I nod, trying, and failing, not to smile. “She’s amazing. Really great with the kids.”
Mom’s eyes widen. “She’s met the kids?” she asks, scandalized.
“Yes. Of course,” I say. “Actually… she’s coming to the brunch tomorrow. I hope that’s okay.”
Her mouth opens again, then closes. Opens. Finally, she says, very carefully, “If Lorelie is okay with it.”
I nod, smiling outright now. She told me I couldn’t mess with the party, and I’m not. I’m just messing with the brunch. “She is. She’s bringing a date too.”
“Oh.” My mother actually sways a little.
Right on cue, Harvey appears at her side and steadies her with a hand on her shoulder. “You okay, Mom?”
She nods, eyes never leaving me. “Apparently your brother is bringing a date tomorrow.”
Harvey looks at me, a twinkle lighting his eyes. He knows. Of course he knows.
He nods once. “She’s great.”
My mother snaps her gaze to him. “You’ve met her?”
“Yeah,” he says easily. “They picked me up from the airport.”
I smile to myself.Ipicked him up when he finally flew back last week, that’s also when I told him about Lore and me.
All the tension that used to live in my parents’ faces when Harvey’s name came up evaporated the second they learned why he left, the whole story, start to finish. I guess that’s what happens when you’re the precious firstborn.
Mom exhales slowly, still processing. “Well,” she says faintly. “I suppose… that’s… good.”
I glance back toward the yard, toward Lore, laughing with Gen.
Yeah.
It’s more than good.
The party’s winding down by the time Dad finds me stacking chairs near the fence, the late afternoon sun dipping low enough to make even me droopy. Kids are sticky and exhausted, filing out one by one.
“Son,” Dad says, sitting down on one of the chairs I was just about to pick up.
“Dad,” I say, stopping.
He pats his knee. “I’ve been waiting for this.”
Uh-oh.
“Your mother tells me you’re seeing a new woman.”
I huff out a breath. “Well… not new exactly.”
“Patrick,” Dad says, voice turning serious. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”
Shit. The tone alone makes my stomach drop.
“Dad…” I trail off, suddenly unsure where to start.
He clears his throat; eyes fixed somewhere past the yard. “We love Lorelie. You know that. Like you do.” He pauses. “I don’t know if this… relationship is a rebound. Or if you’re using another woman to make yourself, feel better. Frankly, I don’t care.”
My chest tightens.
