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“Well, we’ll just have to go,” I said. “I’m not missing it.”
“Go where?” John asked, coming over, wiping his hands on a dish towel.
And of course John wanted to come. And when Chrissy found out it was going to be on Sidney Clare Ramirez’s talk show, she wanted to go too.
“Want to come, Ben? Sounds like the whole family is going to be there!” I wondered if I would ever start calling him “Dad.”
“Sure,” he agreed. “It’s Saturday. I don’t have to work.”
I called Aimee and Matt and told them to come to the show taping—we’d squeeze dinner in afterward. Then I called Greg to make sure he held enough tickets for all of us.
“Some of you may have to sit in the green room,” he said.
“Fine, just as long as we can be there.” I wasn’t missing Black Diamond receiving their platinum album awards for anything. We’d barely even had time to celebrate, but I mentioned it to Chelsea last night and she had given me a grin and a thumbs up so I knew she was on it.
Ben went home to get changed and we all started getting ready. There were four of us to get through the shower and Dale alone could take an hour. He liked to just stand there under the water.
John knocked on our bedroom door while Dale was in the shower, asking if he could bring a date.
“Debra?” I asked, raising my eyebrows. “Getting serious.”
“Maybe.” He actually blushed. He’s stopped bringing her home when Chrissy was being such a brat. John called it her “testing” phase. I called it her “psycho bitch” phase but not out loud.
“Hey, what’s up with her.” I nodded my head in the direction of Chrissy’s room.
“You know, she’s gotten a lot better,” John said. “Her attitude’s improved since you two have been gone. I think she felt jealous—she hasn’t wanted to spend a lot of time with me since the divorce. I think she blamed me.”
I looked at him, not saying anything. Chrissy knew the real reason for the divorce—her mother was dead set on getting Tyler Vincent to leave his wife for her. And after having met her, I could tell she was a woman who got what she wanted—and if she didn’t, well… I was sure her daughter came by her “psycho bitch” side honestly.
Of course, I couldn’t say that. John knew nothing about Tyler—still thought Tyler was his friend. And of course, Tyler continued to play into that delusion. It was so sick and twisted it made everything in my family—alcoholism, domestic violence, suicide—pale in comparison.
“We’ve had some long talks,” John went on. “And she’s started school and is doing well. I’m… hopeful.”
“She really is like a whole different person,” I said. It was true—although I was still wary. “Maybe she was just possessed by a demon before? Because I’ve seen crazy, but that was…”
“Chrissy’s always been a little dramatic,” he said with a smile.
“Right. And you’re the master of understatement.”
That made him laugh.
By three o’clock we all looked fabulous—except John, who was still in his room.
“The van’s waiting,” I called, knocking. “Are you coming?”
I gasped when he opened the door.
“John!” I even took a step back. “Your beard! Your hair!”
He always wore a bushy beard and his hair had been longer and thicker than mine. Well, it had been. Now it was gone. It wasn’t quite as short as Dale’s, but almost! He had always looked to me like the long-haired hippie English professor and that’s pretty much what he was. The haircut and clean-shaven face gave him a totally different look.
“What’s Debra going to say?” I wondered out loud.
“It was her idea.” He grinned and blushed at the same time. “What do you think?”
“It makes you look younger.”
“Well that’s a plus!”
