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"Sounds fantastic."
I watched Mrs. Marshall twirl her pasta on the side of her dish and eat, and followed suit, very self-conscious about how I ate. Usually, I'd be cutting my pasta up and making it easier to eat, but I tried my best to eat the proper way. The food was marvelous of course and I complimented it and José's cooking.
"I've never tasted anything better," I said to Mrs. Marshall.
"It is good. José makes his own fresh pasta. And those shrimp," she said. "Fresh today. Of course, you and Luke must have had wonderful fresh fish and seafood on your trip."
"We did," I said and smiled. "We had the very best freshest seafood I've ever eaten."
We talked for a while about the trip and I told her a few stories about the rough seas we'd seen when we crossed the Pacific. She made appropriate faces of concern and interest. I thought everything was going so well.
Then, when we had finished oohing and ahhing about the lemon strawberry chiffon cake with the delicious whipped cream icing, and when coffee was brought out to us, we moved into the living room.
She sat on one of the sofas, and I sat on the one beside her so that we weren't directly facing each other.
"This is such a magnificent view," I said and sighed. "It's a real Manhattan view. What I always imagined when I considered moving here."
"It is, isn't it? We have another house in Yonkers, but we like being in the city. We converted this from multiple apartments to a single apartment about thirty years ago. It's perfect for us. We can have family and guests say with us whenever we want. There was more than enough room here for Luke and Dana growing up. One day, I imagine this will be Luke's or Dana's."
I sat digesting my delicious food, drinking coffee and feeling excited that finally, we seemed to be getting along well.
Then, she raised the real reason she invited me to the apartment for lunch.
"My dear," she said and placed her cup onto her saucer. She loo
ked at me directly, her gaze intense. "I hope you can see the kind of life Luke and Dana had growing up is nothing like the one you had."
"You're right," I said, a sudden knot in my gut. "It's completely different from mine."
"That's why it's such a mistake for you two being together. You don't belong in this world, Alexa. You'll only hold Luke back. I invited you here so you could see how wrong you are for him. Since he met you, he's given up his dreams of going to space. Can you not see that he's just on the rebound from his broken heart? You're just a consolation prize right now, and he'll move on as soon as he recognizes it."
"You're wrong," I said, my heart pounding. "Luke loves me. He said that his desire to go to space was because he was running away from his heartbreak. Meeting me made him realize he didn't really want to leave Earth."
"I'm sure he thinks that, but in truth, he's making a huge mistake. You're not our kind of people, Alexa. If Luke marries you, he'll be disinherited."
"What?" I sat there, gape-mouthed.
"That's right. If he marries you, he'll be out of the will. He won't inherit a cent. Surely you can see that would be a terrible thing."
"It's a terrible thing that you'd disinherit him simply because he wants to marry me." I stood up, too upset to stay there and listen. "And now, I think I've seen and heard enough. Thank you for the delicious lunch."
She didn't get up.
"Think about what I said. Luke will resent you if you persist and he loses all that money. I'm sure he could do an awful lot in the space industry with the money he'd get from us when we die. Don't be a burden to him. Don't make him regret marrying you."
I grabbed my backpack and put on my shoes.
I didn't say another word.
Chapter Eleven
Luke
While Alexa was out at Candace's making her breakfast, I got up and took a run around the park, needing the exercise to work off the alcohol I drank the previous night. When I got a text from Alexa, I was surprised that she agreed to go alone to visit with my mother.
Even I didn't want to do that, but she was stubborn.
I had a shower, packed up my laptop and took my briefcase downstairs to the car. I was going to meet with John at a restaurant we both used to eat at when we were in college, thinking up plans for Chatter. It was like old times and I felt happy to be free as a bird, able to do whatever I desired. I got us a booth at the back of the restaurant and waited for him to arrive, ordering a cup of coffee while I waited. I went over my notes on the latest business we were thinking of starting together -- a software company that would allow for better communications between astronauts while on space walks.
