"It's exhausting having kids, isn't it?" Mabel asked, checking to see if the kettle had any hot water left in it.
Amy rubbed her forehead. "What would you know of it?" Mabel had already spent more time with the boys than she had when Amy was that age. Amy had always gotten along best with her father and she wasn’t the proper beauty that she felt Mabel would have connected with better.
"What?" Mabel asked, filling the kettle and putting it on the stove. "We were always close."
Amy closed her eyes for a long moment and then opened them. She wanted to comment on the fact that by her mother's own request, she called her mother by her first name, but she left it alone. Now that Amy was quickly learning what it meant to be a mom, she could see that Mabel loved her in the best way that she could.
"It is exhausting. I can't help but think the boys would be better off on that island. They need so much activity."
"They're doing okay, and you couldn't have kept them there forever. Poor William has already hit puberty."
"Mabel," Amy complained.
"It's true."
"Knowing it and talking about it are two different things. Can we just leave that conversation alone?"
"Maybe his dad should have a talk with him," Mabel suggested, readying her tea bag and leaning against the counter to watch Amy's reaction.
"Maybe he should," Amy conceded.
"You know what we need?" Mabel asked, delicately brushing Amy's curly hair behind her ear. Amy reached up and held her mom's hand against her cheek, enjoying the touch. Benji and Steven would lay down on the sofa and cuddle with Amy as they watched TV and Amy reveled in the warmth, but her mother Mabel rarely showed any physical affection, and it made Amy feel momentarily sad for her mother.
"What do we need?"
"Dinner out, just you and me. Go take a shower and get all gussied up, and I’ll do the same."
"What about the boys?" Amy asked.
"Lucy can watch them," Mabel said in jest.
"I love her dearly, but Lucy doesn't watch her own boys."
"I'm joking. The boys will be okay. William is old enough to be in charge for a couple of hours."
Amy nodded her head. That was a better option than Lucy coming over any day. Amy jumped up and went to get ready, but Mabel remained in the kitchen and calmly made her tea because she had no intention of going to dinner.
Chapter 14
Amy wondered why Mabel hadn't gone to change for dinner, but when she said to get a cocktail and wait for her at the table, Amy had been all too happy to comply. She could use a moment to decompress, and she enjoyed a slow walk in the perfect evening air. Mabel had made reservations. She liked the Milling Room for it's history as part of the luxurious Endicott Hotel. Where Amy took in the new decor, she knew her mother was remembering evenings she'd spent in the Palm Room under the arched glass roof back in the day.
Amy was shown to the table, and she ordered a drink and waited for Mabel. She took a sip of her appletini, and when she saw Matt Cole walk in, she almost spit it on the table. She hated her heart for skipping a beat, and she looked everywhere but toward the door. She needed to talk to him for weeks, but now was not the time. Matt Cole was engaged to be married and he was gorgeous, wonderful, and a jerk.
"Is this seat taken?"
"Not yet," Amy forced as she looked up at Matt. She was trying to keep her emotions tied up, but that just caused her cheeks to flood and she felt sweat on her neck. She guzzled the rest of her martini, which was a mistake because she didn't drink hard liquor that often.
Matt sat down and cleared his throat. He looked handsome in his white and blue button up shirt and fashionable jacket. The waiter passed by and Amy held up her glass signaling another drink. She closed her eyes and shook her head feeling the burn of the alcohol in her stomach. Amy could strangle Mabel right now.
They looked at each other for a moment, neither knowing what to say.
Finally Matt broke the silence. "I'm meeting my dad here for dinner. I don't know why I agreed to come, really." He shook his head.
"I thought you got along okay with your father," Amy said.
Matt fidgeted with the silverware. "I do."
The waiter put a fresh drink down and Amy took a quick sip of her second appletini. She didn't drink very often, but this dinner would need a little softening around the edges. Mabel, what did you do? Amy thought.
"Would you like something to drink?" the waiter asked.
"No, I don't think so. I'm not here with her. I mean, I'm not at this table," Matt stuttered.
"All evidence to the contrary," the waiter said with a smile.
"Go ahead, Matt," Amy said, her body flushing with embarrassment. They had been tricked into meeting for dinner. Their parents had somehow put them here together tonight, she was sure of it.
"I'll have a Jackie Gleason," Matt said, and the waiter nodded and turned on his heels to fetch Matt's drink.
"That sounds interesting," Amy said, not knowing what a Jackie Gleason consisted of.
"It's not really," Matt said, and he wiped his palms on his pants and then looked around the room for his father.
"So, is your dad late?" Amy asked.
"No," Matt said, tipping back in his chair to see if his father was seated on the other side of a half-brick wall. "Actually, I'm a bit late and I can't believe he's not here yet."
"It's a setup. He's not coming," Amy said.
"What?" Matt barked, automatically ready to accuse Amy for setting this up.
Amy put her hand up. "Hold on, Matt. It wasn't me. It was our parents. I'm supposed to be meeting Mabel here, and she's late too."
As if on cue, the waiter put a short glass of alcohol next to Matt, and both he and Amy guzzled down their drinks.
"Another round, garçon," Matt said. Amy could see his teeth clenching, and he reached up and rubbed his arm at the shoulder.
Somewhere between the appetizer and main course, they were both able to relax as they returned to their typical banter. They had always worked well together and gotten along in their own way. Matt wanted to ask Reynolds if she'd really had a crush on him, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it.
"So are the boys officially Yankees fans?" he asked, trying to keep his cool about the game she'd let Bill Ruby take them to.
"Apparently thanks to you, they were fans before they even left the island," she said and then took a too large bite. "The first island," she clarified.
"You have something on your face," Matt said to Reynolds.
"It's my face, deal with it," she quipped back without raising her napkin.
"Really, it's on your cheek," he said, and she clowned around for a minute clearly one too many martinis into the evening.
"I can't believe that I cheated on Sarah with you," Matt said jokingly.
"Gee, thanks," she said, and she didn't look up at him. Matt wondered if Nicole was right and Reynolds had crushed on him.
"Well, I guess we were stranded for a long time on that island," he clarified.
"Stop while you're ahead," Amy jested. "I mean, I passed the 'if you were stranded on a deserted island with me' test."
"Don't sell yourself short, Reynolds. You passed the test at least three times."
"So you're ready to talk about the boys then?" she asked, turning serious. He had no idea how to respond. Seeing his own eighth grade picture and knowing it was the spitting image of the oldest boy, and his father's own reaction to the boys all clouded his ability to keep denying. His future had changed because somehow his past had changed.
Matt sat in silence as Reynolds continued. "I can't explain it either, Matt, but those boys are ours. I've really gotten to know them in the last few weeks, and I can't imagine life without them. Benji is sweet and everything excites him. And Steven is so smart and he contemplates every new thing he comes in contact with." She smiled. "I think he gets that overthinking thing from me. And William reminds me of you, and I can see your influence in him."
There was a pure soft joy on Reynolds' face as she talked about the boys, and it made Matt less afraid of the possibility.
"Reynolds, you're one of a kind," Matt said sincerely and she blushed.
"It's the Jackie Gleason's talking," she said, and they both laughed.
"Still, there's something about you," Matt said, leaning in and staring into her eyes. Could he see himself in a relationship with Reynolds? Before today it seemed far-fetched, but maybe there was something to it.
She looked right back and held his gaze for a moment, and then the truth of the situation seemed to rush over her because she was suddenly angry.
"Well, there is something about me. I'm the mother of your children," she snapped and in that second Matt knew that the spell was broken. "Are you and Sarah going to have kids?"
"Honestly, we never talked about it."
"You're going to marry someone, and you don't even know what she wants for her future? Good plan, Matt. Real grown up." Amy threw her napkin on the table as she stood and just like that, she stormed out of the restaurant.
Matt tipped his head forward and rubbed his eyes hard. He took a deep breath and slugging down the last of his drink, he watched her go. She was right of course. He didn't plan anything, and the plans he made were rarely followed through. But the fact that she'd said it out loud made him angry enough to quickly pay the tab and follow her outside.
"Reynolds!" he called which made Amy walk faster. She regretted treating Matt like that, but she didn't know how to behave anymore. She could hear the tap of his shoes as he ran after her.
"Wait," he said and he grabbed her wrist and turned her toward him.
"What do you want?" she asked with as much fury as she could muster, but just knowing he'd come after her was enough to soften her anger.
"Just wait a minute," he said. Amy turned and kept walking, and Matt stayed in step with her, but he didn't take his hand off of her wrist. "I don't follow through with anything, you're right. I never have."
"You follow through, Matt. I was just... I don't know," Amy admitted. "You finished school and you became a journalist instead of a banker. You do follow through."
"Not with the important stuff," he said, pulling on her wrist so she would have to stop walking.
"What are you telling me, Matt?" Amy asked. She didn't know what she wanted him to say anymore.
“I don’t know, Reynolds. I used to know. Damn, I used to be confident about everything I did and everything I thought.”
Amy’s anger subsided in his honesty. She had always loved his easy confidence and wondered from where he drew it.
“What is it, Matt? I’m tired of arguing. Why did you follow me?”
"Nicole said you had a crush on me," he blurted, and Amy's mouth dropped open. She could kill Nicole right now.
"She said that I had a crush on you? What, are we in high school now?" Amy tried to retort in anger but she was flustered, and it came out squeaky. She was two doors down from her mom's townhouse, and she wanted to go in and see the boys, but she was a little drunk and she should probably go straight to bed so they wouldn't see her drooling on herself.
"Did you?"
"Matt, I have three sons with you. I think I'm a little beyond crush at this point." She was being flip, but for some reason the truth gripped him in that moment, and he stepped in and kissed her hard on the mouth.
Amy was startled at first but she regained herself quickly, and it was a while before either of them pulled away.
"That didn't feel like a first kiss," Matt said. It was all so familiar and a bit shocking, and he resisted the urge to kiss Reynolds again.
"Make up your mind, Matt Cole," Amy said, and she turned and went up the stairs.
Chapter 15
When Amy woke up, she was still incensed at Matt for confusing her and at Mabel for setting the whole thing up. She was hung over from her too many appletinis, and she reached for her bottle of water and drained what was left of it. She sat up and groaned at the photos of her and Matt strewn across the floor around the bed.
He'd kissed her and she'd walked away hoping he would once again chase her, but she stood inside the door for a full five minutes, and he never knocked. He probably shook it off and went back to Sarah.
Amy took another lingering look at the images and the same lump formed in her throat. They'd had something real while stranded on that island, she could see it on her face in the photos, and she could account for it in the three wonderful boys they had raised together. She tried once again to remember, but she just couldn't pull any memories together.
She picked up the pictures and noticed one with her and Bill in the mix. The photo made something in Amy want to finalize anything that she and Matt had in common so she could start over with a clean slate. Bill was a great guy, and the boys really liked him, and plenty of kids grew up without their real fathers. The problem was that the boys had their father in their lives every minute up until Ruby Island, and she could see the toll that his absence was taking on them.
Amy moved to the side desk and powered up her computer. The only piece of business that she had left with Matt as far as she was concerned was the magazine article on Bill Ruby. She had the proofs of her shots ready to turn in, but Matt had admitted to her at dinner that he hadn't even started to write the article. He'd been sincere and even a little vulnerable when he'd told her that what had happened at Ruby Island had completely thrown him off guard. Amy was ready to put all that behind her and move forward with her life. She couldn't wait for Matt to grow up, so she decided that she would write the article.
Amy printed the article and emailed herself a copy to turn in to Nicole at the office. Just then Benji ran in and hugged Amy.
"Mama, you have to hear the bedtime story that Auntie Mabel told me.” Mabel followed him in.
"You tell bedtime stories now?" Amy asked.
She winked at Amy. "It's the same story I've always told. Don't be jealous," Mabel said with a smile, and Amy gave her a deadpan stare. The ‘same bedtime story’ was Mabel not really telling a story at all.
"So how did this story go?" Amy asked Benji.
"Well, Auntie Mabel told me to try to guess what she was thinking, and I did! There was this giant air ship and the pilot was an iguana," he started, and Mabel giggled. Amy tried to listen attentively to Benji's fantastic tale, but her childhood of telling herself her own bedtime stories because she had "guessed" what her mother was thinking flashed before her. Mabel was now giggling uncontrollably, and she had to leave the room.
On her way out she told Amy, "The kid's a natural. You must have told him my bedtime stories on the island."
"Not funny, Mom. How would you like them to start calling you Grandma?" Amy asked, and Mabel popped back in the room.
"Don't you dare."
"Then don't you dare set me up on a date again... I mean dinner," she said, catching herself in front of Benji.
"I wanted to ask how that went, but I didn't want to intrude," Mabel said with a sly smile.
"Don't ask," Amy said. Giving Benji a squeeze and tickling him until he couldn't catch his breath. "Can you watch the boys for a bit? I need to run to the office and turn in the proofs for the article."
Amy marveled as the sun gleamed off of One World Trade Center. She never tired of hearing the sound of water falling in the 9/11 Memorial as she walked by on her way into the skyscraper. She was only twelve years old on that tragic day, and she'd never fully comprehended other people's loss. But at so many memorials, Amy had looked at people's faces through the lens of her camera. She could feel their utter loss as they stood and reflected.
Amy had come to the office partly because she needed to get out of the house and partly because she needed to turn in her photos to Nicole.
"Hold the elevator!" Amy heard, and she stuck her arm in the door to make it reopen.
"Thank you," Gary said with a wide smile, and Amy couldn't help but smile back. Amy hugged Bill's cousin. She would have been surpr
ised to run into any friend or family on the elevator up to her office at One World Trade Center, but Gary always had that way of showing up where you didn't expect him.
"I heard you were in town," she told him, with a punch to his arm.
"Is Bill chatting me up again?" he joked.
"Actually, Matt Cole had many expletives to share with me about you."
"He's charming, Amy. I can see the draw for you. I mean, stranded on an island and all."
"Well, I must like Ruby Island better. I mean, especially since I can remember my time there."
"That's my girl."
Amy cleared her throat and closed her eyes for a long second. Gary loved his cousin, Bill, and he would do anything for him, but sometimes he pushed a little too hard. "Gary, you don't have to sell me on Bill. He's as wonderful as always, and the boys love to spend time with him."
"He loves you guys, too. He really wants to make a go of it," Gary said. Amy wanted to be irritated with Gary, but his beautiful blond locks and gorgeously tanned smile melted everyone, and she wasn't impervious.
"Maybe it is time for him to settle down then."
"That's what I just said to you," Gary said with another dashing smile. The elevator stopped at her floor and he followed Amy off the elevator.
"I can't believe that Bill would ask you to come and plead his case."
"Pardon me, Amy. Bill didn't ask me to say anything, but I want him to be happy, so maybe I overstepped. It's just that you looked like you were having fun at dinner, and I wanted to make sure you and Bill were on the same page."
Amy moved away from the elevator to the corner of the lobby that was furthest from the reception desk. She didn't want to believe that Gary was spying on her, but she wasn't sure if he was talking about dinner with Bill or Matt, and she didn't want to get into it.
Ruby Island Page 14