“Not that I’m aware of. But I’ve saved some student writing in my files at home, and I’ll look through them tomorrow to see if there’s anything of Mel’s.”
“Terrific. That would mean so much to me.”
“And though I know you have copies ofThe Musefrom your daughter’s time here, I had the library pull a few extra copies for you. There’ll be at the front desk there tomorrow or I can have someone drop them off at your hotel.”
“I’d be happy to pick them up,” I say, grateful he made the effort. Perhaps he’s not as haughty as I pegged him to be.
Maya returns to her seat just as the key lime tart is served and seems eager to engage again, but I’m desperate now for a few moments alone. I inquire where the restroom is, and depart using the door not far from me, rather than the one at Logan’s end of the table.
In the mirror, I find that my cheeks are so red they look ready to blister. I run a paper towel under cold water and dab at them, but it does little good. Thank God the dinner can’t go on much longer.
When I open the door, I discover Logan standing right there, clearly waiting for me. Why am I surprised?
“I’m really sorry,” he says, keeping his voice low. He’s still wearing his guy-in-the-doghouse expression.
“Howcouldyou?” I demand.
“Bree, you know me—so you know I wouldn’t have planned or okayed anything like that.”
“Iknowyou, Logan? As we both came to see, that wasn’t the case at all.”
“Come on,” he says, looking agitated now. “I was a profound jerk, but let’s not rewrite a nearly twenty-year marriage. Youdoknow me, and you know I didn’t have a fucking clue she was going to say something.”
I exhale, trying to defuse my anger a little.
“Okay, so you weren’t aware she was going to toast our dead daughter, a person she never met, but events this week are bound to be emotionally fraught, and you brought someone with no clue how to act under the circumstances. For a guy who’s legendary at reading a room, you picked a girlfriend who’s an utter failure at it.”
All the emotion drains from his face, so it’s impossible to tell his reaction.
“Look, I meant what I told you,” he says gently after a few beats. “I’m truly sorry. But I just didn’t feel I could handle this week alone.”
For the second time tonight, I feel a twinge of pain on his behalf. This whole experience is as crushing for him as it is for me.
“Okay, apology accepted. But she’d better not open her mouth Thursday night.”
“Understood. I’ll speak to her, of course.”
“And please leave the dinner ahead of me tonight so the three of us aren’t bunched together at the front door.”
“Yup ... Why don’t you go back in first? I need to use the restroom anyway.”
I stroll back to the table, and though I half expect to find people staring at me with their eyebrows raised, wondering why the ex-spouseshave sneaked out of the room at around the same time, they seem oblivious. Some of them are even caught up in the early stages of departure, laying their napkins on the table, scooting their chairs back. Though the grandfather clock hasn’t even struck nine yet, people seem eager to be on their way, and I can hardly blame them. A night like tonight couldn’t have been much fun for anyone.
I refuse to look directly at Lisa, but I glimpse her out of the corner of my eye, and she’s sitting up stick straight, obviously on alert.Shecertainly noticed that both Logan and I had left the table. He appears moments later, and after saying something in her ear, she rises from her chair.
I give the two of them a chance to skirt behind me so they can offer their thanks to Maya. When I’m sure they’re gone, I lean toward Maya and express my own gratitude.
“I know this can’t have been easy for you, Bree,” she says, her voice not much above a whisper. “But I so appreciate you coming,”
“Thank you, Maya. It was lovely of you to do.”
As I wait in the hall for my coat, I suddenly find myself next to Alison Handler.
“I enjoyed hearing about the fossil Darwin found in Uruguay,” I say. “You don’t paint fossils, do you?”
She chuckles a little. “Not as of now, but maybe one day, because they fascinate me.”
“So, what does your work tend to feature?”
