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She draped the pendant around and tried to clasp it but had trouble, so I jumped up to help her as she examined herself in the mirror and put her hand affectionately over the jewelry.
“No, Maeve. I really didn’t date after Drake’s dad.” She tilted her head, considering herself in the mirror. “It all came down to three reasons. One, I worked a lot. Two, I was genuinely fulfilled by motherhood, I gave all the time I wasn’t at work to that. I love being Drake’s mom. Though I would have loved to have a daughter, too.” Her gaze met mine in the mirror, she offered a quirky smile.
She picked up a makeup bag and shuffled her hand around inside, eventually revealing a lipstick tube. She took the cap off, turned the dial, and up came an amazing shade of blood red. “Too much? Am I too old for this now?”
“Never. You should see my mom’s lipstick collection. Fifty shades of red.”
“She sounds like a fun lady.”
A melancholy swooped around me, thinking about better times with my mom. She’d always have been the last man standing, two-stepping until the band wouldn’t play. “She was. And I think still is. Or will be.”
Nora gazed at me square in the eyes. “There are no more resilient creatures on earth than mothers. If she doesn’t do it for herself, she’ll do it for you. And your brother. Tyran is it?”
I nodded.
Nora swooped a leather jacket off a hanger in her closet. Sliding it over her arms, she was now the exact prototype for a rock star’s mother.
“Wow,” I said. “Now I know where Drake gets it from.”
She giggled again. It was such a different laugh from Dixie’s. Nora held her laugh inside, and it hummed beautifully, like a trilling clarinet. Dixie’s was out and about and ran circles around you. But one thing they had in common was that when they did laugh, it made you smile, too. I could see why Drake loved his mom so much. And he was so like her. She was humble, loving, and totally unafraid to share herself with you. Which brought me back to the dating question.
“What was the third reason?”
She shook her head. “For what?”
“The third reason you didn’t date anyone.”
“Oh, sure. Well, the third reason is my picker is off. Or something like that. My first love, Drake’s dad, was, to all intents and purposes,” she considered her words carefully, “I mean, I don’t like to think there are bad people, but if there were,” she sighed, “I’d have to say he was one.”
“A lot of women are attracted to bad guys.”
“I know that.” She gazed toward the floor. “A lot of women’s pickers are off.”
I laughed. “But can’t you learn from that and eventually choose someone who’s not?”
“There isn’t a lot of room for trial and error when you have a baby at home. Plus, I hate to admit it, but I actually held a torch for his dad for quite a long time. I couldn’t stop loving him no matter how hard I tried. I think it took about nine years to feel like I was over that love affair. Maybe longer. It’s not that easy to get over an ex when your child looks like him.”
“I never thought of that.”
Nora held my forearm. “And you’ll never have to.” She lightened the room with a spotlight smile. “Because your picker has impeccable taste.”
“And what canI get my two beautiful dates to drink?” Drake asked as Nora and I took two seats at a table in a nightclub called Shady.
I loved that Nora was willing to go to a nightclub with such a dubious name. Then again, maybe she wasn’t on top of the latest urban dictionary entries. Saying that, she didn’t look remotely faze or out of place among tattoos, purple hair, and piercings. I supposed she’d gone to see Drake enough times. Or maybe the reason she’d met a bad boy was because she’d once been a bad girl herself.
“A whiskey sour, please, honey.” Nora placed her hand affectionately on Drake’s.
I glanced at my beautiful beau. “Just make it two.”
Drake sauntered off to order our drinks. Nora and I surveyed the place and watched a couple of stage hands set up drums and a mic stand.
“Maybe this is a silly question, but have you seen Drake play before?” I flicked my hand toward the stage.
“The Frys and I used to watch the boys play in the early days. But they stopped wanting to watch the train wreck, I guessed because maybe a few months into Jay and Drake playing together they didn’t want to go to gigs anymore. And I didn’t feel right on my own. Some old lady in the crowd,” her face lit up, “but I did actually see a show with Elias once. You know him from Uyu.”
I nodded. Of course El would have had the manners and forethought to take Drake’s mom to a show. “Do you mind me asking… what do you think of this whole Jay situation?”
“The lawsuit, you mean?”
