* * *
Christian and Nicole are both very happy to see me. I thank her for the millionth time as she leaves us. I make Christian raspberry pancakes, despite the fact that he’s already eaten cereal. He jabbers on about his night with Nicole. I try desperately to pay attention, but I’m too wired.
“You seem very distracted, Ma,” he says. It’s the official word of the week. “What are you thinking about?”
I smile. I really cannot tell him what I’m thinking about… it’s not exactly PG. “Oh… I… I was thinking about what we should do today. It’s a beautiful Sunday. So what do you want to do?”
He perks up. “I want to go for a ride on the quad, then I want to play Hot Wheels with you. Then we can eat grill cheeses for lunch, and make some chocolate cupcakes for Judy. And then we can go visit her.”
Wow, he seems to have the whole day planned out. “What are you going to organize today?”
“The pots and pans,” he says, beaming.
I smile, wondering how I’ve ended up with the weirdest, sweetest boy on the planet. I don’t know how, but I thank the Lord for him every day.
* * *
As per Christian’s request, we’ve made chocolate cupcakes with chocolate icing, topped with rainbow sprinkles. I’ve set aside eight of them for Judy.
She’s wearing purple again. She looks happy to see us as she welcomes us in. “What have you got for me today?”
I hand her the Tupperware container. “Chocolate!”
“Yummy,” she says, all smiles.
Christian has already settled himself on the floor of her kitchen, ready to work. I choose orange pekoe tea today, feeling adventurous. She sweetens it just the way I like it as I study her small space and the photos on her wall. Nowhere is there a single hint as to her husband’s identity. Did she stick it out with Caleb? Or did she fall for Everett’s charm? Something about Everett reminds me a lot of Colton.
“Now let’s get back to it,” she says as she sinks into her armchair. “I was just getting to the juicy part.”
I perk up, eager to hear all the sordid details.
“Not long afterLolita, he took me for a picnic to a field. It was the middle of summer, and the field was full of tall grass and tiny yellow flowers, and we wiggled ourselves a cozy little spot.”
I venture a taste of my tea, but it’s still too hot. “Sounds romantic.”
“Oh, it was,” she tells me. “Everett took care of everything. We had a blanket, a picnic basket full of food and plastic dishes, and he even brought two wine glasses and a thermos of cool rosé because he knew it was my favorite.”
“Nice.”
“We ate and chatted, and then we kissed… and well, the rest, you can imagine.”
I’m kind of relieved. I was hoping she wouldn’t get too graphic. You never know with Judy.
She glances over at Christian, and then leans in slowly. “We had the sex,” she whispers.
I laugh. “I know. I got that, Judy. I wasn't born yesterday.”
She leans back in her chair, and stares up at the ceiling. “I was so happy then.” There’s longing in her words.
“I truly believed that he loved me,” she continues. “I was such a fool.”
My interest is piqued. “Did he not love you? What happened?”
“The next week, he asked me to move in with him, to leave my husband,” she goes on. “And of course I did. I was madly in love with him. I’d already cheated on my husband. There wasn’t much else to do.”
“Then what happened?” I ask, eager to know more. “How did Caleb take it?”
“He was devastated, completely wrecked. Funny how he took me for granted when he had me, but once I was gone, he begged me to stay. He was completely broken.”
