The Love of My Afterlife(44)
Big mistake. Wow, there are so many “horny cougars in my area.”
“Delphie! You came!”
I’m pulled out of my X-rated online search to see Cooper, his mum, Amy, and a perfectly round, perfectly put together woman drinking iced coffees on the terrace outside Laurents café. Oh shit. He said they were going to be meeting here this morning. I should have snuck around the back way.
“Hi!” I give them a polite wave. “I’m actually just on my way to—”
“I’m so glad you’re here!” Amy jumps up from her chair and pulls me into a tight hug that somewhat settles my racing heart. “I was ever so disappointed when Cooper said you couldn’t make it. I knew if we just waited here a little longer you might come by!”
“I didn’t actually—” I go to tell them that I’d forgotten they were even coming to the neighbourhood, but Amy softly presses her hand to the back of my head, and the words disappear on my tongue.
Once Amy releases me, I’m immediately gathered into a second, more bosomy hug by the other woman. The scent of her perfume is a lovely subtle cedar. Her bare arms sort of stick to my bare arms. This must be the “pushy” Aunt Bev. “Nice to meet you,” I say from where my entire face is muffled in her neck.
“Darling girl!” Bev exclaims, leaning back and examining me like I’m a dear friend she hasn’t seen in years. “How wonderful! As soon as Amy told me you’d made our eternally sour-faced boy laugh, I said, ‘Good lord, I have to see this for myself at once!’ He’s been such a miserable little wretch these last few years. We have all asked him to go to therapy, but of course he thinks he knows better than the older and the much, much wiser. But perhaps all he needed this whole time was love.”
“We’ve only been dating a few weeks, Bev,” Cooper sighs, finishing the remainder of his coffee.
Bev tuts. “Your Uncle Jerry—God rest his soul—and I knew within half a second that we loved each other. Time means nothing. Chemistry is what counts!”
Cooper avoids my wide-eyed glance, horror at his aunt’s indiscretion turning his cheeks lightly pink. I can’t help but giggle at his discomfort. Nothing strips away the carefully curated cool demeanour of a person faster than being around those who raised them.
“Shall we hail a cab to the aquarium?”
I grimace. I really should get back home and figure out a new plan. But Amy looks genuinely delighted to see me. And Bev is already bustling about, excitedly telling me about her favourite fish. And then there’s Cooper, eyeing me with an expression akin to pleading. He clearly wants to keep his mum smiling. I get that. God knows I tried with my own mum after Dad left.
“We won’t stay for long,” Cooper murmurs in my ear. “And I’ll owe you. Again.”
I suppose it’s not like I’m going to make much headway in the next hour anyway. And when we return, Cooper’s assistance would be helpful. Maybe he could use some of his computer whizzery to track down Kat, who I think might actually give me Jonah’s number if I beg her for long enough.
“Okay then,” I say brightly. “But I’ll have to nip home to shower first. I’m a little sweaty.”
“Oh, you can shower later.” Bev waves away the suggestion. “We’re all friends here.”
“Join the sweaty club!” Amy says, swinging her arm around me.
“Sweaty Bettys unite!” Bev adds, looping her arm through mine and hailing a cab from the street with a practiced flick of her wrist.
“Speak for yourselves,” Cooper says, pinching his nose as the four of us bundle into the cab.
* * *
I’ve never been to the London Aquarium before. I always imagined it would be serene and empty. All dim lighting and fish nerds talking in hushed voices. I was so wrong. The London Aquarium is noisy as hell, with crowds of people shoving and shouting and pressing their whole faces or their phones up against the glass of the tanks. Bev immediately leads us to an area called the Syngnathidae section, and I’m relieved to find it’s much quieter than downstairs, the tanks filled with tiny spiky creatures that aren’t as flashy as the sharks and the jellyfish but are magical nevertheless.
“They’re smaller than I thought they’d be,” I say, pointing at the seahorses, ducking my head to get a closer look. “They’re beautiful, though. Like little pieces of jewellery.”
“I can’t believe they’re alive,” Amy says. “That they’re breathing.”
“Aha,” Bev calls out, pointing at an information board beside the tank. “The Hippocampus histrix—or thorny seahorse as they’re more well known—sticks with just one other seahorse for their entire life! Whenever I’d bring Cooper and Em here as youngsters, they’d run right to this area. Used to sit in front of the tank linking pinkies like the seahorses link tails.”
I glance at Cooper, who is staring intently at a wall sign that reads EXIT THIS WAY.
“Look at those two there! They’re linking tails right now!” Amy points to a far corner of the coral, where there are indeed two tiny seahorses, little tails looped into each other.
“We simply must get a photo,” Bev says decisively. “Cooper, darling. Delphie. Come on. Stand here. Oh, and kiss! Kiss by the seahorses. How romantic!”