Page 53 of Close Match
My jaw drops. Everyone gapes at her in astonishment. “It really isn’t a big deal. I’ve done cast recordings before,” she hurriedly explains.
“My daughter just recorded her first record?” Ev confirms slowly.
“It’s lullabies, Ev. They wanted me to sing some holiday music, and I turned that down. I wanted to do something that meant something special to me. So, I recorded a bunch of lullabies and children’s music. I wouldn’t expect it to hit the top of the charts or anything,” she jokes, embarrassed.
“What made you decide to do that?” Mom asks.
“Remember I told you about Bristol?” Mom makes an “Ah” in assent. To the rest of us, Linnie explains, “My sister is having her first baby.”
I’ve never given much thought to celebrities before. I mean, I’ve seen their images on all the tabloids during the checkout aisles, of course. But I imagine very few of them are like Linnie, who rises out of her chair to begin clearing the mess so my mother can sit within the confines of her father’s arms. “Thanks, sweetheart.”
Linnie waves her off with a smile.
“Beautiful and nice? Dude, you might be in some serious trouble with her around. More so than you already were,” Shaun mutters to my left as he randomly picks out some notes on his guitar.
Maybe it’s her core of humility that trips my heart into an erratic beat when out of the corner of my eye, I watch Linnie head back from inside to plop down into her chair. It can’t be those ridiculous long legs showcased in shorts or her long glossy hair hanging down her back.
Or a heart I’m beginning to realize is going to be shattered when the news about Ev’s illness hits her.
Thirty
Evangeline
October
I’m in New York for the week at a charity event I promised Sepi I’d attend even before Mom died as an alumni of NYU to help raise money for their theatrical scholarship program. As I walk the red carpet outside of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, I’m overwhelmed by the number of flashes. The trick is to look beyond the cameras so you’re not looking at any one photographer.
Because the dress specified cocktail attire, I slipped into a crepe cap sheath dress with a gold zipper that runs down the back. My shoes are embellished slingbacks I expect I’ll be ready to chuck at someone’s head by the end of the night. Bristol said it perfectly when I was complaining while getting ready, “You’re getting too used to the peacefulness of the farm.”
Sliding on a chunky Tiffany gold ball-and-chain bracelet on my wrist, I agreed with her. “I am. You should come down to visit. I know Ev and Char would love to meet you.”
Bristol laughed. “Maybe. I need my routine, just as you need the time to get to know your family, Linnie.”
Seriously, I clasped both of her hands in mine. “You are my family, Bristol. Even though I found Ev, it’s…different.”
“Of course it is, silly. Ev’s your father. He’s never going to be the one who knows you let Campbell Frost get to third base in the laundry room of his apartment building when you were only thirteen.” Her face is angelic. Glaring, I yank my hands away from hers.
“It was second base, and I was fifteen, thank you very much,” I grouse at her.
Bristol laughed before stepping back into my space and wrapping her arms around me. “No matter what, there’s enough room in your heart for all of us, Linnie. I’m sure of it.”
I finished getting ready and waited with an impatient tap of my foot for the car to pick me so I could make my grand entrance on the red carpet. I used the time wisely though. I took a few selfies and shot them to my father with the bewildered question of “Did you ever have to do ridiculous stuff like this before you retired?”
The laughing emoji I got in return didn’t help. However, his text of “You look beautiful. Enjoy yourself and your time with your sister. We’ll see you next week” went a long way to soothing my frayed emotions.
I pose at the front of the Waldorf for one more round of photos, before the doors are held open for me and I slip inside. Letting out a deep breath, I turn and run smack into Pasquale. “Pas! I didn’t know you’d be here,” I exclaim. I take a step forward to move into his arms, but he takes a firm grip on mine to hold me back.
What on earth?
“Evangeline, always a pleasure to see you.” His voice is cold. It completely lacks the warmth and care he gave me the last time we were together in the theater after Mom died.
I’m about to question what’s wrong when Veronica slides up to him and wraps her lanky arm around his waist. “Hello, Evangeline. How have you been?” God, I’ll never be glad my mother is gone. If she were still alive, would she be as horrified as I am at the degeneration of her best friend?
It’s been only a few months since I’ve seen her, and even I can see the physical changes that have come over my godmother. Her makeup on her face is heavier than normal, likely covering the effects of a bender. Her normally thin body is almost waiflike, her bones beginning to push up under her skin. Her hands are trembling even as she clings onto Pasquale to remain standing. She looks worse than when she came off a monthlong bender and almost lost her job at BDC before Mom intervened. A silent bell of alarm goes off inside my head making me wonder if our confrontation pushed her over the edge into drinking again.
God, I’m furious with her. We just lost Mom to the effects of the bottle and she thinks the answers can be found at the bottom of it? But how can I be the only one seeing this? Is it because everyone else sees her day after day?
My heart hurts when I nod my head and answer. “Actually, Veronica, I’m doing quite well since my father and I reunited.”
