Jay stirred the steaming dish. “We have an arrangement. Nothing more. She’s still trying to find me a match. I introduced her to a minor celebrity. It’s all going as planned. I’d made that promise to you, and our most promising investor hinted that community and family ties were important to the bank, so it seemed like a good idea at the time.”
“And now?” She took a seat across from him, clearing a space for her elbows on his glass-and-steel table. He’d picked all his furniture in one afternoon, making his choices with functionality rather than aesthetics in mind.
“Now things are complicated,” he admitted.
His mother lifted a basket from the counter and handed him a fluffy pav. “I saw your face at the hospital. It’s not complicated at all.”
“Whatever it is, I don’t have time for it.” He tore the soft roll in two. “We’re about to settle a big lawsuit so it will be full steam ahead for the international expansion once we secure our funding. My focus needs to be on the business right now.”
“Love doesn’t come when it’s convenient,” his mother said. “It crashes into your life when you least expect it, when your guard is down and you’re looking the other way. Love slips through the cracks and into the corners of your heart. By the time you realize it’s found you, there is no escape.”
“I don’t know anything about love.” He bit into the pav, savoring the soft texture and delicate flavor. “I do know that Zara can be impulsive and stubborn and she calls things as she sees them. She follows her own path and refuses to compromise even if it means turning down a job at the biggest law firm in the city, or losing a paintball game. I’ve never met anyone who takes so many risks or embraces life so fully. She’s loud and colorful and passionate and utterly unapologetic about who she is. But she’s also warm and kind and devoted to her friends and her family. She has no hesitation putting herself out there, and when things go wrong, she just bounces back.”
His mother chuckled. “I knew l liked her when we met. Now I like her even more.”
“She’s the opposite of me,” he grumbled. “We couldn’t be more different.”
“Are you sure about that?” She poured two cups of coffee. “Before you left home, you had that passion, that love of life. You came back to me in a dark place, and it hurt my heart that I couldn’t do anything to bring that Jay back. It didn’t help that you had to leave your career to deal with me.”
“I didn’t have to deal with you, Mom.” Emotion welled up in his throat. “It was a privilege to be there for you the way you were always there for me.”
“Hey, babe,” Rick shouted. “You gotta get in here. This is the season where everyone gets drugged and kidnapped, and they all go around stabbing each other in the back. It’s a fucking soap opera.”
“It is, literally, a soap opera,” Jay muttered under his breath.
“You got any more of that Chablis?” Rick called out. “Goes great with the wings. And some of those sweets you made last night? The yellow ones with the nuts on top.”
“I thought he was a biker,” Jay said. “The whole Chablis and Days of Our Lives thing is throwing me off. And he’d better not be taking you out on his bike after he’s been drinking.”
“Don’t be hard on him.” She covered the rolls and turned off the stove. “He’s a good man. We’re going in my car. I have to pick up some supplies for the daycare, and he offered to come with me and make a day of it. It’s a big thing for him, traveling in a cage.”
Jay leaned forward and lowered his voice. “What about that guy at the wedding? The one you invited to take my seat? He seemed . . . normal.”
“And boring.” His mother patted his shoulder. “But I asked him to sit with me because I wanted you to meet people and have some fun. After I saw you on the floor with Zara, I knew I’d made the right decision. And then when I saw you together in the hospital . . .” She put her hand to her chest, her eyes growing soft.
“Mom. She’s gone through a lot. Bad relationships, her parents’ divorce . . . She’s not big on getting serious. And even if she was, there are things about me . . . stuff that happened. I don’t want that darkness to touch her.”
“That’s her decision to make, not yours.” She pushed back her chair and crossed the kitchen to the refrigerator. “From what you’ve told me, it sounds like she’s strong enough to deal with whatever you throw her way and maybe bring some joy into your life.”
Jay counted five casserole dishes and numerous small bowls in his once-empty fridge. His mother hadn’t wasted any time.
“When I just mentioned seeing her again, she almost ran out of her own apartment.” He’d picked up on her anxiety when he walked into the kitchen and she’d shoved the bag of bagels at him. He’d never been on the wrong side of a hookup. Usually he was the one running away.
“I’ve never known you to back away from a challenge.” She took out a small container of milk peda and added a few to a plate. “Maybe you should invite her over for dinner. I’ve made all your favorite dishes.”
Jay shrugged. “I don’t know if I want—”
“Babe! He’s got the gun. What a moron. His prints are gonna be all over it. I would have worn gloves. And it’s fucking daylight. He’s not real Mafia. You would never see them coming.”
“I’d better go before he finishes all the wings.” She picked up the plate of sweets, her lips tipping up with a smile. “Sometimes we find happiness where we least expect it.”
* * *
• • •
Zara ran across the stage with the members of the chorus, straining to reach the high notes of “Climbing over Rocky Mountain.” The set designers had created a beach scene using Styrofoam rocks and a poorly painted backdrop of the sky. With limited funds, the producer had decided to spend money on costumes instead of sets. She couldn’t fault his choice. Her yellow ruffled dress and bloomers were a delight to wear, and she got to carry a parasol.
“Smile,” David called out. “You’re supposed to be having fun.” The assistant director had joined the creative team at the last minute after his predecessor had been asked to direct a play on Broadway.
Zara danced and twirled with the rest of the chorus before helping to spread a blanket on the ground for their pretend picnic. Hopefully the musical would be a big success for the theater. Steeped in history and smelling strongly of old furniture and faintly of cigarettes, the cozy, intimate playhouse had retained much of its original woodwork and crown moldings. Stained-glass lights, thick curtains, and red plush seats gave it an art deco feel that was unmatched by any of the other community theaters she’d performed at over the years.