“Please.”
He poured Ronnie a cup and brought it to her. “I can’t thank you enough for doing this for Ruby.”
“Oh, I’m the one who should be thanking you.” Ronnie carried her mug to the table, where she sat in her usual spot. “I’ve loved spending time with Ruby, you know.” She smiled fondly. “My bonus grandkid. Remember when she collected that shoebox full of toads? And I found it in her closet?”
Eli nodded, because he didn’t trust himself to speak. What a gift it had been, he thought, that he and his daughter had found a place with Sarah and in this family. What a gift Ronnie and Lee had been, to him and to his daughter. How lucky he’d been.
He went back to the refrigerator to gather eggs and milk and butter, not wanting Ronnie to see his face as he considered the possibility that this might not be his family for much longer. Ruby would always belong here. So would Dexter and Miles. But not him.
“So what’s new with you?” Ronnie asked. “You know, other than your only daughter getting married?”
Eli tried to sound normal as he discussed the patients who’d put off checkups and procedures, and the post-pandemic gum disease he’d been dealing with. He talked, even as most of his attention was focused on the staircase, body tense, heart knotted, as he waited for Gabe’s mother to show herself.
He could hear the other houseguests, stirring on the house’s lower levels; doors opening and closing, toilets flushing, the sound of the boys’ voices and their pounding feet as they went racing along the deck. Come on, he thought, as he whisked eggs and pancake batter. Come on, come on, come on!
But the next guest to emerge in the kitchen was Ari, who came shlepping up the stairs, looking predictably bleary. He grunted a greeting at Eli, rooted around in the freezer for a bottle of vodka, and waved it at his brother, then at Ronnie. “Hair of the dog?” he asked.
“No thanks,” said Ronnie.
“I’m good,” said Eli, tight-lipped.
“Glad to hear it.” Ari smirked and Eli thought, I’ll kill him. I will. Finally, finally, he saw Gabe’s dark head bobbing up the staircase. He tried not to be too obvious as he turned, wiping his hands on a dishtowel, looking at the women flanking his please-God-not-son/son-in-law. One of them wore a white halter top, gold hoop earrings, a big, wide-brimmed beach hat, and a dramatically patterned skirt in shades of bright yellow and pink and green that tied in a knot at her waist, and a pair of impractical pink shoes that laced around her legs, from her ankles to her knees, with pink ribbons. For a sliver of a second, Eli was almost weak with relief, because that woman was definitely not the woman he’d slept with all those years ago. Her lips were thinner, her face was more angular, her eyes were the wrong shape. Then he saw the other woman, the one slightly behind Gabe, wearing a gray sweatshirt and light denim jeans and plain, inexpensive-looking white sneakers. She wore no makeup. Her gaze was on the ground. Eli felt his heart sink, plummeting through his belly and right through the floor. Because that woman unquestionably was the woman. There was no doubt about it. Even with all the time that had gone by, Eli recognized the shape of her mouth, the arch of her eyebrows, a birthmark high on her left cheek.
Eli tried to look pleasant as he felt his last tiny bit of hope evaporate and the truth settle in. “Good morning!” he called. The first woman smiled broadly and clasped his hand in both of hers. “I’m Amanda,” she said. “Gabe’s auntie.” Her teeth were the bright white that came from veneers, made even brighter by the contrast with her lipstick. “My God, look at this place!” she said, letting go of Eli and walking to the windows. “It’s like living in the clouds!”
“Isn’t it something?” said Ari, oiling back into the kitchen and pulling out a chair for Amanda, before proffering the vodka. “Hair of the dog?”
“Yummy,” said Amanda, giving Ari a big smile.
Eli turned to the other woman. “And you must be Rosa. It’s so good to finally meet you in person.”
Rosa nodded politely, murmuring a greeting.
“A real pleasure,” Eli said. He took her hand and held it a beat too long, watching as her gaze snapped to his. For a single, electric instant their eyes met. Then she dropped her head, looking miserable and ashamed.
“How do you ladies take your coffee?” Ronnie asked. Rosa didn’t answer. Her sister said, “Strong and black, like my men.” Ronnie laughed, but Rosa didn’t. She looked just like Eli felt, and he hoped he was doing a better job of hiding his dismay than she was.