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“We’re together.” smiled and added, “Are you going to turn back into a grumpy old man, though? Because I wasn’t digging that.”
I almost got offended at that, but just looking at her beautiful, glowing face stopped me in my tracks and I smiled instead. A real smile, from deep down in my battle-scarred old heart. Maybe I had been a bit uptight lately. Lately. Let’s be honest, for the last three years, since things had blown up between me and Clarissa, I thought. “Nope,” I said. “But less of the old.”
* * *
We had coffee and then did the photographs for her feature. I’d wondered if we’d be able to keep our hands off each other long enough to get anything done, but we got really into it. Mary-Beth was very focused and it’s true – we did make a great team. We were upstairs in my apartment at the kitchen table when Kayla came in, dropped off by Clarissa’s PA again, just as Mary-Beth’s mom arrived with Maddy. I went down to the ground floor hallway to help her with the huge bag. (For a tiny kid, Maddy needed a lot of stuff.)
“Alex.”
“Good to see you, Elaine.”
“Hmm. I hope you’re treating my daughter well.”
I bristled, and my first response was Well, I’ve given her a home and a job, but then I had a flash image of me and Mary-Beth on the rug. I cringed inside – Jason wasn’t the only one I’d have to face when we shared the news about our relationship. Clarissa and I used to go out places with them when they were married. The divorce hadn’t been pretty and I’d chosen a side – Jason’s. We even went on vacation to the Napa Valley one year, for a whole week. Before Mary-Beth was born, mercifully. But… Elaine wouldn’t be too impressed when she found out about us.
“How’s Kayla?”
“Good. She’s just got home. You should come in and see her.”
Why the hell had I said that?
“I can’t stay,” she said tightly.
I held Maddy for her while she collapsed the buggy, jogged her up and down to make her laugh. Maddy did laugh, but then she threw up on me a little bit, which seemed to soften Elaine a little towards me.
“I have a half hour,” she said, and began walking up the stairs ahead of me, carrying the bag, leaving me to bring Maddy, vomit on my shoulder. “You’re getting an elevator in this place, right? My daughter can’t possibly be expected to walk up and down all these stairs every day. And my granddaughter most certainly shouldn’t have to.”
“After you,” I muttered, under my breath, feeling my grumpiness come back again, just a little.
“Well, this isn’t awkward at all,” said Kayla, gleefully, as we all sat around the kitchen table, the rug safely back in place. “I mean, Dad, you’re Jason’s best friend, right, and so you must know all kind of things that he told you about Elaine when they divorced, and Mom must have told Elaine all kinds of things about you when you divorced.”
There was fire burning in her eyes, challenging me. I hadn’t realized she was still that angry about the divorce. And I hadn’t realized she’d become such a teenager that she’d be this rude in front of a guest.
“It’s not awkward,” I protested. “And don’t be so rude.”
Mary-Beth put a jug of iced tea down on the table. The sight of iced tea gave me a very inappropriate flashback to her sitting on the kitchen counter, legs spread wide… I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment and focused on wiping Maddy’s vomit off my shirt with the cloth Kayla had shoved at me.
“Let’s be honest, it is awkward,” said Mary-Beth. “But that’s the way it goes sometimes.” She flashed me the briefest smile, and I caught the twinkle in her eye. “Mom, can you stay for supper?” she said then. “I’ll make us spaghetti.”
Elaine peered at me. “Can you eat that? Don’t you have to watch your diet, you know, with still being on the market at your age?”
I was about to reply when Kayla sat down and reached her arms out for Maddy. It was so touching that my heart swelled with love for them both. I forgot about being under fire from Elaine, and about being irritated with Kayla for her rudeness. Mary-Beth handed her over to my daughter automatically and Kayla gave her a big hug. “There’s my girl, there’s my girl. I missed you, yes, I did!”
Maddy laughed, filling the whole room with joy. Mary-Beth said, “You’re half right, Mom, although, don’t you be rude either. It’s lean meat anyway, and there’s courgetti for our sports god, and full carbs for us mortals.” Then she stood up, opened the refrigerator and started pulling out ingredients.
“I’ll help you,” I said, giving her a pleading look, but she just gave me another smile. “Oh no, I’m fine here. You show Mom and Kayla the photos while I cook.”
“Oh, yes, let’s see this new enterprise then,” said Elaine, “and I’ll have a glass of merlot, if you’ve got one.”
“Coming right up,” said Mary-Beth, reaching for the wine rack.
I resisted the urge to throw my hands in the air, but as Kayla was shifting the laptop around so Elaine could see, and Elaine was moving it out of Mad’s reach, I couldn’t help smiling. The apartment had never felt this alive, and my daughter had never once sat down to eat with me here at the table. I could have insisted, of course, but I didn’t feel like that was the point.
I got juice for me and Kayla, handed Elaine her wine and we all chatted and looked at the photos (and I fended off images of the two of us on the rug). Soon the kitchen was full of delicious smells, and the spaghetti sauce was bubbling away on the stove. Mary-Beth was standing behind me, showing us all the planned layouts for the first issue of her vintage interiors magazine. “So, I’ve just got the feature we photographed today to write up, and some refurbs to do for the upcycling one…” said Mary-Beth. I felt her close behind me – it was electric.
“Could you do the desk in my room?” Kayla asked.
I felt Mary-Beth shift behind me. “I’d love to,” she said.
