“I’m in my late thirties, Sophie. You think I can meet someone just like that?” She tried to snap her fingers, but her motor functions had fallen victim to the wine.
Sophie sliced into a home-made marble Bundt cake. “I don’t know how you gay folk go about meeting each other, but you shouldn’t give up on yourself. I don’t like hearing you talk like this.”
Daphne sighed. “Believe me. I don’t like saying it, but I’m having a moment. I need to process.”
Sophie side-eyed her as if Daphne wasn’t making sense. “Why don’t you concentrate on opening that antique business you love talking about? It’ll take your mind off your personal problems.”
“It’s a work in progress, Sophie.”
“That’s what you always say. Get off your ass and do something about it. You want coffee now?”
Daphne grabbed the bottle of wine before Sophie could whisk it away. “And ruin this delightful buzz? No, ma’am.”
“That’s not a buzz. You’re three sheets to the wind.”
“That may be so, but nevertheless…” She refilled her glass, careful to control her wavering arm. “You and William were a success story. What was your secret?”
“We didn’t have a secret. We had fifty-seven years together, one son, and two grandkids.” Sophie smiled fondly. “You know how we made it so long?”
“How?” Daphne said before shoving the last sour-cream-coated pierogi into her mouth. By that point, the lemon drops and a bottle and a half of wine had her seeing two of Sophie. Luckily, her hearing was as yet unaffected.
“He never made me feel like I was unimportant to him.”
“Wow. What’s that like?”
Sophie raised a coffee cup to her lips with a shaky hand. “It was wonderful, Daphne. We had our hard times, too. Don’t get me wrong. But during our first big fight after we were married, Willie yelled, ‘But I love you, goddamn it,’ smack-dab in the middle of it. And suddenly, whatever we were fussing about wasn’t so important. He said that during every tiff we had from then on. He knew it would always get me.” Her smile receded as she seemed to drift off. “That’s how I knew he was sick…that first fight when he didn’t remember to say it.”
Daphne stared at Sophie in awe, her heart ready to implode.
Sophie seemed to gather herself again. “I hope you find a woman who makes you feel that way—not just when times are good either, but also when they aren’t so good.”
Daphne put down her fork and pushed her plate away. “That’s all I’ve ever wanted. I had it for a while…in the beginning with Ann Marie. Oh, I mean Savannah,” she said with air quotes and a sneer. “She hates when I dead-name her.”
“It’s easy to feel that way in the beginning of a marriage,” Sophie said. “But then what happened? She got fat and got skinny and suddenly became too big for us on Morningside Drive.”
“Ironic, isn’t it? She loses weight and becomes too big for her britches.” She sipped her wine. “And her britches were big, believe me.”
“I know,” Sophie said, sliding the bottle away from Daphne. “I used to see them hanging on your clothesline.”
Daphne snorted into her glass, and they shared a belly laugh that she’d desperately needed. It had been too long since she’d felt anything that deeply other than discontentment and then grief. She was grateful to Sophie for being the coolest old lady ever and acting like a second mother to her since her own mother and stepfather had retired to Florida several years earlier.
Unable to stand without leaning against something, Daphne helped Sophie clear the table and wrap up the leftovers as best she could.
“Uh, excuse me.” Sophie intercepted her. “The pierogies go in the fridge, and the dirty dishes in the sink, not the other way around.”
“I think I’m ready to go home,” Daphne said through slits in her eyes.
“Yeah. I think so, too.” Sophie cradled Daphne’s face in her hands. “Now you call me as soon as you get in.”
“Sophie, I live next door. You can literally watch me.”
“Fine. Then I’ll stand on my porch and do that.”
“Okay.” She gave Sophie two thumbs up. After staggering across the yard, she had the decency to wait until she was on her own property before puking into the azalea bush on the side of her porch.
“Daphne? Are you okay?” Sophie shouted from her railing. “You need me to unlock your door for you?”
She waved Sophie off, went inside, and collapsed facedown on her living-room sofa.
Chapter Two
Nina Colombo looked over at her son, Noah, in the passenger seat playing his Mario game on his iPad. To her delight, but not her surprise—for Noah had always been a precocious kid—he was taking the upheaval to their lives a lot better than she was. Maybe it hadn’t hit him yet. Maybe she should have him see a therapist that specialized in the delicate issues of a ten-year-old, only children whose parents had recently divorced. And whose mom had also recently begun the process of coming out as a lesbian. Poor kid. Behind that brave face, he must be so torn up inside.
She reached over and squeezed his knee. “I’m sorry we’re spending your April vacation moving instead of going somewhere awesome.”
“It’s okay,” he said, not looking up from his game.
“Noah. Hey.” She shook his leg. “Is it really?”
“Aww, Mom. You killed me,” he said, finally looking at her.
“I’m sorry, baby. But listen. I want to talk to you before we get to the house.” She gently pulled the tablet from his hands.
“I was listening,” he said. “I don’t care that we’re not going away this month. Honest. You said we’re going on a Disney cruise in June.”
“Yes. It’s already booked,” she said. “But I know you look forward to going to Disney World with Dad and your cousins on spring break each year.”
“Yeah, but we do that every vacation. No biggie if we can’t this year.”
Nina sighed to ease the knot in her stomach. She assumed he wasn’t grasping the big picture. “Noah, you realize you won’t take any more vacations with me and your dad?”
He rifled through the glovebox until he found a pack of gum. “Duh. I know what divorce is, Mom.”
“I know, honey, but now that it’s done and we’re moving…away from Dad, how are you feeling about it?”
Noah shrugged as he chewed a big wad of fresh gum.
Now it was Nina’s heart that felt twisted in a knot. Noah was always an outgoing, outspoken kid. A shrug and a distant stare were not his typical reactions.
“Noah, how are you? Tell me an adjective, a word that describes what you’re feeling.”
“Shitty,” he said after a moment. “Can I have my iPad back?”
“In a minute.” Nina gripped the wheel tighter and looked up at the highway signs. Their new exit was coming up. “Well, I feel like that, too, so that’s one thing we have in common.”
“Why do you? Do you miss Dad, too?”
“I miss seeing you happy,” she said.