Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
The following evening, Elena agreed to go to Maxine’s for dinner.
Before she left, she assured that Carmen was safe, tucked away with a movie and more or less half asleep.
The medication exhausted her. This left Elena to speed off to the country, where Maxine, her husband Frank, and their three children lived next to a frozen stream.
When Elena cut the engine, she peered through the night to see not one but four snowmen, all in a line, waving to the road with their stick arms. Back in the old days, she and Maxine had built snowmen together, rolling and rolling snowballs until they’d gotten frostbite.
That had been before puberty, before boys.
Elena had brought a bottle of wine and a bar of chocolate, because the idea of making anything exhausted her.
But when Maxine opened the front door and drew her into the warmth of the house, Elena inhaled the smell of fresh dough and sauce, freshly baked bread, and a chocolate cheesecake, which put her worries to rest. Maxine took the bottle of wine and said, “This is one of my favorites!” Even if it wasn’t, Elena was grateful for the lie.
She took off her coat and sat in the living room with Maxine’s three children—Rachel, Laura, and Julia—and asked them questions about school, sports, and dance classes.
Maxine had ordered them pizza, so that the girls could watch television and be out of the way while Maxine and Elena caught up.
The girls were ecstatic, mainly because they didn’t like eating at the table and saw couch-dining as the ultimate luxury.
Elena was grateful for the pizza idea. Although she adored children, she didn’t always know what to say to them. Besides, she was here to see Maxine.
Maxine poured them both glasses of red and explained that her husband was out of town for work. “We should have gone out to a restaurant or something. We should have celebrated our reunion,” she said to Elena. “I hope this is okay for now?”
“Of course! It’s cozy,” Elena said. And it was.
But it also filled her throat to realize that Maxine came home to so much love and tenderness every day.
Elena had lived so much of her life in the Middle East. She’d suffered through a painful relationship and a terrible breakup.
Now, she lived with Carmen, which wasn’t exactly easy.
Not that Maxine’s life was easy. You never really knew what someone was going through.
They clinked glasses and studied one another. Maxine was unafraid in her gaze, which Elena was grateful for. Maxine had never been afraid of anything.
“How are things?” Maxine asked.
Elena sniffed. “With the medication? She’s taking them. Thank goodness.”
“That’s good, but that’s not what I mean,” Maxine said. “I mean, how are things with you? What’s it been like, being back like this?”
Elena was surprised at how gentle and wonderful it felt to be asked that. She nearly burst into tears. “It’s been a lot, obviously. I mean, I feel like my dad should come home any minute, and my mom’s all over the place, and…” Elena realized she was talking too quickly.
Maxine nodded. Somehow, she’d already eaten too much.
“Oh, but what about you?” Elena asked. “I want to hear about all of it. About the girls. About your wedding!”
Maxine laughed. “It’s been ages since the wedding. I remember flashes, like when someone stepped on the trail of my dress, or when my Uncle Reggie got drunk and sang ABBA. But mostly, I remember being really afraid.”
“Afraid? You?” Elena couldn’t fathom it.
Maxine nodded furiously. “Oh, yes. I’d done so much by then. I’d graduated from medical school. I’d, you know, performed surgery. I’d moved countless times. But I hadn’t fully committed myself to another human. It felt insane.”
“And how’s that been? The commitment?”
Maxine ate another bite of pasta. “It’s been one of the greatest gifts of my life.”
Elena let her eyes flutter down. Her heart filled with happiness for her former best friend, a woman who deserved the world and always would. “That’s wonderful, Max.”
“And what about you?” Maxine asked.
Elena laughed again. “What about me?”
“Were there any men in your life? Or are there any men in your life? Present tense?” Maxine sipped her wine. “I remember you as sort of boy crazy, if you don’t mind me saying.”
Elena threw back her head. “I was. I remember.” She considered her own stories and what she felt Maxine deserved to know. “I had a boyfriend back in Syria. I was pretty sure he was the love of my life.”
Maxine frowned. “What did he do?”
“What makes you think he did anything?”
“I don’t know.” Maxine shrugged. “A hunch, I guess?”
Elena laughed nervously. “You always could read me.”
“Sure. I felt like we could read each other’s minds, there for a while,” Maxine said. “But come on. What happened with the guy?”
“He was a journalist,” Elena said delicately. “Better than me. Lauded.”
“Never better than you,” Maxine interjected.
“Okay. But people thought he was. Or they think he is.” Elena inhaled and told her friend everything she could remember from that time in her life, almost word for word what she’d already told James Murphy.
Maxine listened, captivated, and then let her fork fall with rage onto her plate. It clanked.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Maxine cried.
Elena was grateful to hear her friend’s anger. “It’s been a while since then,” Elena said finally. “I’m getting over it. Sort of.”
“You shouldn’t! You have to find a way to let people know what he did,” Maxine said.
Elena shook her head. “To be honest, I’ve been through it over and over again. I’ve considered every angle. And there’s essentially no way to prove what he did to me. I’d look like the boy who cried wolf.”
Maxine closed her eyes. “There has to be a way.”
“Trust me,” Elena said. “I don’t think there is.”
Maxine and Elena finished their pastas and refilled their wine. Elena’s stomach was too full for the chocolate cheesecake, but she promised herself she’d rebound soon. She couldn’t resist what was probably the best cheesecake she’d ever been presented with. Maxine was good at everything.
“What does your mom think happened in Syria?” Maxine asked.
“I’m sure she thinks I messed up.”
Maxine rolled her eyes. “Carmen, Carmen, Carmen. She loves you more than anyone in the world, but she’s never been able to show it.”
“I just wish she’d listen to me,” Elena breathed. “But it isn’t exactly the right time for that conversation.”
“No,” Maxine said sadly.
Elena clasped her hands and remembered the Cranberry Cove, the fresh story that had fallen on her lap.
As simply as she could, she explained the story to Maxine, whom she hoped would have some information about Judge Drury and the multi-town corruption.
But Maxine looked mystified—and a little horrified.
“I hope you’ll be careful?” Maxine said.
“I mean, I know you’ve been through worse.
I know you’ve worked for years in war-torn countries and all that.
But I wouldn’t underestimate mega-millionaires in Millbrook.
They think the world belongs to them. And if they see you getting in their way?
They’ll do what they can to take you out. ”
“But it’s up to journalists to make sure they don’t do things like this,” Elena said, slightly exasperated.
Maxine nodded. After a pause, she said, “Promise me that you aren’t doing this to prove anything to your mom?”
Elena felt seen—but not in a good way. “I mean, it’s an added benefit.”
“Elena,” Maxine sang, letting her shoulders drop.
“Come on,” Elena said. “This was the work my grandmother started. I’m sure my mother knows about it as well. If I’m the one to finish it, to stop these people in their tracks with a story? I mean, how poetic is that?”
“It’s poetic.” Maxine sounded doubtful. Reaching over, she grabbed the chocolate bar Elena had brought and forgotten about, tore open the foil, and put a square on her tongue. “Does this mean you’re thinking of sticking around?”
Elena was surprised at the question. “Oh, I don’t know.”
Maxine let the chocolate melt on her tongue before chewing.
“I used to let myself daydream that you’d move back here.
I imagined us out in my yard, sun-tanning like we used to, while the girls ran themselves ragged around us.
I imagined us as little old ladies, going in and out of stores, trying on clothes and hats.
Over the years, I killed off a lot of these dreams. But now that you’re here?
I’ve let myself start daydreaming again. ”
Elena’s heartbeat quickened. She hadn’t imagined she’d been in Maxine’s daydreams.
“I’ve been thinking of it, a little bit,” Elena finally confessed.
Maxine’s face lit up.
“I’ve been imagining all kinds of stuff,” Elena said. “Moving into my mother’s house for good. Running the paper. Bulldozing the mansions at the Cranberry Cove.”
Maxine laughed outright. “Get serious.”
Elena bit her lower lip before adding, “I’ve been wondering about becoming a mother. I’ve been daydreaming about it a little bit. But I think it’s too late.”
“What makes you say that?” Maxine asked.
“I’m forty-two,” Elena said flatly.
But Maxine didn’t look fazed. “Plenty of women are having babies in their forties these days,” she said. “Family planning is a completely different ball game. If you’re interested in that.”
Elena reached for a square of chocolate and forced herself to laugh at the idea. “I’m sure it’s a terrible idea,” she said. “It’s not like I have a partner. It’s not like I have anything to give.”
Maxine gave her a mysterious smile.
“What?” Elena demanded, her mouth frothing with chocolate. “What’s that grin?”
Maxine shrugged. “Sorry,” she said. “It’s just that people have seen you and James around town more and more and more. I can’t help but wonder.”
Elena cackled. “What can’t you wonder? Keep your wondering to yourself!”
But now they were off to the races on their friendship, teasing one another and laughing so much that Maxine’s daughters came to check on them to make sure they were all right.
“James Murphy! Imagine,” Elena said, shaking her head.
But on the inside, she thought to herself, Imagine! James Murphy and I! Imagine!