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“Yes,” Isaac says. “But she is right, I was happy while she was away. I was happy because we were together.”
Caroline would like to point out that if she is the one who makes Isaac happy, then maybe he should be with her and not Sofia! But she senses there’s some elusive knowledge about love that she’s not adult enough yet to understand. Something likeTrue love makes you miserable.
“How’s your little project coming?” he asks.
“Oh,” Caroline says, perking up, though she’s wary of saying too much lest she jinx herself. “It’s turning out better than I expected.”
“Hmm,” Isaac says. “When you get back to New York, we’ll take a look together at what you have. Okay,mon petit chou?”
He’s patronizing her, but she likes imagining the two of them shoulder to shoulder in front of Isaac’s computer. “Okay,” Caroline whispers. She wants the conversation to end sweetly, she wants Isaac to say he misses her, but at that second, there’s a beeping on her phone.
Sofia is calling.
“She’s calling me now,” Caroline says. “What should I do?”
“Decline, please,” Isaac says. “She’s been out to lunch with Mauricio and Gemma; I’m sure she’s been drinking. Wait and call her back tomorrow, then put her mind at ease.”
“Okay,” Caroline says. The beeping ends; Caroline knows Sofia won’t leave a message.
“You’ll be back Monday?” Isaac asks.
“Tuesday,” Caroline says.
Isaac sighs. (With longing?) “Until then,mon petit chou,” he says, which isn’t exactly what Caroline is hoping for, but she’ll take it.
She hangs up just as a text from Sofia comes in.Are you on the phone with Isaac?
A chill rolls up Caroline’s spine. The loneliest place in the world, she realizes, is between two other people.
35. Happy Hour III
When Caroline walks into the kitchen, the mood is festive. The only grouch is Henny, who resumes her growling at Gigi.
“I can’t keep blaming my cat,” Gigi says. “I think Henrietta has something against me.”
“Finish your pot!” Brooke says. “How could anyone have anything against you?”
Caroline has to admit, her mother’s matching-colors ideaworks.Dru-Ann is in white, Gigi is in black, Brooke is in white, and Tatum is in black and white.
The music is so good—Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car”—that Caroline catches both Tatum and Dru-Ann singing along together.We’ve gotta make a decision, leave tonight or live and die this way. Everyone is glowing from the sun. Brooke shows Dru-Ann her sunburned shoulders, and Gigi looks at pictures of Orion on Tatum’s phone.
Caroline gets some footage of the ladies singing and dancing to “Whatta Man.” Still no music from this century; maybe that will happen tomorrow.
Brooke says, “Caroline, would you take a group picture with my phone? I’ll text it to everybody.”
Yes! Everyone loves this idea! But wait… the room comes to a standstill.
“Where’s Hollis?” Gigi says.
“I’ll get her,” Tatum says.
“No,I’llget her,” Dru-Ann says.
Caroline watches the two women stare at each other. “I’ll get her,” she says. And she heads down the hall.
Before knocking, Caroline presses her ear to the door. She hears nothing. There’s a stripe of light at the bottom. Her mother is in there. But something must be wrong. Hollis is always the first person ready. There’s no good reason why Hollis would miss even one minute of the cocktail hour. There are only bad reasons.
Caroline raps with one knuckle. “Mama?” she says. There’s no answer.
