Page 103 of Meet Me in Montreal

“When we heard what happened, I called her. We got to talking about you and Santino, and how unhappy you’ve both been since you got back from that trip. We talked about how, maybe, neither of us were as supportive of your marriage and your choices the way we should’ve been. We hope that if you two get back together, that we have another chance to do better. Maybe you and I…maybe you and I could do better as mother and daughter-in-law.”

Before she answered, Vanessa turned away. Her heart was galloping as a deep hot flush radiated upward from her belly to her chest. For Lina to be one of the few people who’d been firmly and openly against her being with Santino to ask this of her wasn’t the fairytale hug-it-out moment she’d once hoped for. This was curiouslyenraging.

“Not as supportive,” she mused with a twisted grin. “I think calling someone a gold digger and claiming they were taking advantage of your ‘child’ who was too young and too whipped to know better was definitely not supportive.”

“If you were in my position, what would you think?” Lina retorted, another hint of her old stubbornness showing. “I know I was overprotective, but I had my reasons, and they had nothing to do with you as a person. If you —”

“Lina, I got fired from my job,” Vanessa cut in. She only hoped she was doing a decent job keeping her voice even, despite the quivering of her lips at holding back the full force of her emotions. “I don’t even know if I’ll get to keep my license to practice. I was attacked in my own home. My house was burned down. I’m kinda at one of the lowest points of my life and now you think it’s a great time for me to go beg Santino to take me back? Why? So, another six years from now, you can forget this conversation ever happened and say I only wanted to reconcile because I was at rock bottom and needed someone to pull me out of a hole? No. Uh-uh.” She laughed bitterly.

“I’m sorry.” Lina’s words stopped that laughter, filtered through the haze of anguish that had been about to take over. “I apologize for ever believing that about you, much less saying it. Just please, whatever it is that’s holding you back, get over it, before you both spend the next six years unhappy. Or the next twelve years. Or the rest of your lives.”

Lina’s eyes spit blue fire despite the liquid now swimming in them. She only broke eye contact to stand up.

She bent and kissed Vanessa on the cheek. Whispered, “You’re running out of time.” Then left the room.

When Vanessa was released from the hospital a day later, they were suddenly in the thick of what used to be called the Dog Days of Summer. It was hotter than a nightclub in Hades, with a blanket of humidity that draped low and heavy over everything the sun touched. Despite that, the early evening was blessedly cooler under the shelter of the porch where Vanessa was attempting to read a book while Everly played and explored on a mat in front of her. Attempting, but failing, as she was still tired easily and her thoughts kept drifting to a certain address milesaway in Bronxville where a certain superhero dwelled in his lair. But for how much longer?

Vanessa looked down the street at each car as it appeared. She recognized most of the drivers. None of them were Santino. But she looked. Waited. And shook off disappointment when they passed by and he didn’t materialize. He’d dropped off the lockbox with her documents while she was still in the hospital, so he didn’t really need to come around for anything else. She tried distracting herself from the fresh tide of hurt and regret by going back to her book.

Nadine was inside, retrieving some lavender lemonade that she’d made. They’d eaten dinner not too long ago and a cool, refreshing drink would be just what the in-house doctor ordered, that doctor being Bobby. He was out on his after-dinner walk.

Everly crawled over and pulled herself up by clinging to Vanessa’s bare legs. “Hey, mama. Don’t tell me you have a gift for Auntie.”

Everly grinned. Her adorable two teeth melted Vanessa’s heart every time. Fortunately, after a diaper check, she had not come bearing gifts. She did want to be picked up and cuddled, so Vanessa obliged her, setting her book down on a small wood table and settling the almost-toddler on her lap.

“Okay, let’s do A-B-C’s so you can read this book to me ‘cause Auntie ain’t got no money to pay for audiobooks. I’m counting on you,” Vanessa said.

The little cutie giggled as if she understood the joke. Vanessa took Everly’s hands, and they clapped out the letters together in the traditional song. Never too early to get the basics down pat; those few years until preschool would fly by. There was no pressure on this baby to get it perfectly, though.

Before her, the road was serene. There were no rose bushes here, but the yard was full of wildflowers, as were the other yards of the neighbors who were scattered along the road withgenerous space in between. Their houses were coming to life as their owners, one by one, returned from their day away. She enjoyed the moment when the distant lights inside those houses began to glow. Even the heat couldn’t smother the sweet grass scent of the evening air as the fireflies in the bushes and on the lawns began to make their rounds.

If all she had to do in life was sit out here, taking in this calming view of domestic bliss with this little girl on her lap, she’d be content.

But true happiness? That seemed elusive, more so than ever. She couldn’t lie to herself. She hadn’t been happy since those idyllic days in Montreal when it had been her and Santino, learning about each other. Loving each other.

At last, Nadine came outside with the tall glasses full of ice and the purple-tinted sweet-and-tart beverages. Settling into the wicker chair on the other side of the table, Nadine handed Vanessa her glass and took a long sip of her own.

“Uh-oh. Everly’s mad you didn’t bring her some,” Vanessa said when Everly looked at Nadine’s hands as if wondering why there wasn’t a third. She growled at her grandmother, furrowing her little eyebrows, and then grabbed at Vanessa’s glass, nearly spilling some as she bent her face into it and licked the surface. “Okay, okay, have some!”

Everly took her fill with Vanessa’s help, smacking her lips when she’d had enough.

“It might be bathtime soon. She looks sleepy,” Nadine said.

Bobby chose that moment to return home from his walk. He was on a leave of absence from work so he could rest his head and the healing burn on his hand, take stock and care for Everly. The strain of what had happened with Zoe and the fire had taken its toll, but he seemed more at peace than he had in a while.

“My babygirl is still up? What are you doing up?” he asked, climbing the steps.

He took Everly and swung her lightly into the air to make her laugh, then kissed her cheek, nestling her close despite the sweaty shirt he wore. Everly didn’t care. The contentment on her face at being held by her dad was everything. That tugged hard at Vanessa’s heart. Right now, Bobby was the only true parent Everly had for the foreseeable future.

Zoe was in a facility upstate. It had been Vanessa’s decision to tell the fire investigator and the county prosecutor that the fire was wholly set by the man who’d attacked them, not mentioning Antoinette had been there at all. Like Bobby had told them, they were all family there.

Now Vanessa could see so clearly what had been right in front of her all along. Zoe’s obsession had only been peripherally about Santino and ultimately, not even about Vanessa herself. The woman she’d thought of as perfect had been struggling with deeper problems than any of them had understood, things that had gone back years before they’d met. Undiagnosed post-partum, leaving her job, and a profound sense of isolation all pushed her over the edge. It might be a while before she could come home, and a lot would be different when she did. For Bobby, the marriage was over.

Despite that, the facility was a beautiful, tranquil place where Zoe could rest and heal, as Bobby needed rest and healing. Being here with Everly and a much softer Nadine was helping Vanessa too, even if everything else in her life was up in the air.

“Ow,” Nadine said with a sudden sharp slap on her arm. “These mosquitoes. I’m gonna go in. Good night.” She kissed Bobby, Vanessa and her granddaughter, fanning herself with her hand on her way to the carriage house.

Vanessa hadn’t wanted to discuss anything Santino-related in front of their mother. Now, with Nadine gone, she looked at Bobby and raised an eyebrow. “Guess who came to see me at the hospital yesterday?”

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