Page 42 of Golden Girl
Vivi wishes she had taken the time to decorate the powder room in Money Pit with family photographs like the Hamiltons’. But who was she kidding? That house had a hundred projects more pressing—like Leo’s shower leaking onto the dining-room table and a family of mice living behind the washer and dryer. Maybe one of the kids would do the project now that Vivi was gone. Maybe Savannah would recall the umpteen times Vivi said she wanted to re-create the powder room of Entre Nous and she would prompt the kids to do it.
Not doing the powder room is a regret, albeit a small one. There are other, far bigger regrets. But Vivi will think about those later.
Leo
After two full weeks of radio silence, Marissa shows up at the house on a Monday, Leo’s only day off from the Boat Basin. He opens the door to find her holding a Bakewell tart with feathered pink and white icing. The fluted crust is golden brown but there’s one imperfection where it looks like the crust crumbled and has been pinched together.
“Did you”—Leo swallows. He’s happy to have the tart to look at instead of Marissa’s face—“make Mary Berry’s Bakewell tart? Did you make thatyourself?”
“Not exactly,” Marissa says. “I took a picture of it to the Bake Shop and asked them to make it because I know you’ve always wanted to try it.”
“Oh,” Leo says. “So you paid someone to do it for you.”
“It’s an apology, Leo. I’m sorry about what I said to Cruz on the beach and I’m obviously sorry about your mom. Just let me in, please?”
Leo takes a deep breath and holds open the door.
They pick up right where they left off, hanging out all the time. They used to watchThe Great British Baking Showironically—they would imitate the accents and use words likearduousandintuitive—but now Leo watches it as an escape. The biggest disaster under the tent is dough not rising, or pastry cream curdling, or fruit that is too soft or watery leading to a soggy crust. Leo doesn’t have to think about his mother, dead, or about his former best friend, who is quite possibly the reason his mother is dead. The one time that Marissa and Leo tiptoe close to the topic of Cruz, Marissa whispers, “I hate even thinking this…but it must have been him. Alexis said Officer Falco saw him run a stop sign and then speeding less than five minutes before your mom got hit. He was driving recklessly before he turned onto Kingsley, boo. I’m sure he was so upset that he might just have erased what actually happened from his mind. He might be in complete denial, like a case of temporary insanity.”
Leo has blocked Cruz on his phone and on Instagram and Snapchat. He expects Cruz to show up at the house like Marissa did, but so far he hasn’t.
Leo has also blocked Peter Bridgeman from his phone. He wants to pretend that the night before his mother’s death—the bonfire at Fortieth Pole, his breakup with Marissa, and the photograph that Peter sent him—never happened.
Marissa tells Leo that Alexis has a new boyfriend. He’s an officer in the department, and things are moving so fast that Alexis has created a Pinterest board for her wedding.
“And I decided to make one too,” Marissa says. “You know, for the future.”
“Make what?” Leo says, because he’s only half listening.
“A Pinterest board for our wedding,” Marissa says. “Here, look.” They’re lying on the Girv. Leo is spooning Marissa and Marissa is spooning her laptop. “I chose bridesmaid dresses and flowers, though I’m thinking of switching the palette from pink to peach.”
“Good idea,” Leo says with false enthusiasm. He knows he won’t be marrying Marissa, but he needs her right now, is the thing. He needs her badly.
Without Vivi, Leo is not only lost but confused. Who’s in charge of his day-to-day life now? Everyone, it seems, and no one.
Leo’s father, JP, suggests that Leo spend the summer at his house and maybe trade his job at the Boat Basin for one scooping ice cream at the Cone.
No and no, Leo says. Then, because he’s angry and has no place to vent, he says, “I hate Amy.” He’s instantly ashamed. He doesn’t like Amy, buthateis a strong word and he would never say it to her face.
JP clears his throat. “What if Amy weren’t around?”
“Where is she going?”
His father doesn’t answer, and Leo doesn’t care. He won’t live with his father because he can’t bear to leave his mother’s house. A part of her is still here. There’s Tupperware in the refrigerator that still holds her grilled zucchini dip; half a bottle of her Drybar shampoo is on the shelf in the outdoor shower. It’s like she’s away on a book tour and might be back at any moment.
Carson has been sleeping in Vivi’s room. She just moved in like it was her right, and when she’s not at work, she wears Vivi’s clothes. This is either a healthy way to grieve or a sign of mental illness.
Both Leo and Willa understand that Carson is a renegade. She acts out, demands attention, gets in nonstop trouble, makes questionable decisions, drinks, vapes, smokes weed, and was an expert at pushing every single one of their mother’s buttons. However…Carson is also cool, funny, and very, very pretty; people comment on it all the time. Leo’s friends always tell him how hot Carson is. Cruz had a wicked crush on her for years.
Leo can’t think about Cruz.
Carson isn’t in charge of anything following Vivi’s death except going back to work and keeping herself alive. Once the zucchini dip is gone and people have stopped dropping off lasagna and clam chowder, Leo wonders what they’re supposed to eat. What will they do for money? Who’s going to pay the mortgage?
That’s where Savannah comes in. She’s handling all the business stuff, figuring out Vivi’s finances, and dealing with the publication of the new book. She’s the administrator of the Vivian Howe Memorial Facebook page.
“Do you want to read the comments people have been posting?” she asks one morning when Carson and Leo happen to be in the kitchen foraging at the same time.
“No,” Leo says.
