The door from the garage opened and Tyler appeared, sweaty and dusty from baseball practice. He stopped, looking at us. We disentangled.
“Hey, honey,” I said. “How was practice?”
He didn’t answer for a second, staring at us as if he wasn’t sure who we were. “You guys dancing?”
“Just goofing around,” I said. “But dinner’s nearly ready. You hungry?”
“Starved. Do I have time to shower?” Tyler asked.
“Sure,” Hunter said.
“Great. I’ll be down in a minute.” Tyler headed toward the stairs but stopped at the end of the island. “It’s nice to come home to dinner on the stove and seeing you happy, Mom.”
“Thanks, baby,” I said. “That’s really sweet.”
“Hunter, do you think we could go out driving again tonight?” Tyler asked.
“Absolutely. Let’s eat first and then I’ll take you out,” Hunter said.
“Cool. Be down in a bit.” Tyler bounded up the stairs, leaving behind the scent of grass and teenage boy.
“Thanks for agreeing to another driving lesson,” I said. “It means a lot to both of us.”
“I’m happy to be useful. And grateful to be trusted with your boy.”
“I can’t think of a better man to trust him to,” I said.
The song had ended by then and a Randy Travis’s song in three/quarter time called “If I Didn’t Have You” started to play.
“May I have this waltz?” Hunter asked, his fingers closing around mine. He raised our hands, turning me in a smooth circle before pulling me back to him, my pulse tripping as I landed against his chest.
You may,I thought.For the rest of my life.
After dinner,Hunter and Tyler left for the driving lesson. I did the dishes, music still playing through the speakers. I thought about the last few days’ dramatic events. They almost didn’t feelreal. Ivy James. Dana’s book. Madeleine’s plan. So much for my quiet life. Everything had changed in the course of a few weeks. I was suddenly embroiled in a deeply complicated situation. I kept expecting myself to completely freak out and start to push away from Hunter, but somehow I just wanted to cling more tightly to him.
I had just wiped the counters when the doorbell rang. A quick look out the window told me it was Delphine. I opened the door to greet her. “Hey, this is a surprise. What are you doing here?”
The look on her face stopped me dead in my tracks. Her eye makeup was smeared and her hair was up in a messy pony tail as if she hadn’t washed it for a few days.
“Hey, sorry to come by unannounced,” Delphine said. “But I’m having a bad night and needed to talk.”
“Of course. Come in. Do you want wine?”
“Desperately.”
I led her over to the couch. “Sit. I’ll bring you a glass.”
I hustled into the kitchen and poured us each some wine from a bottle I’d had opened in the fridge.
“Tell me what’s going on,” I said, handing her the glass and curling up on the other end of the couch.
“My mom died.”
“Oh no. I’m sorry.”
“The last time I talked to her was at Jon’s funeral.” Delphine’s eyes filled.
I grabbed the tissue box and handed it to her. “I remember.”
