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“I know it’s kind of a lot to take in, but I’m not done, people. My dad’s here, in Manhattan, because he’s never had a chance to see my mom in action. He’s never seen a Nancy Van Der Beek production, right, Dad?”
Her father nodded.
“Be inspiring,” Allie urged. “This is a historic moment.”
Her father rolled his eyes, but then he put down his sandwich and his napkin and stood. “Tomorrow is Nancy’s day. It’ll be good if she has people there who love her, and you guys”—he gestured at the assembled strangers—“are welcome to come, too.”
He sat back down, so Allie supposed that was all the public speaking she would be able to drag out of him. “Right. So, we all think Mom deserves to have a big crowd tomorrow, and we’d love it so much if all of you guys, who helped me this week, and supported me, and listened to me bitching about my problems, and took care of me when I was sad or felt like giving up—”
Here, again, her eyes went to Winston. He uncrossed his legs, leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and smiled again, all the smile lines at the corners of his eyes, the precious creases at either side of his mouth, the sparkle and hotness and rightness of him.
She lost the thread.
“Allie!” May said.
“Yeah.”
“Clipboard.”
She pushed it into her stomach and made herself look away.
You don’t throw away something that’s always been good because one of you’s hurting, her dad had said. You just don’t.
She wouldn’t throw Winston away. She didn’t know how she’d keep
him exactly, but she fully intended to give it a whirl.
“Allie!” May said.
“Right. So if all of us could be there tomorrow for my mom, I’d really like that. Nobody’s ever been there for her when she did this, just for her. I think she’s accomplished something pretty amazing—actually a lot of amazing things, like thirty years of marriage and two daughters who are doing more or less okay, plus a secret career turning Justice into a star, and we’d like to show up tomorrow with flowers and, you know, fireworks, and a whole cheering section that’s just for her.”
“I wouldn’t miss this,” Jean said. “It would be like walking out before the end of a really good movie.”
“Same here,” Cath said. “We’re in.”
“I’m definitely going to be there, with cameras,” Bea said. “I’m thinking there’s loads of people who want to tell Justice’s story, but how awesome would it be to tell the Nancy Van Der Beek story?”
“Assuming she wants it told,” May interjected.
“The cat’s out of the bag now,” Chasity said. “Her name’s all over the permits.”
“You found that information in the course of your work,” Winston said mildly. “One might argue that it’s subject to the confidentiality terms of your employment.”
“You’re saying you’re gonna fire me if I leak the word about Van Der Beek?”
“And here we thought you’d left your blackmailing days behind,” Cath said sweetly.
“Anonymity may not be an option for your ma anymore.” Chasity wheeled closer to Winston. “And you try to fire me, I’ll tie you up in court so fast your head spins.”
“You really do rather like me, don’t you?” Winston asked.
“You’re a pain in my ass.”
“I trust we’ll be great friends.”
Allie looked at her dad, but her father only shrugged. “She’s kept her secret a long time, and I don’t see how it’s gotten her anything. It’ll be interesting to see what happens when the world finds out.”
And that felt big, too—learning the truth about her mother right before the rest of the world did, on the cusp of something so enormous, with so many changes in her life at once, and so many people to share them with.
