CHAPTER 21
M yra didn’t usually wander around town.
She knew the streets of New Orleans like the back of her hand, but she wasn’t one to drive, park her truck somewhere, get out, and just start walking.
Tonight, though, that was exactly what she had done.
Finishing work at five for the first time ever, Myra hadn’t wanted to go home because she had some thoughts she needed to work out, and with Elisa living next door, parking the truck in the driveway would give away the fact that she was home, and Myra wasn’t ready to see or talk to her.
In fact, she’d even sent someone else over to the house around four to do some of the work in the kitchen.
Elisa had texted her to verify that, and Myra had explained that she’d gotten held up in the office.
Well, she had lied. She hadn’t been able to focus on the work much lately because they’d gone out two nights in a row, so sending someone else would only help Elisa get her house back in order faster. Myra considered it a good thing.
“Hello.”
Myra heard someone say the word, and she looked up from her own feet to see an older woman standing there.
“Hello,” she replied, looking around, trying to see if this woman, who was staring right at her, was actually talking to someone else. “Did you need directions?”
The woman laughed and said, “I’ve lived here my entire life, so I don’t need direction. But you might.”
“Me?” Myra asked. “No, I’m good.”
“You are?” the old woman asked.
“Yes, I am. I was just walking to–”
“Nowhere,” the woman interrupted her. “You were just wandering.”
Myra’s eyes went wide.
“Yes, I get that expression a lot.” The woman chuckled. “But I mean well, I promise. ”
“Okay,” Myra said.
“You’re considering something right now that you don’t feel like you should be considering.”
“No, I–”
The old woman held up her hand and said, “There’s no use in pretending it’s not true. I suspect it has something to do with the new person in your life. You’re worried that you shouldn’t pursue it because she might still be dealing with things from her past.”
“I’m sorry. Who are you?” Myra asked, looking around the sidewalk. “Do I know you? Does Elisa?”
The woman laughed again and replied, “No, you don’t. And I don’t know Elisa, but I know you . Well, I know people like you. I’ve met a lot of people like you over the years.”
“People like me?”
“People who are in between or just starting out. People with questions. People who need direction or just need someone to tell them that it’s all going to be okay.”
“Are you a therapist?”
“Something like that,” the woman offered with a wink. “So, it’s this Elisa, then?”
“I was on my way home, actually. So, I’ll let you get back to your night.”
“You weren’t. But just let me tell you this before you go, all right?
” She paused as if actually asking if Myra would stay to listen.
“People deserve second chances. You deserve one just as much as she does. It’s also okay to worry, but when you worry, if you can share the worry, it often helps or goes away entirely. ”
“She might leave,” Myra said and shook her head because she had no idea why she was sharing this with a complete stranger on the sidewalk.
“Well, maybe not move away entirely, but she might be gone for the next couple of weeks and then every couple of months. I know it doesn’t seem like a big deal, but we’ve only been out twice. We’re so new.”
“And you’re afraid that you might lose her,” the woman said with a nod .
“I can’t really lose something I never had.
She has kids. They’re basically adults, but they need something from her right now, and I don’t want to keep her from doing what she wants to do.
I just worry that she’ll go back to her old life and that it might be that.
She deserves to be happy, and her first chance, as you might call him, is an absolute asshole. ”
“I see,” the woman replied. “Well, I think it’s up to her what she does, but if it’s meant to be, it’ll be.”
“That’s it? That’s your message? If it’s meant to be, it’ll be? I could have gotten that from a fortune cookie and gotten my lucky numbers.”
“Well, I’m not a fortune cookie,” the woman said with a kind smile. “But I am usually right about these things.”
“You told me to share my worries with her.”
“And you should. But maybe wait,” the woman said.
“Wait for what?”
“Just wait.” The woman winked. “Trust me.”
“I don’t even know you.”
“Your friends do,” she replied. “I have to go, but you should just say yes. You’ll want to say no; you’ll want to make something up, but don’t. Just say yes.”
“What?”
Myra’s phone dinged in her pocket, so she pulled it out, and when she looked up, the older woman was gone. Myra looked around, but it was as if the woman had vanished.
“Is she a magician?” she asked herself and checked her phone.
Elisa Benedetti : Hey, I know you said you got held up at the office, but I’m cooking for the kids tonight.
Want to eat with us? We don’t have to say anything about us dating, but we can.
Or, we can pretend we’re just new friends, if you want.
I’ll leave that up to you, but I’m making lasagna.
Well, Adele and I made lasagna, and AJ made the garlic bread this time, so it’s not burned.
If you want to join us, we’ll be getting started in about twenty minutes.
The old woman had just told Myra to say yes.
Was this what she was talking about? Was this merely a coincidence?
Myra could lie again and tell Elisa that she was still at the office.
She could also say that she wasn’t ready for dinner with Elisa’s kids as a date or a friend.
It was pretty soon for them to tell the kids that they were dating.
It was , wasn’t it? They had had two dates.
Then again, she’d never dated a woman with kids, and these particular kids weren’t exactly kids anymore; they were adults and about to go off to college. Maybe they could handle it.
‘Then again…’ she thought to herself. ‘They’d never seen their mother date anyone, let alone a woman.’
God, Myra really didn’t know what to do here, so she figured the only way to respond was to take the random old lady’s advice to just say yes and deal with the rest later.
◆◆◆
“You’re here,” Elisa said with a wide smile. “Hurry! Kiss me. The kids are arguing in the back over how much parmesan cheese is appropriate on top of lasagna.”
Myra leaned in and quickly kissed Elisa on the lips.
“Hi,” she said.
“Hi. Sorry for the last-minute invitation. Dante was in the kitchen, working, and when he asked me a few questions, the kids overheard me saying that you never ask me any questions, so I don’t know how to answer his, and they asked questions.
I told them you owned the company and that you also happen to live next door, and Adele suggested we invite you to dinner, so here we are. ”
Myra laughed and asked, “Should I have brought something? I just came over. I didn’t even change.”
Myra looked down at her polo shirt and khakis.
“You look cute in your uniform,” Elisa replied with wiggling eyebrows. “Is it a uniform, though, if you’re the boss, or is it a choice?”
Myra chuckled and said, “I think that’s a philosophical question for another night.”
“I guess so,” Elisa said as she laughed and then closed the door behind herself, joining Myra on the porch. “Can I maybe get a better kiss now?”
“You told me to hurry before,” Myra said with a smile but wrapped her arms around Elisa’s waist.
“I know. But now, I want more.”
Hearing that made Myra’s smile widen because she did, too.
Yes, she still had her worries, but they weren’t enough to stop her from kissing Elisa right now.
And the old lady had been right: now wasn’t the time to bring up those worries, with Elisa’s kids inside the house, but she would tell her about them later.
They’d already decided that they would be honest with one another, and Myra would honor that.
Just not right now, with two teenagers in the kitchen arguing over cheese.
She leaned in and captured Elisa’s lips just as Elisa wrapped her arms around Myra’s neck.
She kissed her slowly because she loved kissing her slowly.
It allowed her to hear all of the little sounds Elisa made as if she were still so surprised that she was kissing a woman, as if she still hadn’t allowed herself to believe that this new thing they were doing was happening.
“You are really good at that,” Elisa said when their kiss ended.
“So are you,” she replied, meaning it, too, because Elisa was an amazing kisser.
“We should get in there,” Elisa suggested as she nodded back toward the house.
“Okay,” Myra said. “Is Dante still here?”
“No, he left right before you got here. He said you only told him to stay for a few hours.”
“I did. But I also asked him to finish what I gave him to work on before he left. Did he?”
“I wouldn’t know. He said he was done, though, before he hit the road.”
“I’ll check it out,” she said.
“Myra?”
“Yeah?”
“You’re here for dinner,” Elisa reminded her, cupping her cheeks. “Take the night off, babe.”
Myra smiled at the term of endearment and said, “Yeah, okay. I can’t help it.”
“I know. I think it’s cute.” Elisa then kissed her again quickly and added, “Come on.”
She opened the door for them, and they went inside. They hadn’t talked about whether Myra would be introduced as the woman Elisa was dating or as a friend who lived next door, so Myra decided to just take Elisa’s lead.
“AJ and Adele, this is Myra. Remember, you were rude to her before, so please be nice now,” Elisa said once they were in the kitchen.
“Hi,” AJ said as he waved. “How much parmesan do you use on lasagna?”
“Me?” Myra asked. “Um… None.”
“See?” Adele said, laughing. “I told you so.”
“Told me what? She just doesn’t like it. Doesn’t mean you’re right. More cheese is always good.”
“Lasagna has cheese in it,” Adele explained. “Save the parmesan for spaghetti or something.”
“Or fettuccine,” he suggested.
“The sauce is literally just butter, cream, and parmesan cheese. You need more?”
“Yes. Who doesn’t?” AJ argued.
Myra laughed a little.
“I swear, they’re normally well-behaved,” Elisa whispered to her.
“It’s fun,” Myra said, finding it to be true. “They’re fun. They’re so alike, aren’t they?” she asked when she saw how they both scooped salad onto their plates and added the same toppings from the separate bowls on the counter.
“What?” Elisa laughed loudly. “Myra thinks you two are so alike.”
AJ and Adele both laughed.
“We’re totally different,” AJ said as he popped a crouton into his mouth.
“Yeah, he has no manners,” Adele added .
“Shut up,” he said through his laughter. “Get the stick out of your butt. We’re at home.”
Myra turned to Elisa then and saw her smile, knowing it was because her son had used the word ‘home’ to describe the house Elisa had bought for them and had spent months painstakingly putting together before they moved in so that they could feel like it was home.
“Let’s sit,” Elisa said to them. “We’re pretty informal,” she added to Myra. “Just grab whatever you want and have a seat. Wine?”
“Are you having wine?”
“Yes,” Elisa said with a wink.
“Can we have wine?” AJ asked.
“No,” Elisa replied. “You can have grape juice.”
“In a sippy cup,” Adele joked. “Because he spills everything.”
“I don’t spill things.”
Myra laughed.
“We don’t have any sippy cups, so just don’t spill it,” Elisa joined in.
“I’m not drinking grape juice,” AJ stated as he grunted and walked to the fridge. “I’m getting a soda. Adele?”
“Yeah. Thanks. Do you want ranch on your–”
“Yeah. Thanks,” AJ replied with the exact same pacing as his twin.
Myra kind of admired how the two of them could be going at it, even in jest, but then it was back to them taking care of each other the next minute by asking if the other one wanted anything. Elisa handed Myra a plate and gave her a soft smile. Then, Myra scooped lasagna and salad onto her plate.
“Get the bread. I made it myself,” AJ said to Myra.
“Oh. Yeah, sorry,” Myra said, taking a piece of it from the basket.
“He means he put it in the oven,” Adele teased. “It’s from a box.”
“You took a bag of lettuce and put it in a bowl,” AJ said .
“I made the lasagna with Mom while you were playing some video game.”
“Lasagna isn’t that hard,” he teased.
“Then, you make it next time, and your sister and I will play the video games,” Elisa tossed back.
“Maybe I will. Maybe I’m, like, a Renaissance man like that: I can play video games, soccer, and cook. I’ll just add a few more things to my list of talents and call Wendy back up. She’ll go out with me then, I bet.”
Adele choked on the soda she’d just taken a sip of.
“Are you okay?” Myra asked her, worried.
“Yeah, fine,” she replied in a scraggly voice.
“Uh… Let’s talk about school,” Elisa suggested.
Myra turned to her, and Elisa gave her a look that told her she would tell Myra something later, so Myra moved on, too.
“What about school? We haven’t even started yet,” AJ noted.
Adele continued to try to clear her throat.
“Just… What do you plan on studying? I’m sure Myra would like to know.”
“She would ?” AJ asked. “Well, I don’t know yet anyway. I’ll be playing soccer, so something easy.”
“Easy?” Myra asked. “What’s easy in college?”
“Did you go to college?” Adele asked.
“I did,” Myra replied. “Construction management.”
“That doesn’t sound easy,” Adele noted.
“It wasn’t,” Myra replied. “A lot more math and science than most people think.”
“Yeah?” AJ asked.
“Yeah,” Myra said. “If you turn around, you’ll see all the work we’ve been doing.
We’re replacing some old, damaged wood, but we have to do it very carefully because some things are load-bearing, and if we removed them without planning, the second floor could cave in on the first.” Myra pointed with her fork.
“And that wood has to be at a certain angle. If it’s even one degree off, it won’t fit snuggly in there, and we’d be right back here, potentially with even more damage later.
A house is really just a giant puzzle, and I like trying to solve it. ”
“I never thought of it like that,” AJ replied, seemingly considering what she was saying. “Can I maybe watch you do the work sometime? I have no idea what I’ll do if soccer doesn’t work out, and I need a major.”
Myra looked over at Elisa to check first, and when Elisa just smiled at her, she replied, “Sure.”
“Cool. I can learn how to build things, too. Then, Wendy will definitely go out with me.”
Adele’s fork scratched across her dinner plate.