It is Luke’s arm stretched out behind me on the couch, both of us trying to act normal but ready to jump up at a moment’s notice to adjust Mel’s blankets or take her bowl away or hand her water.
“Nay is coming over later tonight,” Mel tells us. “She’s back to teaching full-time in the fall, so she’s spending lots of time preparing for that. Oh, and did I tell you she got married?”
“Naomi got married?” I repeat. I’m distracted by the sallow flesh of Mel’s shoulders that is exposed by the oversize shirt she is wearing, but I’m trying not to let on. The last thing I want is to embarrass her or to make her feel like the state of her body has changed her for me.
Mel laughs. “I’m going to tell her you sounded that surprised. She never had trouble landing a man, you know.”
“She will tell her, too,” Luke tells me. “They still gossip like hens.” Even though he’s sitting right beside me, our bodies inches apart, it’s jarring every time he talks to me. If not for Mel’s presence, we would have absolutely nothing to say to each other.
“Hurtful, Luke,” Mel says with a shake of her head.
“It’s notthat,” I amend. “Like, it’s not that I ever thought she couldn’t find a man or anything, but I guess I just kind of figured she ... didn’t want to?”
“I’m taking thisallback to Nay,” she says.
“For years, we all used to think—” I start and then stop. Luke looks up from cutting his meat to look at me, and Mel looks too. I have no choice but to go on. “We, um, thought that maybe there was something going on with you and her.”
Mel throws her head back, and her laugh is bigger than her whole body. “Me and Naomi? Seriously?”
“We literally used to sit around, and I’d ask, do you think Mel and Naomi have ever kissed, and would you be mad if they had? And we all decided we wouldn’t.” I feel myself walking on a literal land mine, but stopping will set off the explosion.
“Who’s we?” Mel asks.
“All of us,” I say, not looking at either of them.
Everything is quiet, except for the sound of Luke chewing, and then Mel says, “Well, as nice as it is that it wouldn’t have bothered you, we’ve always been just friends. Romance is great and all, but friendship is every bit as miraculous and special.” Another beat passes, and as I’m reaching for my water, she adds, “Advice brought to you by a forty-seven-year-old who hasn’t been laid since creation.”
“Jesus, Mom,” Luke groans, and I spit out my water, laughing.
“Don’t worry. Nothing sounds less appealing right now,” she says.
“Mom.”
“What?” Mel says. “If I can’t tell it like it is at this point in my life, I never will.”
Luke and I must have matching somber expressions, because Mel says, “Oh, come on! We can laugh about it. The Big Bad can have everything else, but not my laughter.”
I give Mel a close-lipped smile, my heart feeling heavy.
She sighs and slowly lowers her body back down from its sitting position.
“Tired?” Luke asks, and she nods.
He stands up, ready to take her back to her room, but she waves him off.
“No, I’m fine. Keep hanging out. Don’t let me ruin the fun.”
Luke and I look at each other.
“Actually, I probably need to get going,” I say, standing.
“So soon?” Mel’s eyes are closed, and she winces as if she’s in pain. “It feels like you just got here.”
“I have to get some stuff done before camp tomorrow.”
“You two are sneaky as hell,” Mel says now, opening one eye and pointing at both of us. “Luke tells me he’s working at the community center camp, and then this afternoon, he’s like, “So when I saw Jessi ...’ ”
I steal a look in his direction, but he’s just watching his mother with a passive expression.
