Page 90 of Look on the Bright Side

“And she cooked him dinner here,” Joy said. “The extremely good-looking firefighter brother.”

“And we met him,” Mom added.

“Cool,” Addie said. She looked at Lark. “Oh. Oh! Really?”

“No, no,” Lark said, feeling her cheeks burn again. “He’s just super nice. And we actually met once before, turns out. He was at a fire in Boston way back when, and he…gave me directions.”

“And you like him.” It was not a question. Addie didn’t need to ask questions.

“He’s very nice. Cute. He’s sweet. A good guy.” She clammed up before she sounded more idiotic than she already did.

“Got it,” Addie said, lifting an eyebrow. “Does anyone want to hear about my day, and how cute Imogen was at her little pal’s birthday party?”

“Do we have to?” Joy said at the same time Mom said, “Of course!”

And so Addie gave her a little grace period, and she listened to the tales of her niece sharing pre-chewed bites of carrot with the other three-year-olds.

But while Lark smiled in the right places during Addie’s adorable and disgusting story, Imogen’s antics didn’t blot out the image of Dante looking at her the second before she kissed him.

She had the impression the kiss was not unwelcome.

SIXTEEN

JOY

While having Ellie stay with her was a delight—a girlfriend! She’d never had a girlfriend!—Joy was becoming a little more aware that she…well…that she didn’t do very much.

“What are your hobbies?” Ellie asked the second week.

“Well, I love makeup,” Joy said honestly. “I could do you anytime. You have beautiful bone structure.”

“Um…maybe. I generally don’t wear makeup. I get that you don’t need to work, Joy, but what do you love to do? How do you fill your days?”

“I like to keep up with the news,” she lied, knowing TMZ and E! didn’t count. “I…I like to shop.” She did buy a lot of things; even the Amazon guy was a little judgy, sighing as he backed out of her driveway almost every day. Damn it. She didn’t do much of anything. Hours and hours spent online, looking at…stuff. Wondering about getting more plastic surgery. Getting specialized facials at Artisan Skin Care in Orleans. Planning her own funeral.

“So you never really had a career? Or a calling?”

“No,” she said. “Not really. My brother was kind of the center of my life.”

“Huh. Well. How about volunteering?”

“It’s just that most volunteering involves children, and I hate children.”

Ellie laughed. “Points for honesty. Did you like your painting lesson the other day? Because I’d be thrilled to keep that up.”

“I did like it,” Joy said, trying to sound enthusiastic. “Sure.”

“So…not really. That’s okay. It’s not for everyone.”

“I liked the wine and laughing part.”

“So you just kind of shop and…” Ellie’s voice trailed off, and Joy felt a flash of regret. This was where her previous friendships always broke down. When other women realized there wasn’t much to her. Ellie had been very interested in hearing about her childhood, and very sympathetic…no, enraged!…at hearing how her parents had either ignored or belittled her and Paulie. But to a woman like Ellie, who’d had a passion early on in life, who was a wife, who had five children, who ran a business and made beautiful paintings, Joy would be boring. Of course she would be.

“I go to a lot of open houses,” she said. “Maybe I’m interested in real estate. And I…I like to plan my funeral.”

“What?” Ellie’s eyes widened.

“Oh. Don’t you?”

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