“Hi, Mom.”
Shit.
I half rose in my seat, ready to bolt out of the room to give him some privacy, but Ezra’s hand grabbed my arm in a steel-like grip, and he mouthed,Don’t go.
I sat down again, but I knew that by the time I left Ezra’s apartment, one of us would never be the same.
Chapter Nineteen
I knew Roe didn’t want to be a party to what was to come, but he needed to hear the truth from my mother’s lips.
“I’m putting you on speaker, Mom, since I’m a little busy right now.”
“That’s fine. Your father and I got back from Paris, but I have to say, you should try that retreat. It was life-changing. I know you’ve been doing yoga for years, but to get away from the everyday stress helped clear our minds and left us refreshed.”
“That’s great. You’ll never guess who I’m here with.”
Roe took my hand, and I held on as if we were about to take a ride on the Cyclone. My stomach dipped.
“Who?”
“Monroe Friedman. Remember him?”
“Oh. Yes.”
Her words couldn’t have come out any flatter if they’d been run over by a steamroller. I forced myself to breathe steady.
“We’ve been catching up.”
“That’s nice. Have you been attending the events the office has scheduled for you? Lots of fresh faces. You never know who you might meet.”
“Now that I’m back in the city, I’m moving more toward literary and theater representation. It’s a whole untapped field for me, and I’m excited to learn more. Plus, I just got Ross’s partner, Arden, a tremendous deal on foreign rights and audio, and I’m close to signing a deal for movie rights.” I drained the rest of my drink, and my hands trembled as I poured another. “But that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about. I have to ask you something.”
“Of course. Go ahead. I’m unpacking, but I’m listening.”
Of course she’d be multitasking. I didn’t know if I’d ever had a conversation with my mother where I had her complete and undivided attention. “Mom, could you stop a moment and concentrate on this conversation?”
“Fine. What’s so important?”
I huffed out a frustrated sigh. “Why is it such a problem to want you to pay attention to what I have to say?” I ran a hand through my hair, and Roe squeezed my shoulder. My heart pounded so hard, I felt light-headed. “A year or so after we moved to LA, did Roe call me? Did you speak with him?”
I tried not to frame the question in an accusatory manner, which surely would’ve sent her running. But I leaned forward, my gaze trained on the phone resting between us.
“You want me to remember something that happened more than twenty years ago? You’re being ridiculous.” Her laughter rang out in the room.
“Am I? Last time we spoke, you had total recall of the people I’d dated when we first moved to California.”
“This is so silly. So what if he called? You probably weren’t home, and he didn’t bother to call back.”
I forced out the words through frozen lips. “Did you speak with him?”
“What’s this, Twenty Questions?” Her voice turned sharp. “You obviously have something to say, so go ahead with it.”
“I want to know if Roe called and asked to speak to me and you told him I wasn’t interested in continuing our friendship. I want to know if you told him I was dating other people and not interested in him anymore.”
The silence rose between us, and I wondered if she’d hung up the phone. Next to me, I felt Roe vibrate from the tension holding him together.
“What if I did? It was ridiculous for him to assume you’d be sitting alone every night pining away. You had tons of friends and parties to go to. If he didn’t, that was on him, not you.”
