He barked a laugh. She really did know his dad’s novels. “I’d forgotten that.”
“But to be fair, that made sense, narratively, if I’m rememberingcorrectly. It’s more than the fact that he writes about men doing manly things. It’s an attitude, a sensibility, that infuses his books.”
“I think you’re right.”
“Hold on, what? Can you say that again?”
He rolled his eyes. He was done with his drink. The idea he’d had before was still lurking. It hadn’t escaped. He held it in his mind like a smooth pebble. “I’m going to call it a night. Thanks. It was good to get out.”
She beamed at him, and something pinged in his chest. “It wasgreatto get out.”
When he got back inside, he realized he’d never asked Blair why she’d been home so early that day, hadn’t pressed her on what her “rough day” had entailed. It felt like an oversight.
He sent her a text before he settled in at his computer.
Jack:You want to start watching The Bear at my place tomorrow night?
Jack:Your place that is temporarily my place, I mean.
Jack:I can cook.
Jack:Well, I can’t cook. I can order dinner.
Blair:What happened to you? Was there some kind of body-switching event at the Watts Towers and you’ve been replaced by a pod person who is actually nice?
Jack:I’m just trying to reciprocate for all the hosting.
Blair:I like hosting.
Jack:You like to have company, but not too much company.
There was a long pause then. He watched for the dots. There were no dots. He shouldn’t have said that.
Jack:That wasn’t meant as an insult. Just an observation.
Blair:Your place that’s actually my place it is. What time?
Chapter 13
Soup Course
Blair had to cut a FaceTime with Esme short to get to the pool house by the appointed time the next evening, though she did ask herself why she was being so exacting about it. Jack wasn’t going to care if she was late.
“Is Jack your boyfriend?” Esme asked as Blair attempted to say goodbye.
“What? No!”
“OK.”
Blair could almost hear the “… boomer” at the end of that “OK,” even though she was a proud millennial, thank you very much. It bugged her that Esme wouldn’t take what she was saying at face value. “He is not my boyfriend!”
“I said OK. I was just asking.”
All right. Maybe there wasn’t any generational warfare happening. Maybe Esmewasjust asking.
“I know I’m an adult now and all that, so it’s not supposed to matter that my parents are divorced. I just… don’t always know how to do the new version of things. Like, am I supposed to take an interest in your dating life? I don’t know if I’m acting the right way.”
“Oh, honey. All that stuff we said about it being about us and not you was true.” Suddenly, all Esme’s questions and teasing about Jack made sense.
