We spread the blanket and lay out the food, and by the time Mom appears with Lee, the blanket looks ready for a photo shoot withBetter Homes & Gardens. Brief introductions are made between Lee and Georgina, and a conversation about yoga ensues. At first, Georgina tries to include Lee in the discussion, but when she realizes that’s a fool’s errand, she leaves the silent man alone to quietly eat his mustard-free sandwich and stare at my mother like she walks on water.
And what am I doing in this Happy Family Portrait? A whole lot of nothing, really. Smiling. Looking around at the trees and flowers and birds and bees. Enjoying a damned good sandwich while listening to my mother and Georgina chatter away.And it’s amazing.I tilt my face up toward the sun and enjoy the sensation. The peace infusing me. The certainty I feel that I’ve found The One. I can’t believe Georgina is here. And that she knowseverythingabout me, and loves me, anyway. No, actually, as she’s told me repeatedly, she loves me evenmorebecause of what she’s learned about me.
All of a sudden, I feel like I’ve been hit by a lightning bolt of pure joy and peace and certainty, and I realize this, right here, is the happiest moment of my life. Which is a crazy thought, considering it’s such a big, fatnothingof a moment. A simple picnic in a garden with my mom and the woman I love. Plus the man my mother loves. But it’s enough. It’s not the way the storybooks show families. Or love. But this is what I have. And it’s mine.
Moisture threatens my eyes, but, as usual, I push it away. I look at Georgina. She’s laughing with my mother—who, in this moment, looks ten years younger than she did when I visited her by myself last month. How did Georgina do this? Nobody in my “real life” haseverentered this secret vault, this place where I visit my mother and wish in vain she could be different.
But, contrary to my fears, the sky isn’t falling to have Georgina here. I feel nothing but good. Happy.Free.My eyes drift to a little brown bird hopping across a nearby tree branch. And then to a rosebush that’sbursting with colorful blooms. I look at my mother’s smiling face as she chats with Georgina. And I know, as surely as I know my name, I truly do love Georgina Marie Ricci with all of me.
85
REED
“Are you flying out of LaGuardia or JFK this time, Mr. Rivers?” Tony, my driver, says, as Georgina and I settle into his backseat.
“Teterboro, actually. We’re flying private today.”
“Yes, sir.” Tony pulls away from the curb. “Did you have a good visit with your mother today?”
I look at Georgina and smile. “We had a wonderful visit. My mother wouldn’t let Georgina leave until she promised to come back with me next time. Or without me. Either way.”
Tony’s eyes crinkle in the rearview mirror with his smile. “You’re heading back to LA now?”
“No, we’re stopping in Boston first. LA, after that.”
“Oh, I love Boston. Make sure you walk the Freedom Trail, if you’ve never done that. Do you need a restaurant suggestion? My cousin lives in Boston.”
“No, I’ve got it covered. It’s Georgina’s birthday tomorrow, so I’m taking her and her stepsister out to an extra special lunch.”
“Ooh. Nice.” Tony’s dark eyes shift to Georgina in the rearview mirror. “Happy birthday, Miss Ricci.”
“Thank you. I’m excited I get to see my stepsister.” She tugs on my sleeve and mouths,Thank you.
“Your stepsister lives in Boston?”
“She’s a student at Berklee. The music college?”
“Oh, yeah. That’s a good one. She must be talented.”
“Oh, she is.” Georgina flashes me a salty look that makes me chuckle, before adding, “My stepsister is a singer-songwriter, and she just got hired to play at a popular coffee house near campus. She beat out lots of other talented people for the job.”
“Good for her.”
“Tomorrow evening, Reed and I are going to watch her perform there.”
“Sounds like a great birthday to me.”
“Doesn’t it? It’s been a great birthdayweek.The best, ever. Tomorrow will be the icing on the cake.”
“So, you met Reed’s mother today and he’s meeting your stepsister tomorrow? This sounds serious, Mr. Rivers.”
“That, it is, Tony. That, it is.”
“Reed has already met my stepsister,” Georgina says. “But he’s never seen her perform, so that will be particularly exciting.”
“What about your parents, Miss Ricci? Has Reed met them? If so, I’m assuming your father grilled Reed about his intentions, and then threatened to break his legs if he breaks your heart.”
Georgina chuckles. “Reed hasn’t met my dad yet, no. But that’sexactlywhat he’d do. How’d you know that?”
