Chapter 13 #2
But thankfully, Camille went on her way without any further discussion of my single status.
When she was gone, Annie smiled. “That was awkward.”
“Well, who does that? Just shows up at someone’s place of business?” Delphine said. “When their message had not been returned.” She glanced at me. “That’s correct? Right?”
“Yes, ma’am,” I said quickly. “And I’ll take down my profile.”
“Mom, I can’t believe you did that,” Annie said.
“Did what?” She placed Poe on the counter, who decided it was now time to give the sandwich bags a good sniff.
“Don’t play dumb,” Annie said. “You totally made it seem like you and Dorian were together.”
Delphine glanced at her daughter and then at me and then Poe. “Consider this my way of asking to go steady.”
“With me?” I asked.
“I’m certainly not going to date Poe, as cute as he is.” Delphine patted his head. “And no, Poe, you cannot have a sandwich.”
Poe sighed, plopping down next to the bag with his chin in his front paws, looking woebegone.
“Do you want me to write you a note?” Delphine asked me. “Do you want to go steady with me, yes or no?”
“That won’t be necessary,” I said.
“You’re the first man I’ve kissed in six years, which means you have to say yes,” Delphine said. “Otherwise, it might be another six years and by then I’ll be so old no one will want to kiss me.”
“Mom, did you have wine for breakfast?” Annie asked.
Delphine sniffed. “Certainly not. I’m simply high on life.”
“I’ve never really seen you high on anything,” Annie said, grinning. “But I like it.”
“You’ll never be too old to kiss,” I said. “I don’t care how many years go by.”
“I should be grossed out, but I’m just so happy,” Annie said. “And starving. Can we eat now?”
“I have an appointment, so I must run,” Delphine said. “You two enjoy your lunch.” She headed toward the door, avoiding several tourists perusing the staff picks table. When she reached the entrance, she turned back. “Dorian, I’ll pick you up at seven. I have somewhere I’d like to take you.”
“Um, sure. I’ll be ready. At my house?”
“Perfect. Bye for now.”
“Send me your address, please.” She swept out the door. Poe meowed sadly. Annie and I simply stared at each other.
“What just happened?” Annie asked, starting to laugh. “Other than my mother’s been invaded by an alien.”
“A very pretty alien,” I said.
“And fast thinking. As my third grade teacher used to say, she made short work of that. Camille won’t be buying her books from here anytime soon.”
“But she’s happy to sell one of our houses,” I said, laughing.
“That was awesome.” Annie snatched one of the bags. “Can I take my lunch break now?”
I glanced around the store. There were only a handful of customers. “Go for it. I’ll hold down the fort.”
She tilted her head, peering at me. “You always do, don’t you?”
“What? Hold down the fort?”
“Yeah. You’re made for it.” She nudged me with her shoulder. “Sometimes you don’t know you need a person until they show up.”
She disappeared into the back office, leaving me with Poe, who wasn’t anymore enamored with me than he ever had been. Even if a certain mother and daughter team seemed to like me quite a bit.
“You have good taste, Poe. I’ll give you that.”
In answer, he closed his eyes and went to sleep.
A little before seven, Delphine arrived at my house. I went out to the wraparound porch to greet her. She looked as great as always in jeans and a striped top.
“Welcome to my home.” I took both her hands in mine and pecked her on the cheek. “You look beautiful.”
“Thank you.” She turned to take in my house. “It’s lovely.”
“Been in my family for three generations. Just an old farmhouse. Nothing too fancy. But I’ve done a lot of work on it the last few years. Updates that were long overdue. My mother wasn’t one for change.”
Delphine stepped back a little, her gaze traveling slowly over the front of the house, and I found myself watching her rather than the place I knew with my eyes closed.
In the evening light, the old white boards had gone soft and creamy, the porch wrapping wide around the front.
Two dormer windows broke the long roofline, and the stone chimney rose along one side, rough and solid, built with my grandfather’s own hands.
The porch swing that had been there since my mother was a child moved faintly in the breeze.
“Your yard’s gorgeous,” Delphine said, eyeing it with a gardener’s sensibility.
“I’ve spent a lot of time on it.”
The yard was ringed by old trees, currently filtering the last gold light into long shadows across the grass.
I’d spent the better part of two summers trying to bring the place back to itself—cutting back what had overgrown, replanting the borders, repairing what time and neglect had worn down.
Lavender and Russian sage lined the walk now, and the beds along the porch were full again instead of straggling and bare.
It wasn’t grand, not like some of the houses perched above town, but, to me, there was no place I’d ever called home.
“Do you want to see inside?” I asked. “I’ll show you all the updates I’ve made. Not that you knew what it looked like before. But imagine the 1970s olive green palette, and you’ll get a good idea.”
“Green appliances,” Delphine said. “I remember them from my grandmother’s house.”
I opened the front door and stood aside for her. Delphine stepped into the house, stopping to take it all in.
My living room opened just off the entry. I’d painted the walls in a soft ivory, bought a new rug, refinished the wide plank flooring, and added cream-colored furniture. Built-in cabinets flanked the fireplace. Windows on either side were dressed simply, letting in the soft evening light.
“It took some doing to make it look like this,” I said.
“Mom was fond of dark furniture, and there was so much clutter, much of it sentimental. Most had to go.” When my mother had passed, I’d had several yard sales, many trips to the donation center, and just as many to the dump.
I’d kept what I wanted and knew I would use and let the rest go.
“Lila helped me,” I said. “As you can probably tell.”
“You both did a great job. I love it.”
Delphine walked farther in, glancing at the mirror above the mantel, the baskets tucked beneath the side tables, the soft throws folded over the arms of the chairs. Fresh white flowers sat in a crock on the coffee table, clipped from the garden that afternoon.
I leaned one shoulder against the doorway and watched her walk across the room, seeming to take it all in. She trailed her fingertips lightly over the back of one armchair. “It feels homey but also has an elegance to it.”
I led her through to the kitchen, which was the room I was proudest of.
The vaulted ceiling was crossed by dark wood beams. White cabinets ran the length of the room, bright against the worn wood floor, with brass pulls catching the light.
At the far end, beneath the big bank of windows, a built-in bench overlooked the yard.
Delphine stopped at the threshold and let out a soft breath. “This is spectacular.”
“I think so too. Again, Lila helped.’”
I came up beside her. “The old kitchen was tiny and kind of closed in. My mother liked things the way they’d always been, but I wanted light, so we put in windows and took down walls. Total rebuild in here.”
“No green appliances in sight.” Smiling, she walked to the sink and looked out over the yard, where the garden had gone dusky and green.
“The beams, the windows, the floors—love the details.” She turned, taking in the whole room again.
“It somehow manages to feel fresh and vintage at the same time.”
“That’s what I asked Lila to do. Almost verbatim.”
She glanced back at me then, her expression almost tender. “I can see you in here. Do you cook much?”
“A little but not like my mom did. She was a great cook. Food that stuck to your bones.”
“You must miss her.”
“I do. But I feel like she’s still here with me.”
“What happened to your dad?” Delphine asked.
“Died when I was a baby.”
“Oh. I never knew that. Poor Maureen.”
“What about your dad?.”
“No dad,” she said. “I mean, I don’t know anything about him. He was nothing of note, apparently. My mother died last year. We weren’t close. In fact, the opposite. I hadn’t spoken to her since Jon’s funeral where she berated me in front of my friends for causing Jon’s death.”
My stomach clenched. “No way.”
“Yes, unfortunately. She was drunk. Not that it’s an excuse. But I was done. Never looked back.” She paused. “That probably makes me sound awful?”
“Not at all. You have boundaries. Good for you.”
“That’s how I see it too. I didn’t need her toxicity in my life. Especially not after losing Jon. I didn’t want her around Annie either.”
“Can’t blame you for that.”
She turned to look at me. “All right, we have to get going or we’ll be late.”
“I can’t wait to see where you’re taking me.”
“I can’t wait to take you.” She grinned, tugging at my hand to hurry me along. “This is going to be way too much fun.”