side?
Daniel dropped my suitcase and froze in mock shock. “Zoe Solomon is a free agent? Figures that I’m taken now. Because I know if I weren’t, you’d be panting to date me.”
I laughed. Danny Marx had elicited my first smile in eight hours.
“And it’s Daniel now,” he said. “I stopped being Danny when I turned the tassle on my high school cap.”
“Ah, yes,” I said in my best Queen’s English. “Daniel it is.”
“Daniel is an architect now,” he said. “What do you think of that? Class clown Danny Marx ended up doing pretty well, eh? My firm opened a New York City office a few months ago, and I volunteered to transfer and voilà. ”
“Very impressive,” I agreed. “I remember you used to draw buildings all the time. Tall, New York buildings.”
His eyes lit up. “Zoe Solomon remembers anything about me? Unbelievable. Next you’ll tell me you always had a secret crush on me in high school.”
“No such luck,” I said, grinning. “I remember the drawings because I always dreamed of moving to New York one day, and you used to draw New York.”
“Well, fancy that,” he said as we followed a throng of people toward the exit. “And here you are.”
“Well, I’m not really here. I’m chasing after my mother. Ah, it’s a long story.”
He glanced at his watch. “Well, my friend’s flight is delayed a half hour, so I’ve got time for a long story.”
“My parents got divorced last year,” I said. “Another woman.”
Daniel nodded. “That’s what got my parents. A long time ago, though.”
“Well, now my father’s marrying that other woman, and my mother flipped when she saw the engagement announcement. My father actually sent her one. He was married to the woman for twenty-five years and didn’t know her well enough not to do that?”
“Sounds like he just got caught up in his own excitement,” Daniel said. “It was pretty insensitive, though.”
“My mother thought so too. And she flew out yesterday to destroy his life. Or so she said.”
Daniel laughed. “I always liked your mother. Very theatrical.”
“How do you know my mom?” I asked.
“Are you forgetting that I was an esteemed member of the Desmond Hills High School’s thespian group?”
Ah. My mother had been a little too involved in my school. She was assistant director and head set designer for the drama club, which I had never joined for that reason. Couldn’t act, sing, dance or memorize lines, for that matter. I’d graduated from Desmond Hills eight years ago, yet she still donated her time to the school.
“Do you know where she’s staying?” he asked. “I’m sure you’ll be able to talk some sense into her. I remember Mrs. Solomon as being very dramatic but ultimately reasonable. One year we did Romeo and Juliet, and your mother spent an hour trying to convince the head director to let them live at the end. She’s just a romantic, Zoe. Maybe once she sees that your dad is happy, she’ll back off.”
“I don’t know about that,” I said. “My father’s happiness isn’t number one with her. And I don’t know where she’s staying. I don’t even know where to look.”
“I’d look in your father’s closets,” Daniel said.
I laughed. “That’s probably exactly where she is.”
“Hey, can I hire you while you’re in town?” he asked.
“Hire me? I thought you said you were taken.”
“Well, I am, sort of,” he said. “She’s on the way to becoming my girlfriend, but she’s not there yet.”
“And what’s stopping her?”
“A lack of serious interest in me,” Daniel said.
I laughed again. “Well, that would stop her, yes.”
“We’ve gone out a few times and I really like her,” he said, “but you know when someone’s being halfhearted and ambivalent. Even a dolt like me knows.”
“Your ambivalence isn’t exactly confidence-building, Zoe,” Charlie had said a few times. “You’re halfhearted about us.”
“I’m not,” I would tell him.
Daniel dropped my suitcase and froze in mock shock. “Zoe Solomon is a free agent? Figures that I’m taken now. Because I know if I weren’t, you’d be panting to date me.”
I laughed. Danny Marx had elicited my first smile in eight hours.
“And it’s Daniel now,” he said. “I stopped being Danny when I turned the tassle on my high school cap.”
“Ah, yes,” I said in my best Queen’s English. “Daniel it is.”
“Daniel is an architect now,” he said. “What do you think of that? Class clown Danny Marx ended up doing pretty well, eh? My firm opened a New York City office a few months ago, and I volunteered to transfer and voilà. ”
“Very impressive,” I agreed. “I remember you used to draw buildings all the time. Tall, New York buildings.”
His eyes lit up. “Zoe Solomon remembers anything about me? Unbelievable. Next you’ll tell me you always had a secret crush on me in high school.”
“No such luck,” I said, grinning. “I remember the drawings because I always dreamed of moving to New York one day, and you used to draw New York.”
“Well, fancy that,” he said as we followed a throng of people toward the exit. “And here you are.”
“Well, I’m not really here. I’m chasing after my mother. Ah, it’s a long story.”
He glanced at his watch. “Well, my friend’s flight is delayed a half hour, so I’ve got time for a long story.”
“My parents got divorced last year,” I said. “Another woman.”
Daniel nodded. “That’s what got my parents. A long time ago, though.”
“Well, now my father’s marrying that other woman, and my mother flipped when she saw the engagement announcement. My father actually sent her one. He was married to the woman for twenty-five years and didn’t know her well enough not to do that?”
“Sounds like he just got caught up in his own excitement,” Daniel said. “It was pretty insensitive, though.”
“My mother thought so too. And she flew out yesterday to destroy his life. Or so she said.”
Daniel laughed. “I always liked your mother. Very theatrical.”
“How do you know my mom?” I asked.
“Are you forgetting that I was an esteemed member of the Desmond Hills High School’s thespian group?”
Ah. My mother had been a little too involved in my school. She was assistant director and head set designer for the drama club, which I had never joined for that reason. Couldn’t act, sing, dance or memorize lines, for that matter. I’d graduated from Desmond Hills eight years ago, yet she still donated her time to the school.
“Do you know where she’s staying?” he asked. “I’m sure you’ll be able to talk some sense into her. I remember Mrs. Solomon as being very dramatic but ultimately reasonable. One year we did Romeo and Juliet, and your mother spent an hour trying to convince the head director to let them live at the end. She’s just a romantic, Zoe. Maybe once she sees that your dad is happy, she’ll back off.”
“I don’t know about that,” I said. “My father’s happiness isn’t number one with her. And I don’t know where she’s staying. I don’t even know where to look.”
“I’d look in your father’s closets,” Daniel said.
I laughed. “That’s probably exactly where she is.”
“Hey, can I hire you while you’re in town?” he asked.
“Hire me? I thought you said you were taken.”
“Well, I am, sort of,” he said. “She’s on the way to becoming my girlfriend, but she’s not there yet.”
“And what’s stopping her?”
“A lack of serious interest in me,” Daniel said.
I laughed again. “Well, that would stop her, yes.”
“We’ve gone out a few times and I really like her,” he said, “but you know when someone’s being halfhearted and ambivalent. Even a dolt like me knows.”
“Your ambivalence isn’t exactly confidence-building, Zoe,” Charlie had said a few times. “You’re halfhearted about us.”
“I’m not,” I would tell him.
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