Chapter 54
LUCY
The Beachside was a French restaurant in Marina Del Rey. Eddie and I had eaten there on one of our early dates, back when I thought he was one of the most charming men I’d ever met. Boy, how times had changed.
I arrived first—intentionally—and requested an outdoor table near a trail where people walked by. That was an important aspect of the plan. Eddie arrived five minutes later, and they escorted him to our table.
Ten minutes into lunch, things seemed relatively normal. Sure, Eddie’s mind was somewhere else, but that was par for the course lately. He hadn’t brought up my father’s sixty-fifth or anything that might start a fight. He’d been on his best behavior.
I saw our waitress do a double-take when she reached our table. Eddie was still a striking man. That would never change.
We’d just ordered our lunches when I saw a familiar face walking by. I knew she was coming, obviously, but I had to feign surprise.
“Lucy!”
“Oh my gosh, Nia! What are you doing here?”
“My parents are visiting, and they’re doing some shopping for the next hour, so I decided to take a walk along the beach. How are you? Hey, Eddie.”
“Hello, Nia.”
He was trying to be nice, but Eddie and Nia had never seen eye to eye. Try as he might, it was still an awkward hello.
“Do you want to join us for a minute?” I asked.
“I probably shouldn’t eat much in case my parents want an early dinner, but I’ll come and say hello.”
“Great. Isn’t that great, Eddie?”
“I’m tickled pink,” he said, and I could tell that Nia had to stop herself from laughing.
She took a little side gate and walked over to our table. She gave me a huge hug and Eddie a small one. She grabbed a chair from an unused table and pulled it up to ours.
“I won’t stay long, I promise,” she said.
“You can stay as long as you want. How are your mom and dad?”
“They are great. I’ll send them your best.”
“Please do.”
Our waitress walked back over. “Would you like a menu?”
“No, thank you,” Nia said. “I’m just stopping by to say hello.”
“How about a drink?”
“Is this a boozy lunch?”
“No,” I responded. “We’re both working today.”
“I’ll just take a water.”
The waitress smiled and said she’d be back in a minute with some water. I saw her steal one more glance at my husband. Depending on how the next few minutes went, she could have him.
I didn’t know if Nia could be subtle, but so far, so good. She seemed like she’d genuinely just been walking by, and she hadn’t started grilling Eddie right away. That would have been a red flag.
“So how long are your parents staying?” I asked. Eddie remained quiet.
“They’re headed back to Santa Barbara tomorrow.”
Nia’s parents had retired to Santa Barbara about five years ago.
Her father had been an executive in the music industry and had Nia later in life.
Her father was already in his mid-seventies and decided they wanted the small-town feeling of Santa Barbara over Los Angeles.
Her father still consulted with some record companies when needed, which made it important that they lived relatively close to LA.
“Let me know next time they are down, and I’ll come see them.”
“I will. If they were closer, I’d go grab them, but they’re shopping at the Promenade right now.”
“Let them be,” I said. “I’ll see them next trip.”
I didn’t even know if her parents were truly down in Los Angeles. We hadn’t mapped out her story that far, so I was just rolling with what she said. We seemed believable thus far.
“My parents actually brought you up last night at dinner, Eddie.”
He leaned forward in his chair. He hadn’t been expected to be part of this conversation.
“Oh, yeah. How so?”
“My parents had always loved the story of how you two met. It was so romantic. Meeting at a library and talking about a book.”
“Yeah, it was cool,” Eddie said.
Really? You can’t do better than the word cool when describing the day we met?
“And they asked me what book it was that Lucy was reading. For the life of me, I couldn’t remember the name of it.”
Nia was now facing Eddie, and it was undeniable that the question was directed at him.
“Honey, I think Nia is asking you a question,” he said.
“You can answer, Eddie,” Nia said. “I mean, it was one of your favorite books, right?”
Nia had put Eddie on the spot. The conversation had suddenly turned hostile. The subtlety was gone.
Eddie didn’t answer for a second or two. We all noticed. It had been a long time since we’d talked about the novel, but I still assumed he’d remember the name.
“The Shadow of the Wind,” he said, quickly recovering. “Such a great book.”
“What was your favorite part?” Nia asked. This was now officially awkward.
“Probably the beginning, when the main character’s father shows him his old library.”
He’d basically just repeated what he told me the day we met. But that wasn’t anyone’s favorite part of the book. It was merely the premise that launched the book. It was more than a curious answer.
“What was the kid’s name?” Nia asked. She was channeling her inner investigative reporter.
“What is this, a test?” Eddie fiddled around in his chair and was obviously nervous. “His name was Danny.”
Nia didn’t know the book, and it was unlikely she knew the main character’s name, so she didn’t flinch.
But I certainly did. The main character’s name was Daniel. Never once did they call him Danny. This might seem like a minor detail, but if it were one of your supposed favorite novels ever, you’d know the difference.
Had everything Eddie ever told me been a lie? It was starting to feel that way.
“I’m sorry,” Nia said, reading the room. It was time to end this. “It’s just such a cool story, and my parents love hearing about it. I’ll be sure to tell them to check out the book.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Eddie said, happy that this part of the conversation was wrapping up.
The waitress brought the other water, and Nia took a big sip. She was probably a little nervous despite not showing it on the outside. She turned toward me.
“So, what’s new, Luce? Are you enjoying being a lawyer?”
“I love it. In fact, I’m starting my first trial soon. Not as the lead attorney, but still, I’ll be sitting at the main table.”
“That’s fantastic! I always knew you would be a good lawyer. Even back at Barrington, when you’d debate the teachers, you’d sound like a promising young lawyer.”
“I wouldn’t debate the teachers.”
“You don’t remember Ms. Tompkins? You gave her a five-point rebuttal as to why Germany never had a chance to win World War II.”
I laughed. “Yeah, I remember that.”
“You were basically a lawyer in that moment. And the fellow students were your jury.”
“Well, thanks. I guess Barrington did prepare us for something, after all.”
Nia laughed. “Hey, we met each other there. It can’t be all bad.”
Eddie was staring at us but saying nothing. If I had to guess, he was debating whether this little meeting with Nia was really just a random occurrence. Nia had done a great job, but she had been forceful in her questions. Eddie had to be wondering where this had come from.
And he’d failed the test in my eyes. He took too long to remember the name of the book, and he’d butchered the name of the protagonist.
One of your favorite books, my ass!
“I probably shouldn’t keep you guys too much longer.”
Eddie leaned forward. “I thought you said your parents needed an hour of alone time.”
It was his turn to put Nia on the spot. “It’s already been half an hour, and by the time I get back over to the Promenade—”
“Marina Del Rey seems an odd place to come,” Eddie interrupted. “Why not just stay on the Promenade?”
Nia was getting nervous. She was still putting on a good front, but I’d known her forever. I could tell.
“I wanted to be by the water. Probably the same reason you chose this restaurant.”
“My wife made the decision to eat here,” Eddie said, and you could cut the awkwardness with a knife.
“Well, I really should go. It was great seeing you guys.”
Nia took one last sip and was out of there.
Eddie stared at me, and I knew that he knew.
“Well, that was quite the coincidence,” he said.