Page 97 of Books and Hookups

That was Barb, always an optimist. But I didn’t believe in manifesting or attracting positive energy. I’d gained what I had through hard work. Even that wouldn’t save this situation.

I gave her a tight smile. “I’m going to put my jacket and tie in my locker, then start my shift.”

“I believe in us, Danny. We’ll get through this.”

I wished I could believe it too.

I’d just flipped off the blender when a throat cleared behind me. “Excuse me.”

I held up a finger. “One sec.” I poured out the frozen margaritas for the Monday-night bunco club and garnished them with lime wheels.

Turning, I said, “I’ve got to drop off this tray, but I’ll be right…”

My words died when I saw the last person I’d ever expected to walk into this bar again—Lucie’s mother. She wore a pink cardigan and matching blouse over a black skirt and heels. She looked like she’d gotten lost on her way to the theater district.

“Mrs. Knox. Hi.” I bobbled the tray but kept most of the drinks in their glasses.

“Do you have a minute to talk? After you take care of that?” She nodded at my tray.

“Um, sure. Yeah.” I carried the drinks out to the ladies’ table while my mind spun. What was Lucie’s mother doing here? Was Lucie all right? I hadn’t seen her in a couple of days, though I’d heard the occasional scrape of her office chair against my ceiling.

When I returned to my post behind the bar, Mrs. Knox sat on a barstool, carefully not touching the bar top. I passed a damp rag over it and washed my hands. “What can I get you?”

“Do you have wine?”

I lifted a bottle. “This is what Lucie drinks. Or what she used to drink. It’s not terrible. Want to try it?”

“Thank you.”

I checked that the glass was clean, then poured the wine and set it in front of her. “Is Lucie okay?”

“I think so. She called me, and I’m on my way to see her. But first I wanted to talk to you.” She sipped the wine. “Lucie drinks this?”

“Yeah, when she’s not choking back scotch. But I started a mocktail menu, and she likes those now. Well, she did.” I’d picked up one of the laminated menus as if to hand it to her, but I set it back down. Lucie didn’t come here anymore. Because I’d fucked everything up.

Placing two fingers on the menu, Mrs. Knox slid it toward herself and scanned it. “The Lucie Poem? Is that a reference to Wordsworth’s Lucy poems?” She raised her eyebrows in a way that reminded me of Lucie.

“Yeah.” I scrubbed at a sticky spot on the bar.

“You know those poems are all about death, right?”

“And love,” I insisted. “Anyway, Lucie’s popular around here. And the mocktails…I made them for her.”

She cleared her throat and pushed away the glass of wine. “I came here to apologize for my behavior—mine and my husband’s—at Lucie’s birthday party. Lucie had led us to believe…or we wanted to believe… We didn’t think you two were serious about a relationship. Clearly, we were wrong.”

“Oh.” My face went hot. “We’re not anymore. Except as, you know, co-parents. She doesn’t want more.”

“Doesn’t she?” She tipped her head exactly the way Lucie did when she asked a hard question. “Let me tell you something about my daughter. Her father is a very driven man. Driven not only to succeed but also to do what is right. Lucie picked that up at an early age. She’s always had a clear view of right and wrong and strives to stay on the side of right.”

“Sure.” I set down the rag. “That’s why she’s a journalist. So she can explore issues, figure out her view of events, and tell the story. Writing about that gun rights rally with a neutral viewpoint really pissed her off.”

“Exactly. It irks her father too. He thought she should have gone into academia. But that wasn’t what she wanted. She had opinions about what academia had done to me.”

“Oh, right. They kicked you out because you, um, you got pregnant.”

“What Lucie didn’t understand was that, although that university closed the door on me, it wasn’t my only option. I decided to leave my academic career to raise her and support Marvin’s career.”

“And what a career it’s been,” I said. “I bet he couldn’t have done it without you.”

---