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She started to move toward him where he was standing with my father. This was when she turned back.
“He is a good man,” she said. “Jacob. He is a very good man.”
“Why are you telling me that?”
“Because I know the reason that you didn’t introduce yourself to me yesterday.”
The Defrosting
Finn was hiding in the winemaker’s cottage, defrosting the last frozen lasagna. He was stabbing at the thick noodles with a wooden spoon, but he wasn’t making much headway.
He looked up. “I didn’t do the best job defrosting this,” he said.
“You can’t just hide in here eating that, anyway,” I said.
“Why not? Should I be out there chatting it up with Mom’s new boyfriend? The guy walked over and introduced himself to me, said he’s heard a lot about me. I was like, really? Because I’ve heard very little about you. That was my first mistake. I got like an hour on his seminal interpretation of Beethoven’s Fifth. Reminded me of how much I’ve always hated classical music.”
He stood up, turned on the burner. Then he dumped his bowl of lasagna into the saucepan, started stirring it back and forth.
“And I’m not just hiding,” he said. “I’m planning.”
“What are you talking about?”
He shrugged. “I told you I was going to change things. However I can. So I am. I’m doing it. I’m moving to New York.”
“This wasn’t what I meant.”
“Well, beggars can’t be choosers.”
I shook my head, heartbroken. Heartbroken that he was leaving, but mostly because I didn’t think that he was going to find what he was looking for there.
“Would you feel better if I told you I had some great photography opportunities waiting for me there?”
“A little.”
“I have a great photography opportunity waiting for me there.”
“Finn, you aren’t going to find what you’re looking for there. It doesn’t work like that. Besides, you love it here. You belong here. What do you think somewhere else is going to give you?”
“Peace of mind. And joy.”
I closed my eyes, unsure how to get through to him. He didn’t want to listen, anyway—he was too busy shoving the wooden spoon into the frozen lasagna and getting nowhere with it. I stood up and took the spoon away from him, turned the burner up higher.
“Anyway, moving away worked out for you,” he said.
“Less than you might think.”
Finn sat down on the countertop. “Is a certain movie star slash ex-girlfriend ruining your night?”
“I think she loves him.”
Finn tilted his head. “Are you sure? She’s an actress. Isn’t she supposed to pretend she loves everyone?”
I laughed.
“I don’t want a lecture. And I don’t want to give one. Though, I do think we could each use one on fighting a fight that we’re not sure we want to win.”
He paused.
