“What’d you and your dad do?”
“We went camping, roasted marshmallows, the whole bit.”
“Just the two of you?” I asked.
My brilliant son knew I was onto something. “He doesn’t have a girlfriend, Mom. But even if he did—”
“If he did, it would be a little too soon.”
“Well, I guess. But you’re always with Gavin.”
“No, I’m not. This is practically the longest I’ve gone without seeing Gavin, and I’ve barely spoken to him. Plus, Gavin is just a friend. He’s your godfather. He’s family. And anyway, you’ve had deeper conversations with him lately than I have.”
He looked at me sympathetically. “Okay, I’m sorry. Why don’t you come and volunteer at the school? You can hang out with Crystal; she’s there a lot and you two haven’t really hung out lately.”
“She lives across the street. We have plenty of opportunities. Don’t worry about me, Milo.”
“You seem lonely, Mom.”
“It’s okay to be lonely sometimes.” It was hard for me to be alone, but I wanted Milo to be more independent than me. To understand there would be seasons in his life when he wouldn’t be the center of attention, when he might be alone at night with no one to call but his mom or dad, or maybe not even us. It was something I grappled with from time to time, but in the past, I’d always had Gavin. Now I wasn’t so sure.
THE NEXT NIGHT,I took Milo to dinner with my mom and Kiki at The Kitchen, one of my favorite restaurants in Fort Collins. My mother had never been there before. She immediately picked up the menu and began huffing and puffing about the prices.
“Twenty-six dollars for chicken? I can buy five whole chickens for that money.”
She’d become very frugal since my father’s passing. I wanted to remind her that she used to spend forty dollars to have Kiki spray-tanned before pageants. Instead, I blurted out, “Lance and I are getting divorced.”
My mother gasped.
“Mom, it’s okay.”
I looked at Kiki, who was grinning, but quickly stopped.
“Are you happy about this, Aunt Keeks?” Milo said.
“Not happy. Of course not. I don’t want to see you two go through this. But I must say, I didn’t think you’d ever go through with it, Penny.”
“I didn’t.He’sthe one who filed for divorce,” I said. “And I haven’t signed the papers yet.”
“What?” my mother and sister said in unison.
“He’s got someone else!” Kiki shouted. “That bastard.”
Milo rolled his eyes.
“Stop it, Keeks. He’s not a bad guy—and you don’t know the whole story.”
“He’s leaving you,” she argued.
“It was mutual.”
My mother was still speechless.
“What did Gavin say?” Kiki asked.
I called the waiter over. “Let’s get some drinks. And before you ask, Gavin is a nonfactor. He doesn’t even know yet.” The waiter arrived at our table and I ordered a bottle of champagne for the table.
“You want to celebrate that Lance is leaving you?” my mom said, aghast.
