Page 7 of Truth, Lies, and Second Dates
“It’s fine,” he replied.
No doubt.
“We can talk about the elephant in the room,” he continued.
Kill me, please.“We can?”Yes, but should we? No. We should not.
“Absolutely.”
Argh.
They both nodded at her, which was unsettling. “Go on. Ask us anything,” Dennis prompted.
“I honestly don’t have any questions. At all.” They waited, clearly not believing her, so she sighed and added, “Fine—Dennis, you’re banging someone who looks like your dead twin sister. You don’t think that’s a little weird? You don’t thinkotherpeople will find that a little weird? Like your mom? Which, I imagine, is why you’re feeling me out on the subject, no pun intended?”
“What?”From Xenia.
“Oh my God!” From Dennis, eyes bulging in distress. “We were talking about the memorial! We know you don’t want to come!”
“That’sthe elephant in the room?”
“Of course it is!”
“If you know I don’t want to come, then why even bring it up?”
“We’re hoping to persuade you! Which is why it’s an elephant!”
Annnnnnd it gets worse.“That’s not the actual elephant.”
“Well, I know that now, obviously!”
“We should stop yelling! Especially in an airport!”
“Good point,” Xenia put in, doing a credible job of sounding less horrified than she’d looked a minute ago.
“Okay, so. The memorial.” Ava coughed. “Danielle’s memorial. Ten years. Right. I don’t think I was invited.”
“Of course you were invited,” he snapped. “After family, you were the first one on the list.” Which would have been flattering, except there were a thousand Monahans. Being guest number 1,001 was not flattering in the least. Not that it was about being flattered. Right?
“Well, I’m on the road a lot,” she said, gesturing to the bustling to-and-fro of the Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport. You know, with… the flying.”
“Which is why we sent multiple invites.”
“But, again: on the road.”
“The last two were sent certified. We know you got them.”
“Oh. Well. That settles it, I guess.” There was a long, difficult pause. “So, you guys can legally bang, huh?”
Four
THE LIST
Feign appendicitis to get out of memorial
Never ever ever stay in Minnesota longer than ninety minutes ever ever again
Seriously, skin is flaking like a snake—moisturizer!
