Page 50 of Look on the Bright Side

“Never going to happen.”

She laughed. “Okay, Dr.Satan. Do you want dessert?”

He narrowed his eyes a little, and then, somewhat miraculously, allowed a small smile. “No. But you go ahead. I don’t want to deprive you of the pleasure of running up the tab as much as possible.” He looked at his phone. “And I like watching you eat.”

Okay, then. That…that might’ve been a compliment. At least, it was an admission that his time with her wasn’t all agony.

“Molten lava cake,” she told Brian. “Two spoons, okay? Just in case Satan here changes his mind.”

•••

She was starting to understand why Lorenzo Santini was so emotionally strangled. That poor little boy. No matter how smart he’d been, how glamorous the school, she bet it had hurt, being sent away from his parents and little brother, infant sister. Then to have Izzy born while he was in school…well. It was hard to imagine. When Robbie had come home from the hospital, they’d all been obsessed with him. She and Addie had been six at the time, and Lark used to sneak out of bed and stand beside his crib, reaching through the slats to touch his little hand.

Getting to know people was one of Lark’s favorite things to do. And eating out in a nice restaurant with a handsome guy…that wasn’t awful, either. It had been a really, really long time.

She pulled into Joy’s driveway, a little surprised to see her mother’s car there. She saw the lights were on, so she ran up the steps to Joy’s door, knocked and went in. “Hello?”

“We’re in here!” Joy called. “Your mom and me!”

Lark went in and saw her mother curled up on the white couch, Connery in her lap, a bottle of wine on the table.

“Hi, honey, how was your day?”

“Good! Is everything okay?” She looked at both women, who seemed quite relaxed, but there was a box of Kleenex next to Mom, a few wadded tissues next to her that Connery was eyeing for a snack. “Have you been crying, Mom?”

“Just feeling emotional today,” Mom said, taking a sip of wine.

“Everything is great,” Joy said. “Your mom’s going to be staying here for a little while. Isn’t that fun?”

“Why? Is something wrong?” Lark asked. Mom and Dad were never apart, not willingly. Mom would occasionally go stay with Aunt Grace for a night, but that was only twice a year or so. Less, even. “Where’s Dad?”

“Dad’s home,” Mom said. She didn’t look at Lark.

“And…um, why aren’t you with him?”

“There’s some work that needs to be done there,” Mom said. She took a sip of wine. “There may be something wrong with the septic system, and…” Her voice squeaked, and she coughed.

“And who wants to be around all that shit, right?” Joy supplied, squeezing her mom’s hand. “Have a drink, honey,” Joy said. “How are you?”

“I’m good, thanks.” Lark got a glass, poured a little wine and sat down. She’d never thought Mom and Joy had hit it off, and while a staycation at Joy’s was unexpected, it was also a little…sweet. On the surface, the two women had nothing in common. Joy was still fully made up, though it was after nine, and wore a green and blue caftan, five or six rings, two necklaces, bracelets, little kitten-heeled slippers with poufs on the toe. Meanwhile Mom’s hair was in need of a brush, and she wore faded blue cotton pajamas.

“Were you on a date with your fake doctor?” Mom asked.

“Real doctor, fake boyfriend,” Lark said. “And yes. Dinner.”

“Lark says he’s very handsome,” Joy said to Ellie.

“That is true,” Lark said. “And it was actually a little fun. Not him. Just…this. Doing something different.” Mom looked at her intently.

“Being in a couple, even if you’re not really in a couple,” Joy said. “Ellie, did you know I was in a fake marriage? Well, the marriage was real. And we did love each other. But not that way. He was my brother’s lover. This was my third husband.”

“Oh! Wow. There’s a story,” Mom said. “You’ll have to tell me sometime.”

Lark waited for Mom to pick apart her arrangement with Lorenzo, but instead, Mom just stared into her wine.

Joy reached across and patted Mom’s shoulder. “I’m so glad you’re here, Ellie. We’ll have so much fun.”

Something wasn’t right with this picture. She waited a beat, but neither Joy nor Mom said anything else.

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