We can teach the girls to hang wallpaper! These are good things to know.”
I wasn’t even sure if Mimi had heard me. She was lost in dreams of feathering the perfect nest for her sister and her two nieces, one she visualized and decorated, a home whose door held a wreath for every season, accented with beautifully varnished pinecones, satin wired bows stretched like arms to welcome all comers, and lush pots of flowers and ferns on the stoop, clean gutters, swept porches, lavenderscented pillows and linen closets. All I would need to complete her vision was a Labrador—a big black one with a long pink tongue, named Beauregard to honor one of our most auspicious Confederate generals.
I watched her for a few minutes—her laser eye like a measuring tape, already calculating yardage for kitchen curtains. And, would the trim be ball fringe or rickrack? For all her good intentions, I was afraid the answer was no. It would be neither one.
“Mimi?”
“Yeah, baby?”
Her smile was so loving and generous, it would be hard to say that I didn’t adore her, even when it was obvious she meant to position me front and center in her life. I should have been more grateful for the attention, and I was grateful. It was just that Mimi had yet to grasp that I wasn’t coming home to retire or that I felt defeated in the least. I was coming here for a fresh start, mainly because I was sick to death of the miserable winters and I wanted Gracie to see the world from another point of view. But her nurturing, while unexpected, was actually, in small doses, rather nice.
“I gotta go to work,” I said again, and smiled at her.
“I’ll follow you out,” she said and turned to the broker. “This is sweet? But, um, I think we probably want at least three bedrooms, you know what I’m talking about?”
“Uh-huh,” said the broker, nodding, “I’ll call y’all if anything new comes on the market.”
“Too small?” Mimi said, after the
She had me on the ropes with that. Of course, I had thought about it. Over the past few years, Loretta had only delivered the perfunctory variety of kisses—skin stretched over teeth—but that lack of wild passion wasn’t something that had kept me awake at night. I had grown accustomed to what we had and didn’t have.
Look, of course I have wondered what it would be like to sleep with someone else. I’ve been wondering about it intensely for the past few minutes. But that’s what you get when you sign on for marriage — that old till death do us part thing, you know? Virtue is its own reward crap? And, then there’s the office problem. You just can’t have an affair with someone who works for you — remember Monica? There are laws — stupid laws — but laws.
Well, I say bull to all that and I think I’d like the chocolate cheesecake with chocolate sauce and whipped cream and a double espresso.
Amy, you are the most desirable of all women but this is the wrong time and the wrong situation....
Like the song, right? Okay, enough said. For now, anyway .
I put my fork and knife on my plate and smiled. She was right but she’d never hear me admit it. I had my high moral ground staked out and I wasn’t about to budge.
Had Amy ever called? No. Had anyone? Only Loretta when she didn’t want to act like a parent. I rarely saw Alex. Loretta saw to that. I was alone. Maybe that was the way things were meant to be.
SIX
BOATHOUSE
“SO, this is what two hundred thousand dollars buys today? A gentrified but ramshackle two-bedroom carriage house in the old village?” I said.
“Linda! Look! It’s got a view of the harbor,” Mimi said.
“Yeah, if I hang out the window by my knees, lean to the left and risk my life. . . .”
“And, the kitchen’s bright and sunny!” the broker said.
“If you overlook the flocked metallic neon wallpaper,” I mumbled.
“I’ll repaper the kitchen for you,” Mimi said. “Hey! We can teach the girls to hang wallpaper! These are good things to know.”
I wasn’t even sure if Mimi had heard me. She was lost in dreams of feathering the perfect nest for her sister and her two nieces, one she visualized and decorated, a home whose door held a wreath for every season, accented with beautifully varnished pinecones, satin wired bows stretched like arms to welcome all comers, and lush pots of flowers and ferns on the stoop, clean gutters, swept porches, lavenderscented pillows and linen closets. All I would need to complete her vision was a Labrador—a big black one with a long pink tongue, named Beauregard to honor one of our most auspicious Confederate generals.
I watched her for a few minutes—her laser eye like a measuring tape, already calculating yardage for kitchen curtains. And, would the trim be ball fringe or rickrack? For all her good intentions, I was afraid the answer was no. It would be neither one.
“Mimi?”
“Yeah, baby?”
Her smile was so loving and generous, it would be hard to say that I didn’t adore her, even when it was obvious she meant to position me front and center in her life. I should have been more grateful for the attention, and I was grateful. It was just that Mimi had yet to grasp that I wasn’t coming home to retire or that I felt defeated in the least. I was coming here for a fresh start, mainly because I was sick to death of the miserable winters and I wanted Gracie to see the world from another point of view. But her nurturing, while unexpected, was actually, in small doses, rather nice.
“I gotta go to work,” I said again, and smiled at her.
“I’ll follow you out,” she said and turned to the broker. “This is sweet? But, um, I think we probably want at least three bedrooms, you know what I’m talking about?”
“Uh-huh,” said the broker, nodding, “I’ll call y’all if anything new comes on the market.”
“Too small?” Mimi said, after the
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