Her mother’s eyes widened. “Dawn’s Husband! You know sign language?”
Victor cut his eyes to Dawn, eager to see how she would explain this to her mother.
But Dawn just answered, “Yes, Mom, he knows sign language, too, and I’m just going to take this bottle from you and put it back in the fridge because I get that you’re probably scared and upset, but there’s no way you should be drinking the day before liver surgery.”
That declared-signed, Dawn tugged at the bottle in her mother’s hand as she asked, “Do you have a pitcher we can use for water?”
“When did you become the boss of me?” Gyeong asked her daughter with an annoyed cluck.
Nonetheless, she relinquished the bottle to Dawn and went back to the cabinets to pull down a plastic pitcher.
“Has Dawn made you any Korean food?” her mother asked after handing Dawn the pitcher. “Or do you two only eat takeout like my son?”
She eyed Dawn up and down. “You look like you’ve only been eating takeout. What happened to that diet from the year when you lied to us all about going to med school?
The ding of the microwave saved Dawn from answering.
And that was how he ended up having an unexpected lunch with Dawn and her mother.
“Look at how nice he is chewing!” Gyeong observed with a pointed look toward Dawn. “Unlike some people I know.”
Before he could stop himself, Victor glanced over at Dawn, the memory of their one and only conversation on this topic echoing in his head. She had been right about how her mother would respond to his necessary chewing habit.
“See, I told you she would like that about you!” Dawn crowed, her voice triumphant.
Victor tried and failed not to laugh.
“He’s savoring the food,” her mom insisted, taking a drink of water. “Not shoveling it down like you and Byron. Probably because he hasn’t had a homemade meal ever from you.”
“I cooked for him,” Dawn insisted. But then she sheepishly added, “Once.”
“What did you make?” Gyeong asked, her eyes lighting up. “Was it good? It must not have been if he never asked for it again!”
Victor’s hands started moving before he could stop them. “She made me bulgogi. It was much spicier and more garlicky than the kind you heated up for us. But she said it was from your recipe, and she guaranteed me it would be the best meal of my life. She did not lie. I appreciated it because most of my tongue is missing. That means my taste buds are highly compromised. So the meal was perfect for someone like me.”
Both Dawn and her mother stared at him, their eyes wide, but for different reasons.
“You made him my spicy garlic bulgogi?” Gyeong grinned and squeezed her daughter’s arm. “No wonder he is so happy to be married to you. I don’t make it anymore because it gives me the heartburn, but that is my best, best recipe. You know I invented it. You couldn’t get bulgogi recipes off the internet back when I first had Byron and Dawn. And the Asian market was very far from where we lived in New Jersey. I had to shave my own meat and put together recipes for the Korean foods I loved as best I could, using ingredients from the white people’s store. But my spicy garlic bulgogi was always Dawn’s favorite. I used to try to make it at least once a week because she loved it so much.”
Dawn turned her wide-eyed stare on her mother. “Really? That’s why you made bulgogi so often? For me?”
Her mother shook her head at her. “Why do you think that was the only dish I would make every week? And I always let you have as much as you want, even after you started to gain so much weight. Of course, I made it for you!”
“I didn’t…” Dawn blinked rapidly. “I never stopped to consider that you were cooking it for me. I mean, you were always so weird about me eating too much. I never thought you’d actually make something I liked, just because I liked it.”
Her mother shrugged. “Well, that’s why I made it. And your father was right. Men over here don’t mind that you are a pork chop. Look at your very handsome and attentive husband, coming all the way down here to see about your silly old mother.”
Dawn cast Victor a troubled glance. “Yeah, look at him…”
She clearly didn’t feel as much ease with lying to her mother as she did with lying to Victor all those years ago. A new thought occurred to him. Perhaps, that was the real reason she hadn’t been in contact with her friends and family. She didn’t want to lie to them.
Victor wasn’t sure how to feel about that possibility as he poured himself another glass of water from the pitcher Dawn had brought to the table.
D-Liar. That was what he’d renamed her for so many years.
But now, for the first time, something inside of him was starting to wonder if that was entirely true.
Don’t, the voice of reason warned. Don’t go down that road. Trusting her. Falling for her. That will only lead to ruin.
The voice was right, as always. He pushed that thought from his head and drank his water.
Dawn’s mother went to take a nap after lunch. And Victor thought about checking into the hotel. It was a bit early, but they would most likely accommodate him.
This situation wasn’t…a strange feeling resonated in Victor’s chest…it wasn’t exactly what he thought it would be. The original plan had been to decamp to the hotel after throwing out the bomb of his existence and identity. But neither his name nor his and Dawn’s history had come up at lunch somehow.
It was as if he’d lit a stick of dynamite, and for reasons unknown to him, it was still burning, refusing to ignite.
“I have to watch this 80’s Czech stop-motion film for class on Monday. Want to join?” Dawn asked after she was finished with the dishes.
A million answers ran through Victor’s head. But in the end, he signed, “OK.”
The movie was a wildly strange retelling of Alice in Wonderland, but not as horrible as he thought it might be. He rarely took the time to enjoy entertainment. So it felt nice to be diverted for an hour or so.
His enjoyment certainly had nothing to do with being reminded of when they were in high school, and Dawn would come over with a DVD of some obscure anime that she insisted they just had to watch.
But just in case, when the film was done, he retreated to the kitchen where he could be alone. There he returned business texts and emails for the rest of the afternoon.
Mostly with Han and Phantom. As poorly as his conversation with Nora had ended, it turned out she was right. Moreover, according to Phantom, two or three of their businesses were in a ripe position to be exploded into global brands with the right infusion of cash.
Victor let himself get lost in work until Dawn, and her mother suddenly came through the kitchen door, their arms filled with bags of groceries.
He frowned. He hadn’t even heard them leave. Much less go to the grocery store.
Dawn wouldn’t be here if he hadn’t allowed it. Yet, it felt as if he were quickly losing control of the situation.
“Dawn told me that you prefer more liquid things, and Cal-Mart was having a sale on their shabu shabu sets. So we’re going to make you the Korean hot pot recipe I made up when we were in Japan.”
As much as Dawn and her mother had sniped at each other over lunch, they worked seamlessly together in the kitchen. And they were right about his liking the hot pot. The broth they made was rich and spicy with just the right amount of umami flavor.