CHAPTER 1
Polly
Tears rolled down my cheeks as I pulled up to the gated community where I used to live.
Don’t be silly,I reminded myself.
Laurie wasn’t even going to bethatfar away.
Only a few hours by plane. Less than a day to drive it.
And this was a college he absolutelyloved, with a fabulous art program.
He was a good kid, agreatkid, and he was going tolovecollege.
It was just that I was 42 years old and had no idea what to do with my life now.
For the last 18 years I had been a stay-at-home mom, Boy Scout troop leader, Head of the PTA, and driver for the softball team.
My ex-husband Peregrine and I had split last year. There had been someone at his law firm. He hadn’t actuallycheated. Because he’d dumped me expeditiously, as soon as he didn’t need me anymore.
It was fine. He had been a lame husband anyway.
I loved being a mom, but. . .what did I do now? What do you do when your kids are out of the house and you no longer have a husband?
Go back to school? Increase my hours at the greasy diner I worked at to pay for my apartment rent? Pick up a hobby? Go on Hinge?
I pulled down the mirror to look at myself before getting out. If I’d known Perry was having a whole get-together I wouldn’t have come over like this.
Messy brown curls, cut to my chin, silver-gray hairs threaded through them. Hazel eyes. Smudged glasses. I really needed to make a hair appointment, but I’d been too busy helping Laurie get ready for college.
Too busy for a lot of things.
I pulled my increasingly tight T-shirt down over my tits as I got out, and realized the fabric was still wet from crying.
Now this was going to be extremely annoying, because Perry was a real drag. But if I wanted my ex-husband to let me use our old minivan, I’d have to.
Mycar was making a weird rattling sound, and I didn’t know how much longer I was going to be able to drive it.
Maybe this time my ex would be reasonable?
My flip-flops sounding loud on the driveway, I walked up to what had once been my dream house. But now I could see where his new wife Bridget had bulldozed over my flower and vegetable gardens in favor of concrete slabs that were for, well, I wasn’t really surewhatthey were for.
Maybe they were just for removing any trace of me from the house.
I didn’t make it very far before Perry opened the door, his nose firmly up in the air, those outsized nostrils flaring as if he scented weakness.
“Polly, what are you doing here?” my ex asked. “I’m having a littlewinesoiree. Were you able to convince our son to switch his major yet?”
Perry was wearing a pure cashmere turtleneck sweater, his brown hair swept back in a silken wave, and he raised his glass of wine at me.
“A 1997 California Cabernet, and it is really delivering on the opulence I desire in a vintage glass, so please make this quick. I would invite you in but jeans shorts? You are amother.”
My cheeks burned with embarrassment as everyone outdoors at the party naturally twisted around to see what I was wearing.
“Whatever, Perry. I just want to talk to you about the car,” I hissed. “And you know Laurie wants to be an art teacher. You need to stop trying to convince him to become a corporate lawyer just because you are.”
Perry sniffed. “An art teacher. What a bunch of nonsense.” Then he narrowed his eyes. “What car?”
