“I reminded him. He says he will try to make it home by dessert. He never remembers how long the train takes from Center City.”
Anita swirled the golden liquid in her wineglass, then lifted it to her nose and inhaled deeply. Her mother had impeccable taste in wine. Besides, the alcohol might soften the tension in her shoulders. “Mmm, what’s for dessert?”
Marina winked, a wicked grin crossing her features. “It’s a surprise.”
That meant chocolate, the cure for basically any ill. Thank goodness for her mother.
“Come on.” Marina picked up her glass. “Dinner’s on the table. You must be hungry after working all day.”
They sat together in the breakfast nook, surrounded by tall glass windows on all sides that let in the view of the verdant and elegantly landscaped backyard. There in the corner was theapple tree that did not grow apples but had branches long and lean. Anita used to recline in those branches to read. And there were the rosebushes Patrick and their ballroom club friends Tina and Louise had once chopped too eagerly, deadheading the robust blooms and causing Marina to blanch like a ghost.
“How’s work?” Marina asked.
Anita sipped at her warm, citrusy soup. Heaven. Weird letters and uncomfortable emotions about her best friend were easier to shove down deep when well-fed. “It’s good. Busy. There’s a Saturday dance I have to coordinate next weekend. Toni’s been at me to add more Zumba and athletic classes, and Ricardo is pretty much booked solid.”
Marina broke off a piece of olive bread. “Isn’t the Keystone coming up soon? You must be disappointed, since that awful man left you high and dry.” Her mother never could quite bring herself to say Mikhail’s name. Anita suspected it stemmed from the time he declined to eat her homemade souvlaki because she could not guarantee it was gluten-free.
She should definitely have known.
“It isn’t Mikhail’s fault, Mom. He found another partner. And we wanted different things, anyway.” She pushed her spoon around the bowl of soup.
“Still.” Marina huffed and refilled her daughter’s glass. “You love the Keystone. I’m sure some of your students are going. At least you can do that.”
Anita swallowed, the soup burning the back of her throat slightly. Of course, her mother would have asked. If only her dad had been there to demean her life choices. “Well, actually, Mom, I—I found a partner for the Keystone.”
Marina’s spoon clattered in her soup bowl, and she nearly pushed her wineglass into the loaf of bread. “You did?! That’s wonderful! Who is it? Tell me all about it.”
“Um, well, it’s—it’s Patrick.” Anita could not meet her mother’s eyes. How had Anita Goodman come to need such pity from her best friend? She had worked so hard, had been nationally ranked in high school and college. “He volunteered, you know. I think we are going to do Latin. I mean, his Standard is excellent, but he has more of a feel for the Latin choreo, and—”
Her mom’s warm hand covered her own, and Anita finally lifted her eyes. To her surprise, Marina’s face was lit by an enormous smile, and tears glistened in her almond-shaped eyes. Her legendary smile creased her entire face from lips to forehead to pixie ears.
“This is the best news I have heard in a very long time, my Anita.” Marina slapped the table and raised her eyes to Heaven. “Thank goodness! Finally. You have a partner you like, who likes you. This is excellent news!”
Anita whipped her hand away from her mom and hid it on her lap. “Wait, what? I’ve always liked my partners, Mom.”
Marina waved a hand and rolled her eyes. “Oh, please, Anita. I am your mother. I know.”
“Mikhail and I were practically living together.”
“He was using you, because you are better dancer than he.” When Marina was on a roll, her accent deepened. “Don’t deny, you never really liked him. I do not know why, but you never think you deserve someone good, and you use these other men to deny the fact that Patrick is in love with you.”
Anita sat dumbstruck.
“Don’t look at me like that, love.” Marina sipped her wine. “I think you think you know it, too. Which is why you never agree to dance with Patrick before. You are scared. But love, love like that, it is the only thing worth having in this world. But you have to take risks for things that are worthwhile. Love should not be convenient.”
Anita’s mouth had gone completely dry. Where was the bottle of Sancerre? She could not deal with the deluge of maternal wisdom with an empty glass. Besides, she was wrong. One hundred percent wrong.
Her parents had met when he was a study-abroad exchange student at Cambridge, and they “were like struck by thunder,” according to Marina. She followed him back to the United States, married him, and finished her own education in his hometown of Philadelphia. She had gotten a job as a second-grade teacher to support him through medical school and residency.
Not everyone had such a fairytale romance. Anita had certainly never cracked the code.
“Mom, no. Patrick is my friend. Keystone is in just three weeks. It’s insane. He is insane, for agreeing to do this. It has absolutely nothing to do with love.” She had at least liked her other partners. Hadn’t she? Tyler had a slight mirror obsession, and Giorgio had refused to wear deodorant, but those were not really deal breakers. Particularly if someone did not have time to date outside their profession.
Marina rolled her eyes dramatically. Anita had never been to Cyprus, but her mother certainly did an excellent caricature of herself. “My darling Anita, you are so smart, but you have always refused to see what is right in front of you. Any way you wish to see it, this is a good thing. You will go to Keystone, finally realize you are perfect for each other, and then finally your father and I will have our grandbabies.” She clapped her hands together once and did a smallopadance in her seat.
Anita sighed. At least soon there would be chocolate. There was no use arguing with her mother when she got on a rant like this. It only made things worse.
****
