Page 78 of One More Time
‘It does smell a little like a deli in here now.’ Chloe laughed back.
‘Is it thirty minutes from the time we put the goop in? Or thirty minutes from the time we’ve combed it out?’ Lucy asked, flicking an errant blob of hair mask/mayonnaise from her hand.
‘The directions were vague, at best. Let’s go with from the time we put it in,’ Chloe replied, wiping a smear of white stuff from her forehead. ‘If this crap breaks me out on my wedding day, I’m going to sue.’
Lucy continued combing, and flicking goop mostly into the sink. (But also, the mirror, the counter, and a spot on the ceiling that would no doubt be the topic of much speculation by the cleaning crew.)
Lucy gazed at her daughter in the mirror and when she received a small smile back, Lucy decided to broach a subject that had been needling at her subconscious all night.
‘Hey, Clo?’
‘Yeah?’
‘I’m sorry that your grandparents aren’t here for your wedding. It’s inexcusable and I’m sorry if it hurts you. They’re—’
‘I know who they are, Mom,’ Chloe interrupted, still smiling. ‘I know that they love me. In their way.’
Jesus, this girl is something.‘You are truly amazing,Chloe.’ Lucy beamed. ‘You always meet people exactly where they are. No judgment. No pettiness.’
Chloe’s eyes flicked down to her engagement ring and back again. ‘I don’t know about that. I try with Chandler’s parents, but I just don’t understand them. That said, I do know that they love him.’
‘Like I said,amazing,’ Lucy repeated.
‘Just a good student, like someone else I know,’ Chloe said pointedly to her mother, while dabbing a towel at her hairline. ‘I read thatLove Languagesbook in one of my psych classes. You know the one I mean?’
‘Gary Chapman?’
‘Yeah. Some of it seemed heavy-handed, like are there really only five love languages? That’s a stretch, but I think the concept rings true.’ Chloe’s eyes caught Lucy’s in the mirror. ‘Daddy’s love language is an AmEx Black Card. When he gives me money it’s his way of trying to make me happy and safe.’ She took a breath. ‘Yours is more traditional – support, hugs and praise, kind words. Grandma and Grampa’s is more subtle, sure, but when I get a postcard from them or a little gift from some crazy place they’ve traveled to, I know that they’ve been thinking about me and they’re telling me that they love me. Intheirway. So, when they cross my mind, I’ll text or send them a little something. I love them back in a language they understand. I get Daddy extravagant gifts. You, I call or hug.’
Lucy took Chloe’s hand and smacked a kiss to it. ‘I love you, Chloe.’
‘I love you, too, Mom.’
Well, at least she’d gotten something right in her life. She didn’t know how, because parenting had felt like decades adrift at sea, trying to keep her head above water. But clearly, she’d accidentally made some good choices where Chloe was concerned, because her daughter was fucking awesome.
God, Lucy was going to miss Chloe when she and Chandler were living in Boston. The empty nest bit sounded great, but also, maybe, a little bit heartbreaking.
Chloe squeezed her mother’s hand and said, ‘Hey, aren’t you supposed to be givingmeadvice on the night before my wedding?’
Lucy couldn’t help herself. ‘When a man and a woman love each other very much, sometimes he puts his—’
‘Not about the wedding night,’ Chloe interrupted, rolling her eyes. ‘Aboutmarriage.’
‘Oh, God, Clo,’ Lucy grumbled. ‘You don’t want my advice on that.’
‘Why?’
‘Why?’ Lucy repeated indignantly. ‘Because I’m clearly terrible at it. That’s why.’
‘Okay, even if that were true – which I’m not a hundred percent sure of, by the way – you could probably offer some advice on whatnotto do.’
Oh, boy. Could she.The problem there would be where to begin, and how many hours Chloe had to spare to hear it all.
Chloe asked, ‘What’s the most important thing? To do, or not to do. Your choice.’
‘I mean, why not just ask me to solve poverty or racism or something easier instead?’ Lucy tutted.
Their eyes connected in the bathroom mirror, Chloe’s crinkled under-eye sheet masks clearly telling her to get over herself and get on with it.
