“Mom, Lily will take care of it.”
“But I’m your mother.” I knew this was coming, and I knew food would come up next.
“Where’s Dad?” I steered the subject away from laundry, though not from the heart of it.
“He’s not back from work yet. I made dinner.”
“I’m sure.”
“Will you come with Lily?”
“What do you think?”
“I don’t know. You with all your girlfriends.”
“Mom, Lily will come with me.” Lily stood next to me, touching, longing, and I refused to let go.
Toward evening, I woke up from her caress, her fingers stroking my short hair.
“It’s already six o’clock! I can’t believe it!” I mumbled in alarm when I saw the clock.
“You fell asleep right away.”
“Why didn’t you wake me?”
“I sat and watched you. You slept so deeply. And I love you so much.”
“And I love you!”
Chapter 24
At My Parents’ House
On the way to my parents’ house, Lily voiced her concern that my brother might recognize her – that maybe he had been at a conference at New-Hope Medical Center and seen her there by chance, or that… I cut her off before she finished the sentence and reassured her that the chances were slim to none.
“So maybe he’ll notice that I’m sick…” She didn’t seem comforted.
“Lily, so what if Eli is a doctor? It’s not written across your forehead. You look healthy and radiant,” I insisted.
“But still – he’s a doctor. He’ll probably sense that something’s wrong with me,” she said anxiously.
“There’s no such thing, and he has no reason to suspect you’re sick.”
“You know what happens to me when I get nervous,” she pressed.
“So you’ll blush a little. No one will think twice. I know him.” Lily fell silent but still looked uneasy.
The introduction between Eli, his wife Joan, and Lily was brief. Dinner went more smoothly than I expected. Rachel, Eli, and Joan carried most of the conversation, occasionally including Lily and me. But from the corner of my eye, I noticed my mother’s frustrated glances at Lily’s almost untouched plate. I knew she would later have something to say about how “your girlfriend didn’t eat any of the special food I made just for her.” But there was nothing I could do – Lily had to follow a strict diet, which she broke only on rare occasions. The tension she felt about meeting my brother, the doctor, surely didn’t help her appetite.
“Your girlfriend is stunningly beautiful,” my brother told me the first chance we were alone.
“I know, so…”
“Why didn’t you tell me anything about her?”
“Because I usually don’t tell anyone about my girlfriends. Do you remember me ever telling you about anyone?” He hadn’t shared much about his own relationships either until marrying Joan.
“Even Rachel didn’t say a word – and you know she has no boundaries sometimes. Are you hiding her?” Eli asked suspiciously.
