Page 53 of August
“No, sadly, I am not,” she said with a sigh. “That, unfortunately,isthe lead, and I was a total mess during my date with Myra because of it.”
“You just told me it was a good date.”
Elisa nodded and told her the whole story of how she had gotten picked up by Myra and had nearly ruined their first date from the start. She talked about the cigars and crab cakes and how she had, apparently, moved away from Myra on the bench without even realizing that she had done it. Then, she told Gwen how she’d kissed Myra on the cheek when they’d said goodnight the first time.
“I hate my brother.” Gwen gritted her teeth. “I know we’re related, so there’s that familial love thing, but he somehow managed to be out of your life and still ruin things for you.”
“But I didn’t let him,” Elisa reminded her. “I found my strength to go over and apologize, and now, we’re going out again.” She smiled. “It was difficult, though. I had a hard time sleeping after Myra dropped me off the second time. Part of that was because my heart was racing. I almost had sex with a woman for the first time.”
“She was into it?”
“Oh, yeah. I could see it in her eyes that she considered it and had to really force herself to go home instead.”
“That bodes well,” Gwen said.
“It does. But I couldn’t really sleep because I’m worried.”
“About the kids? What did he say to you, exactly?”
Gwen shifted a little on the sofa, and not for the first time, Elisa was glad that she had moved to New Orleans and had a friend in Gwen. She was also grateful that Gwen didn’t have a demanding job and was able to pick her hours, for the most part. She had regulars whom she took care of, but they could arrange to hang out around the times she was walking the dogs or stopping by to feed the birds, the cats, and all the other animals Gwen took care of when their owners were out of town or otherwise needed help.
“It’s a long story, and I don’t remember some of it now. I was shocked when he showed up. I think that’s why he did it. He could’ve called, but that would’ve meant I could have hung up on him or not answered and been more prepared for whatever he wanted to say when I called back. He didn’t text to tell me that he was coming or even ask if I would be home. Hewantedto catch me off guard. It’s been part of his whole thing ever since we separated. I’m not convinced he brought all those women home because he wanted to sleep with them. He could have done that anywhere, yet he always made sure I was in the main house when they’d come walking down the stairs together. He wanted me to see them.”
“Why is he this way?” Gwen asked the seemingly rhetorical question.
“Good question. Something for his potential therapist to figure out. He told me that the twins wanted to live with him and that, basically, there was nothing I could do about it because they’re eighteen now. And he’s right, sort of. They’re technically still my dependents, but they’re also adults now, according to the law, so if he says yes, they can stay there for the next couple of weeks and on all their breaks. AJ doesn’t have preseason practice like we assumed he would because of some coach issue, so they’ll both go to their orientations,but then, they’re at school until October. He’s saying they’ll stay with him for their fall break because all their friends will be back home, and they won’t want to be two hours away.”
“It’s just a two-hour drive; not that big of a deal. Why can’t they come here for a day or two and then stay there?”
“That was the plan. They get a week off for Thanksgiving, so I thought they would be here for the actual holiday and maybe a little before, but I expected them to want to go to their dad’s to spend time with their friends for at least a few days. I wouldn’t stop them.”
“I know you wouldn’t,” Gwen said with a straight smile.
“But the kicker is that he told me a solution tomyproblem would be to just move back in.”
“What?”
“Into the guest house. I could just move there full-time and give up this house and this experiment of me being on my own. I think that’s what he believes this is. He didn’t say it outright, but now that I’ve gotten a little space from yesterday, that’s what I think. I could move back in and see the kids whenever they’re on break, or I could stay there when they’re on break so that the kids wouldn’t have to go back and forth.”
Gwen tilted her head in thought.
“What?” Elisa asked.
“Nothing. I was just thinking.”
“About what, exactly?”
“So, I mentioned earlier that I hate my brother, right?”
“Yes.”
“But… Staying there on their breaks might not be a bad idea. It’s a short drive, and it’s a full guest house back there. You could cook Thanksgiving dinner there, and if you want guests, I could go to your dinner and skip the one the parents always host. I’m sure Arch will go to that one anyway.”
“You think I should move back there?”
“No, not move.Stay. There’s a difference. It would be a week, maybe. Right?”
“They get three weeks off at Christmas.”
