“Martha has news.” Faintly malicious delight filled Lizzy’s eyes. “Martha’s been very busy.”
“You really do have a death wish,” I said, glancing tellingly at Sam. He, meanwhile, stared serenely out at nothing. Obviously ignoring the chatter entirely. Thank God. And I did feel better with him close, dammit.
“Leave Sam and Martha alone,” chided Ev. “You know what it’s like when you first get together…it’s special. They probably want to keep it to themselves.”
Lizzy rolled her eyes dramatically. “Puh-lease. You were straight on the phone to your bestie Lauren giving her all the juicy details when you and David finally got on with it. She told me.”
“Oh, I was not.”
“Liar. Spill it, Martha.”
Ev shook her head. “Liz, she feels uncomfortable enough just being here.”
Silence descended. Thick, heavy, and embarrassing as all hell. I could feel all of the curious glances and awkward side-eyes. The women were just as bad as the fucking men. Honest to God, Lizzy’s outfit was going to be the ugliest thing in creation for making me sit through this.
“Let’s deal with that then because I don’t get out often enough for tonight to be all shitty and awkward.” Lena sat up, picking the knife off the cheese platter and hitting her glass with it. “This is the first break I’ve had from potty-training and picking up toys in ages and I’d say Martha and Lizzy are in a similar situation.”
“Adult time is precious,” agreed Liz. “Though I’m loving being back at college.”
“Yes, I want to hear about that,” said Ev, all enthusiasm. “I swear, my brain just gets stuck in barista mode if I don’t open a book often enough.”
“How’s the second coffee shop you bought going?”
“Really well.” Ev beamed. “But first we need to deal with this. You’re right, Lena.”
Oh no.
With a deep breath, Ev faced me head on. “Martha, the past is the past and I’d rather all of that crap got left back there forgotten, if you know what I mean? Like, life is too short. I vote for letting it go, okay?”
My jaw hung low. “Um. Okay?”
“Great.” She nodded. “What next?”
“That easily?” I asked, needing to be sure.
She shrugged. “Why should it be hard? David and I are happy. You’ve apparently moved on with Sam. I assume you have no nefarious plans to mess with my relationship or anything?”
“No,” I answered honestly. “None.”
“Exactly. You’re past that. And it all happened years ago, anyway.”
I looked to Sam and he nodded encouragingly.
“Great.”
“You don’t want me to apologize or something?” I asked, cocking my head.
“I don’t know.” She wrinkled her lips. “Would you mean it?”
The question required serious consideration. Deep down inside, I harbored no real hate for the woman. If anything, a lingering sense of embarrassment coated those memories. Years ago, I’d tried to break her and her new husband up. That he’d once been my long-time boyfriend didn’t really matter. Not really. Without a doubt, it’d been a heinous thing to do. Yet here she was allowing me into her home.
Highly doubtful if the situations were reversed I’d ever be that nice.
“We weren’t friends at the time and I didn’t owe you anything,” I said, choosing my words with care. “But I do regret trying to upset your and David’s happiness, if that counts?”
“Okay. I can live with that.”
“Yay,” said Liz quietly.
Except then I thought about it some more. This was my chance to get rid of this situation entirely. Over in the corner, I could feel how Sam had tensed. How he watched me carefully. While I wasn’t going to prostate myself to make him happy, it seemed stupid not to swallow my pride just a little and admit to past mistakes. I’d come back in search of family. Some sense of belonging. Maybe this might be part of it here.
Decision made. “No, look…it was a shit thing to do. I highly doubt we’re ever going to be best buddies or anything. But I was out of line and I’m sorry.”
Ev paused, surprised. “Thank you, Martha. I forgive you.”
Done. I took a sip of wine.
“This is so beautiful.” Lena wiped a fake tear from her eye with much drama. “You two are consciously coupling and I feel like there should be violins or something. Rose petals drifting down from the ceiling.”
Ev threw a cushion at her and the woman’s wine sloshed over the rim of her glass. I couldn’t help but smile. It was a good hit. And across from me, even I could admit that Lizzy’s self-satisfied expression was probably well earned. So I didn’t throw anything at her. I might not even give her the wardrobe equivalent of cow dung for Christmas. Maybe. Perhaps having female friends that were more than just casual acquaintances wouldn’t be the worst thing ever.
“So you two are friends now?” asked Anne, sounding slightly astounded.
“Sure,” said Ev. “Why not? And now how about we talk about why Anne is only drinking water. That’s what I want to discuss next.”
“Oooh.” Lena chuckled. “I totally missed that. Oh my God.”
“I might just go wait in the kitchen,” said Sam, slipping away. But not before giving me a look full of pride. Easing back further in the seat, I watched him go with a smile.
CHAPTER EIGHT
“No-no-no!”
“Yes-yes-yes,” I shouted back because mature. “One tiny weeny little cube of carrot, then you get a spoonful of spaghetti. That was the deal.”
Gibby laughed and shook his head, delighted with our game. Meanwhile, Ben just sat opposite, smiling. Probably because he wasn’t the one having to convince the kid to eat something healthy. As battles of wills went, meal times rocked. For Gib, not for me. I usually lost. Though I’d found that by confiscating the dish and spoon early on, less food got thrown around. A good thing for everyone involved, but mostly me.
“You’ve been behaving so well all morning.” I shook my head. “This is sad. You’re giving Aunty Martha sad face. I hope you’re proud of yourself, young man.”
Gibby clapped his hands. “Yes!”
“Of course you are.”
“He gets that from you.” Ben smiled around his cup of coffee. “Little horns come out of his head sometimes, too. It’s all from you, sister.”
“Dream on. He’s your child, through and through.”
“Darling, eat the piece of carrot,” he said, turning his attention back to his son. “C’mon now, rabbits eat carrot.”
“Wabbit?” asked Gib from his high chair, interested suddenly.
I nodded. “And rabbits can hop like insanely well. They can jump so high! You want to be cool like a rabbit, don’t you?”
After a moment’s thought, the child opened his mouth. I wasted no time shovelling the carrot in. Success.
“That being said”—I continued with the adult portion of the conversation—“your wife is pretty damn evil too.”
“Damn,” mumbled Gib around a mouthful of now orange mush.
Ben and I both winced, then shrugged. He’d copied worse before. He’d copy worse again. Given he lived surrounded by rock stars half the time, it was amazing the small child didn’t already swagger and swear in five languages.
“I had nothing to do with her dragging you to David and Ev’s last night,” said Ben. “Though I hear it turned out all right.”
“Apparently in my thirties I am in fact capable of occasional small acts of maturity. Who could have guessed?”
“Good for you.”
“Meh. Whatever.”
He just smiled.
“How is getting down Adam’s tracks going?”
“Yeah, good. Kid’s got potential, I’m telling you.”
“I believe you. I’ve heard him, and I’m sure you’ll do a great job with the album.”
“Thanks. We’re not the only ones who think he’s going places, either,” he said. “He’s having a meeting out by the pool with Adrian right now.”
I blinked. “Wait. You left Adam alone with Adrian?”
Ben blinked back at me. “Why wouldn’t I?”
“Because Adam is an innocent young fool and Adrian will have him signing his life and rights away in two-point-zero seconds flat?” I dropped the spoon, wiping my hands on a cloth. “Holy crap, Ben. How could you?”