“Jagger ate off the floor. That was pretty much the high point of the evening.”
Aidan barks a laugh.
“I can't figure out my dad and Allegra.”
“Maybe you aren't meant to.”
My lips twist as I mull his comment over. Maybe Aidan is right. Maybe I am not meant to understand my dad and Allegra. Maybe what it is, just…is.
“Want to take bets on how deep my mom is by the time we arrive?”
Aidan rubs a hand over the stubble on his left cheek. “Hmm. I'm going to say just one. He glances at the clock on the dash. “It's still early in the day, and she's probably excited that we’re coming. I don't think she'll be sloshed yet.”
Perhaps Aidan needs reminding of who it is we're talking about. My mother can drink a sailor on leave under the table. Among other things, it's a skill she has acquired since she and my dad divorced.
I decide to skip the reminder, mostly because Aidan doesn't need one. “I’m going to say she'll be two drinks in by the time we arrive. At least,” I add, just to make sure Aidan knows I don't agree with his guesstimation.
And guess what? I’m right. I know it within five seconds of my mother opening her door. One drink would've definitely gotten a smile. But two drinks? Two drinks gets us anI'm so happy to see you. My mother is neverso happyto do anything. She basically hates life until given alcohol. At least she is a happy drunk. It could be worse.
She hugs me first, then Aidan.
I can feel her muscles underneath her blouse. Besides drinking, there’s another thing my mother picked up: weights. More specifically, going to the gym for two hours every day.
“Aidan, what is that cologne? It smells delightful.” My mother pulls away from Aidan, running an appraising look over him.
We've only just gotten here and already I want to sink down into the ground.
“Thanks, Annette. Eau de Aidan,” he jokes.
My mother turns, leaving the door wide open and walking to the rest of the house. We follow and I hear her say, “Natalie I don't know why you haven't snapped him up yet.” She holds her hands out to the side and makes snapping sounds. I glance at Aidan and roll my eyes. He shrugs and gives me a look of as if to saywell what are you gonna do? We follow her to the kitchen at the back of the house. A bottle of red wine sits on the counter, and it’s half gone. Surreptitiously I point at it. Aidan’s eyes follow to where I'm pointing, and he looks back at me. I hold up two fingers, mouthing the words “I win,” and do a tiny jig behind my mom’s back.
Mom reaches into the cabinet and pulls out two more glasses. She divides the contents of the bottle into those two glasses and hands them to us. I hadn't planned on drinking this early, and I still don't, but I take it from her anyway. It's easier to take it and dump it slowly over the course of my time here than it is to argue with her about why I'm not drinking.
“Dinner will be ready in twenty minutes,” my mother announces after she clinks glasses with ours. I look over at the oven and it's not on. Neither is the microwave. Or the toaster oven. I turn confused eyes to my mother.
She brings a cupped hand to her mouth and giggles. “I ordered take-out!” She looks so proud of herself that I offer her a high-five. She slaps my hand and says, “Did you know there is an app where you can order from almost any restaurant you want, and somebody will deliver it to you?”
I smile at her exuberance. “Yep. What did you order for today?”
“Lasagna!” Mom claps her hands together. “I thought it would be a fun departure from the typical turkey and mashed potatoes.”
“It sure is,” I tell her, smiling. Last night I ate dinner in China. Today, I’ll have lunch in Italy. At least I know that tonight I will be firmly in America.
“Come on.” Mom motions with her hands. She pushes off from the counter and walks away, and we follow her to the living room. “Let's sit here and enjoy our wine while we wait for our food.”
Mom settles into a floral upholstered chair, and Aidan and I are on the small sofa across from her. This is my mother’s home, but it's basically foreign to me. She moved here after the divorce. I was already in college, so I never lived here. My sister lived here for one year before she fled for the nation’s capital, but something tells me even she would say this home is foreign to her. Our childhood home is seven miles from here, and I haven't been back since the day I moved out. My mother boxed up everything I left behind when I went to college and brought them here. I spent eight hours one Saturday going through everything, and what I chose to keep now sits in her office closet. One day when I’m finally settled somewhere, I'll take it all with me. I just don't know when that day will be.
I'm focusing on an oil painting of flowers that hangs on the wall when Mom says, “So, Aidan, how’s work? You’re a math teacher, right? Bet you have all those high school girls batting their eyelashes at you.” She tries to sound nonchalant, but something in her tone makes me feel uncomfortable. And if I'm uncomfortable, then Aidan must be too.
His nervous chuckle tells me my assumption is correct. Rubbing his palms on his jean-covered thighs, he says, “Well, not too much. I do my best to politely ignore them. Even accidental encouragement, no matter how small, can get out of hand. Teenage hormones, you know?”
Mom makes a sound like a laugh, but the sound stays stuck in her throat, so it sounds more likemmmm. “I remember those hormones. Don't you?” She looks at me with her eyebrows raised.
“I suppose.”Why are we talking about this?“Are you dating anybody, Mom?” As soon as the words are out of my mouth, I realize how stupid they are. Last I checked, my mom hates men. The marks left on her by my father's hand have stayed long after they've healed.
Mom blinks and looks away. “No. Nobody has managed to catch my eye yet.” She's gazing out the front window. I turn wide eyes to Aidan and mouth the wordhelp.
“Annette, my mom still has a lot of contacts in this town. Would you mind if I asked her if she knows of any eligible bachelors?”
