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“Okay, okay,” Melinda said. “Geez, Mom. Relax.”
Our mother shot Melinda an icy glare. Larissa linked arms with Melinda and led her to the dining room, with me following close behind.
High heels? At a casual family dinner? For crying out loud…
– – –
“Pass the potatoes, sweetie, will you?” Dad had been eyeing a second helping for a while. Larissa handed him the platter and he gave her a warm wink when he took it from her hands.
“You’ve been pretty carb-focused lately, David,” my mother said, tapping her long acrylic fingernails on the table. “There’s plenty of salad left, too.” Her eyes shot over to Melinda just then.
I caught a glimpse of Melinda’s face as it crumpled, but just as quickly, she plastered on a smile and helped herself to more salad, preempting my mother’s critical comments.
“Dad,” I asked, as he was finishing with the platter, “do you mind passing those potatoes to me next?”
“Sure thing, kiddo,” he smiled. I noticed a couple of gray hairs in his beard I had never seen before. He was forty-four, so I supposed it was normal to have a couple grays by then. After all, Nathaniel had a few coming in at his temples, and he was only thirty-eight.
On Nathaniel, it was hot. Foxy.
On Dad, I thought it was quite cute. Distinguished.
My mother used her fork to push a pea around her plate, then took a big swig of white wine. “You’ve cut your hair shorter again, I see,” she said to Larissa.
Not one to take flak from anybody, Larissa nabbed the decanter of wine and emptied it into her own large glass, then nodded enthusiastically. “Mm-hmm! Love it. Easy to keep out of my eyes. Helps a ton when I’m lifting.” She took an equally robust sip of wine.
My mother glowered.
My father shifted in his seat.
“Amelia, honey,” he said, trying to change the subject, “tell us about your work. How are things going? How are you settling in after your first six months?”
I knew he was desperate to escape my mother’s foul mood and unkind insinuations about my sisters, on top of the awful way she had been treating him tonight, too.
What was her problem these days? She was being even worse than usual.
I lifted my chin, smiled, and answered my father’s innocent question. “Thanks for asking!” I chirped, feigning a perky attitude in defiance of my mom, who seemed hell-bent on ruining our night together as a family. “I love my work. It’s been wonderful so far,” I said, spearing a cubed lemon potato onto my fork and eating fast. “Have I told you about my favorite patient, Ed? He’s a veteran, a sweet, older man, who…” Something flip-flopped strangely in my stomach. “Who…”
My dad looked at me, concerned. I soldiered on.
“Well, he’s such a funny guy,” I continued. “He always has all of us on staff laughing. There’s never a dull moment when Ed comes in. In fact, there was this one week when…” Something rumbled around again in my belly. “When he… when–excuse me!”
I dropped my fork, the odd feeling in my stomach becoming unbearable.
I was going to retch. I could feel it.
The fork clanged on my plate and my dining chair skidded loudly against the floor as I pushed it out from under me. Then I stood, ran off to the bathroom, and slammed the door shut in a hurry.
Chapter 14
Nathaniel
The next morning, I awoke to a crisp autumn day in Vancouver. Even with the chilly temperature, the sun was shining brightly against the deep blue sky.
Excellent weather for showing properties.
My client, Nancy, was a shrewd businesswoman with expensive taste and an eye for innovative design. She worked long hours in New York advising high net worth individuals on how to plan their estates and grow their wealth, along with her business partner, who also happened to be her husband. I knew Nancy was looking for someplace she could escape to and leave the stress of New York behind–a location with access to pristine open spaces and scenic beauty, but all the creature comforts and excitement of a bustling urban metropolis. Vancouver was the perfect city for her next home.
After a working lunch with Nancy where I showed her a cost analysis of the various properties I had in mind for her, we headed out to look at a couple of upscale homes in North Vancouver. I had managed to swing an early evening viewing of the particular property I had in mind for her, since I knew the listing agent from a sale a couple of years back. We could still look at all the other properties Nancy wanted, but I had a gut feeling that this would be the one. It was spectacular.
