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‘Tell us about your family. Your mom? Dad? Do you have any other siblings?’
I swallowed and took a sip of water before answering. ‘I have a sister, my dad and my grandma. It’s just the four of us.’
Some of the others were still chattering among themselves, but most of them had gone quiet and were listening to us.
‘Your mom?’ she asked simply.
Trying not to feel too awkward, I put both my hands on my lap under the table. ‘My parents divorced. She left when I was twelve.’
‘You still see her though, right?’ Beth asked.
‘Beth,’ William muttered, and I shook my head, reaching for my glass.
‘Oh, I’m sorry, Charlie. I didn’t mean to pry.’
‘Oh, no, it’s okay.’ Sometimes it was better to just overshare things instead of making the situation more awkward than it needed to be by dragging it out. ‘She moved to a different city, I think it was Oregon, but we heard later that she moved from there too. I have no idea where she is right now. She did call once, it was my birthday, and I think she was a little drunk because she asked me if I’d gotten prettier.’ I shrugged. ‘We didn’t talk much after, I think that was the last time I heard from her.’ I lifted my glass from the table and took a long sip of my cold water and then smiled at Evelyn when I caught her gaze on me.
She tilted her head and put her wineglass down. ‘Oh, sweetheart.’
I smiled a little more to show that I was actually okay. And I was. My mom… she hadn’t been in my life for a long time. She didn’t affect the life I had now.
I felt the tablecloth move against the skin of my arm and looked to my right to see William’s hand secretly inching towards mine. I watched – still almost as surprised to feel his skin on mine as I was the first time he’d done it – as he covered his hand over mine under the table and gave it a gentle squeeze.
You’re not alone. I’m here for you.
That’s what his touch and that squeeze meant to me. My heart lurched with an extra thud and I could feel a slow heat flood my face. I gave him a sideways glance, but he was talking to one of the guys, one of his sister’s friends who was sitting next to him. And somehow just because of that, the gesture meant even more. After giving my hand another squeeze, he pulled it back. I made a fist of my hand and then opened it. He knew what had happened with my mom, I’d shared it with him years back – just as he’d shared how they had lost their father when they were young.
‘Charlie, this tastes amazing,’ Beth’s husband Nico commented and everyone murmured their appreciation, breaking the unexpected tension in the room. I turned to him with a warm smile. He was taking spoonfuls of the Mediterranean potato salad I had made as a contribution to the dinner after much begging to Evelyn. I didn’t want to just sit around and do nothing while they were working their asses off in the kitchen.
‘I’m glad you like it,’ I replied and picked up my fork.
‘It is really good, Charlie,’ Evelyn added, her eyes warm as she got up from her seat.
I nodded in thanks and took a small bite out of the chicken dish I had on my plate. They were being kind, Evelyn could’ve been a chef.
‘No, seriously,’ Kay said. ‘I wasn’t here when you were making it so I missed out on what spices are in here, but I want the recipe. I love it.’
My heart warmed. ‘It’s very simple, but of course I’ll give you the recipe.’
‘You’re gonna cook?’ William asked, with more than a little suspicion in his tone.
Kay’s eyebrows flicked up. ‘Ha. Ha. Funny. I cook, thank you very much.’
‘Really? When was the last time you did anything in the kitchen?’
‘I’m pregnant, you idiot.’
I held back my laughter, but William wasn’t that smart.
‘What does that have to do with anything?’ he asked.
‘I get tired a lot.’
‘Ah, got you.’
‘Shut up, I’m a single mom. I don’t have time.’
‘You didn’t have the baby yet.’
Evelyn caught my gaze and shook her head as if to say kids, what can you do and I felt included and smiled back at her.
The conversation picked up around me, and Evelyn and I were talking about life in Montauk until she asked me if I was seeing someone.
‘Nope.’ I shovelled some more potato salad into my mouth, hoping she’d move on to talk about something else. Beth was sitting right across from me, and Evelyn was next to her.
She moved forward and lowered her voice. ‘Can I ask why?’ Thankfully, as far as I could tell, no one else was paying attention to what we were talking about.
