Chapter 14
iris
‘Mom,’ Finn said, ‘I think I can find my own way home. I’m not six.’
‘Your dad wants us to go home together,’ Iris said, as she stood awkwardly on Amy’s driveway. ‘It’s been a long time since we had a family movie night and he’s looking forward to it.’
‘We wouldn’t have to leave the party early if you weren’t so drunk,’ Rose muttered.
Finn prodded his sister. ‘Hey.’
‘It’s fine,’ Iris said. ‘I’m not drunk, Rosie. And that’s not the point. We’re all going home together.’
‘I promised I’d take Ashley home,’ Finn said. ‘Can we give her a ride?’
‘Fine. If you don’t mind squeezing up a bit in the back,’ Iris said.
Mac and Jesse were indulging in some brother-in-law banter in the driveway between the parked cars.
As Iris opened the passenger door of their expensive four-wheel-drive all-terrain Hummer, her brother-in-law clapped Jesse’s shoulder, throwing his head back and roaring with laughter at something her husband had said.
Mac was like a fine wine, Iris thought, trying not to notice the tanned six-pack revealed as his T-shirt lifted; he just got better with age.
Jesse was still a good-looking man, of course, but next to Mac he was definitely getting a bit blurry around the edges.
Coaching the high school football team didn’t keep him nearly as fit as captaining it once had, and the late nights out wining and dining his business associates didn’t help.
And there’d been a lot of those recently.
‘Hey, there’s no need to cram in the back with the kids,’ Mac said to Ashley, as Finn went to help his girlfriend climb into the rear seat of his father’s Hummer. ‘I can give you a ride home instead.’
‘You can’t leave your own party,’ Iris said.
‘Amy needs me to get some more beer, since you totalled the last lot,’ Mac said with a wink. ‘I’ll loop back around to the liquor store after I’ve dropped Ashley home. You live in Richmond, right, honey?’
‘Near the Round Church,’ Ashley said.
Iris looked away as her son gave the girl a lingering kiss goodbye. Rose was less discreet, miming putting a finger down her throat and vomiting as the embrace deepened. Iris pretended not to notice.
Eventually, Jesse beeped the horn and Finn reluctantly released his girlfriend. ‘Very mature,’ he told his sister, as he climbed into the Hummer.
By the time they got home twenty minutes later, Rose was all smiles and sunshine, kidding around with her brother in the back seat of the car.
The four of them watched A League of Their Own for the umpteenth time in the den, where Jesse fell asleep in his La-Z-Boy recliner just as Dottie returned halfway through the World Series to help her team.
Rose’s phone pinged with a flurry of texts as the credits were rolling. ‘I’m going over to Maggie’s,’ she said, scrabbling around under the sofa for her trainers. ‘She’s gonna pick me up in five. She needs my help on some math homework.’
‘A.k.a. prom dresses,’ Finn said.
‘Just be back before ten,’ Iris cautioned, as Rose tossed a cushion at her brother. ‘It’s a school night, remember.’
Kate’s ancient Subaru pulled into the driveway. Maggie waved at them from behind the wheel.
‘Laters,’ Rose said, grabbing her bag.
‘Don’t slam the—’
Iris sighed as the door almost bounced off its hinges.
Maggie was one of the few people she trusted to keep Rose out of mischief.
At seventeen, Nicky’s girlfriend was two years older than Rose, the big sister she’d never had: they’d effectively grown up together, part of what Mac called the “Gray coven”.
Maggie and Rose reminded Iris of herself and Amy when they’d been younger.
Finn pulled out a stool at the island as Iris went into the kitchen and loaded the dishwasher. He knew better than to offer to help: Iris had a system, and the kids had long since learned not to interfere.
‘You seemed a little upset at the party today,’ Finn said.
‘Your grandmother can be a pill,’ Iris said succinctly.
Finn grabbed an apple from the bowl and took a huge, boyish bite. Iris smiled. A mother’s atavistic need to see her offspring eat never faded.
‘I don’t get it,’ he said, through a mouthful of apple. ‘That gift for Aunt Amy was, like, seriously weird. What’s their deal?’
‘I wish I knew. Your grandmother’s been like that with her for as long as I can remember.’ Iris put a dishwasher tab into the slot and straightened up. ‘Finn, I need to ask you to do something,’ she said, changing the subject. ‘I know it’s a huge favour, but it’d mean a lot to me.’
Finn lowered his apple. ‘OK,’ he said warily.
‘It’s for your sister, more than me,’ Iris said. ‘I want you to take her to prom.’
Her son looked taken aback. ‘For real?’
‘You know she’s not entitled to a ticket on her own,’ Iris said.
‘Not unless she’s the guest of a senior.
Your aunt was going to turn a blind eye and let me sneak her in when prom was going to be in the gym, but now it’s on the Lady, numbers are really tight and closely monitored.
And Rose is friends with a lot of your graduating class, especially Maggie. ’
‘Mom—’
‘Ashley’s a senior, so she’ll get her own ticket,’ Iris wheedled.
‘It’s not like I’m asking you to hang out with your sister.
You can meet up with Ashley and go off and do your own thing with your friends as soon as you’re on the boat.
It’s just to get her through the door. Please, Finn. It’ll make her year.’
‘Ashley’ll flip,’ Finn said, sighing.
Iris pulled her son into a grateful hug. She’d known he wouldn’t be able to say no; as much as he and his sister might bicker, they adored each other, and Finn would do anything for her.
And as far as Iris was concerned, if it put Ashley’s nose out of joint, so much the better.