The doorbell rang, and despite her outfit of cutoff sweatpants and a saggy T-shirt emblazoned withONLY THE GOOD DIE JUNG, Ellie wasn’t going to miss getting eyes on who the heck was playing Romeo this evening. What kind of guy would want to date a woman who’d been married for thirty-something years and was barely separated?A guy looking to be a rebound, that’s who. He’s probably younger. He’s probably thinking he’s getting some vulnerable cougar that he can take advantage of. Well, he’ll have another thing coming if he thinks I won’t see right through his cloud of Cool Water cologne and flat-front chinos.Ellie gripped the counter as the doorknob started to turn. This jerk was actually breaking and entering! Ellie was about to scream at Peggy to call 911 when the door opened, revealing an older man in a short-sleeved button-down and a fresh haircut holding a supermarket bouquet of mums with the orange price tag still on the cellophane wrapper.
“Papino?”
“Coccinella!I didn’t know if you’d be here. How’s my girl?”
“I don’t actually know,” she said, looking from her mom to her dad. “How am I?”
“You’re wonderful. You’ve been very busy and productive. Youeven got some tentatively good news today,” said Peggy, nodding from Ellie to Gio. “She’s doing great. We’re just great!”
“Youlookgreat,” said Gio, looking Peggy up and down. “That dress. Wow.”
“Oh, this? Well, you know I bought it so long ago. It was for that awards ceremony we were supposed to go to in Santa Barbara, but then we didn’t because we thought you had appendicitis. Remember? And it turned out to be a bad pastrami sandwich, which was—”
“Ah, sorry to interrupt, guys, but is this like, a date?”
“Ellie-Belle. You know something? I absolutely love you,” Peggy said, placing her hands on Ellie’s shoulders. “I couldn’t ask for a more wonderful daughter. We are so proud of you. Right?” She looked back to Gio, who nodded. “But let me and Dad do our thing, okay?”
“Are you telling me to butt out, Mom?”
“I’m telling you to butt out.” Peggy nodded and leaned in to kiss Ellie on the cheek. “Can you put these flowers in water for me?” Peggy took the bouquet from Gio and handed them to Ellie.
“Um. Sure.”
“Don’t wait up!” Peggy grabbed her clutch and started toward the door.
“Mia coccinella.Thank you,” Gio said, smiling at Ellie.
“For what?”
“For caring about us so much. I guess it’s time for you to focus on your things now.” He rubbed her elbow and kissed her on the opposite cheek.
“It is? And what things are those?”
“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “Seen any good morning TV lately?” Gio said with a laugh. He winked as he walked out the door.
Ellie locked the door and rested her back against it. Her mouth hung open for almost a full minute before she realized that she’d just been trolled—by her father, no less. Who was dating her mother. And giving her relationship advice. She wandered over to the kitchen counter and laid the flowers down. She pulled a vase out of a cabinet and found scissors to cut the stems.
She’d been wanting them to stop being ridiculous and get back together for weeks. Now that it looked like they were doing it, she was questioning the motives. Wasn’t it enough that their history together negated at least some of the need for proof that their hearts really were in the right place? It seemed to be enough for them, so why was she the one stressing over it alone in the kitchen on a Friday night? Ellie smiled, thinking about her dad giving her mom the once-over like a teenager, and tucked a purple mum behind her ear. She put the rest in the vase.
The doorbell rang again. Her mom must have left her key. She was always forgetting at least one item behind. Ellie passed by the bank of hooks on the wall, but didn’t see her mom’s key there. Maybe it was her phone this time. Ellie unlocked the door, and all of the air fell out of her lungs.
“I’m sorry, did I scare you?” Cris said, a worried look on his face. “I probably should have called, but I didn’t think you would answer. Did I come at a bad time? I saw your parents leaving, so I thought…” He trailed off. He filled the entire doorway like he always did, almost blocking out the waning light, and held a white pastry box with red stripes across the top. He wore the same pair of faded jeans he’d worn in Italy, and yet another thin T-shirt that barely hid the broad muscles of his chest. She dug her fingernails into the doorjamb.
“Did you—yes. I mean, no.” Ellie shook her head and felt theflower dislodge itself from behind her ear and tip forward. She reached up to grab it. “Yes, you scared me. No, this isn’t a bad time. I mean, not really.”
“Good. Can I come in?”
Ellie stepped back from the doorway to let him inside. Her heart was banging so hard, she was sure he could hear it. Two nights before, after watchingGMAand not being able to sleep, she’d mentally composed a list of responses for something like this exact moment. Of course, it had been easy to think of things to say when she was pretty sure she’d never have to say them. Right now, the only thing she could do was follow Cris down the hall to the kitchen and try not to crash into anything on her wobbly legs. He turned to face her, still holding the box.
“Did you need to put that somewhere?” she asked, a prickly heat curling up her neck. She tried to ignore her body’s involuntary reaction to being near him again as she pulled the flower from her hair.
“Not yet. Actually, maybe,” Cris said, letting out a breath. “This seemed like a great idea six hours ago in Palo Alto, but I didn’t think much beyond taking advantage of the fact that I don’t start class until Monday and could make the drive. The flower is pretty.”
“They’re not mine,” she said, twisting the stem in her fingers. “My dad brought them for my mom because what you saw was them going on a date. Right this very second, in fact.”
“He did it! I wasn’t sure if he would right away. That’s kind of awesome,” he said, quickly hiding his smile when he saw Ellie’s face.
“You knew about this?”
