“I miss you, too. We should do this more often.”
“You’re welcome to visit anytime. Although something tells me you’ll be less inclined if you have to pay for yourself.”
“It’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make. How is your mother, anyway? Is she still managing okay?”
“She has good days and bad days.” Though the bad seemed to outnumber the good, lately. “She has more independence since she got her wheelchair, and the support group she’s joined has been helping, too.”
“Good. As long as you remember to look after yourself, too.”
“I always do.”
Kate’s phone buzzed on the table, and she heaved a sigh when she read the notification.
“Everything all right?”
Kate took a hefty sip of her Manhattan before answering. “Dan and I are…having some trouble.”
“What? How come?”
“We’ve been arguing a lot lately. He started a new job, works longer hours. Some days we hardly see one another. Some days it feels like he prefers it that way.” Kate ran a hand through her hair, a faint tremble in her fingers. “I…said things I’m not particularly proud of before I left for this trip.”
“God, I’m sorry. I hope you manage to work things out.”
“Me too.” Her smile was tinged with sadness. “I think we’re going to start couple’s therapy when I get home, which sounds like a nightmare, but…” Kate shrugged.
“Just ask Victoria. She turned into a therapist toward the end.” Eva tried not to sound bitter. “Not long after I moved out, she said I wasn’t putting enough effort into things. That I was ‘pulling away because of my abandonment issues’.” Eva parroted back the words, one of their last arguments burned into her memory. “So that when we broke up it wouldn’t be as painful.”
“I mean…you do have abandonment issues,” Kate said, grinning when Eva glared at her across the table. “But you were too good for her anyway. And I don’t want to talk about Dan tonight. Distract me with details of your own love life.”
“I’m afraid there are no details to report.”
“None? Nothing since Victoria?”
“Nope.”
“Unacceptable.” A spark bloomed in Kate’s eyes, and Eva’s stomach twisted. “That’s the rest of our night sorted, then. I’m going to be your wing woman.”
“I don’t need a wing woman.”
“Why not? I’m great at it. I have an exemplary track record.”
“You’ve only been my wing woman once.”
“And you dated the woman I set you up with for three years afterwards, so…proven winner, right here.” Kate tugged at her collar, and Eva rolled her eyes. “It’s time for me to make it two out of two. Are there any gay bars around here?”
“Again, I don’t need a wing woman. And I don’t know—I don’t come into the city much.”
“Then what do you do for fun around here?”
“With my working hours, there’s not much time left for fun.”
Kate scoffed. “With those vacation days? You can’t tell me it’s more work than being a professor.”
“It’s close.”
“Bullshit. Are you telling me you don’t have a life here?”
“God, you sound like my mother.” Eva rubbed a hand across her face. “She’s forever telling me to get out of the house. You should’ve seen her face when I told her I’d be spending the weekend with you. Anyone would think she didn’t want me around.”
