Tess looked away and started sweeping the floor. They had an unwritten rule that if one of them started dating someone, when it got to the point that Ali was going to be around that person, they got to meet said person. Tess thought about her response carefully. What she had with Courtney was…complicated and amazing. “I’m not dating her, Brad, we’re just friends.”
“Does she spend time with my kid?” Brad kept chomping on the apple. When Tess gave him a look that said you know she does, he nodded. “Alright then, when do I meet her?”
Tess groaned. “You don’t meet everyone Ali is ever around Brad, you don’t insist on meeting all of my other friends.” Tess wasn’t sure what she and Courtney had, and because of that, she didn’t want to complicate it by involving her friends and family. She enjoyed her time with Courtney and she enjoyed that they could just have easy fun, no expectations, no labels, they just had a good time together. She also knew that with Brad and her family, nothing personal ever stayed personal for very long.
“Friends? HA!” Brad laughed loud and dramatically. “Sweetheart, I have been your plus one since high school, you don’t have any friends that I haven’t known as long as or longer than you have!”
Tess rolled her eyes. “There are more people in the world than the people we went to school with Brad.”
Brad laughed again. “I know this. As a member of the actual living world and social community, I have many friends.” He took one last bite of the apple and pointed at her with the remaining core. “You, however, will go to the bank afterhours and deposit your check in the ATM to avoid having to have a five-minutes conversation with a bank teller.” He tossed the core at the garbage can and winced when it bounced of the wall and landed two inches from the dustpan Tess had just replaced.
“Ugh. You’re a pig Brad.”
Brad rubbed his hands together to dissipate the juice from the apple. “Hell, I have seen you flat-out avoid people that you know, and like, at the store because you just don’t want to socialize. So when do I get to meet her?”
Tess sighed, knowing that if the roles were reversed, Brad probably would not have even had Ali around a significant other without first meeting Tess. “I don’t know.”
Brad studied Tess’s face. “So define just friends.”
Tess threw the apple core in the garbage and started wiping off the counters. “No.”
Brad raised his eyebrows in interest. “No?”
Tess rinsed the cloth in the sink. “When you pick Ali up next time, I’ll have her come, and you can meet her. Satisfied?”
Brad nodded. “Why don’t you just bring her to the picnic next week?” Brad referred to the Fourth of July picnic her family was having at her sister’s house. “She can meet everyone at once.”
“No way,” Tess shook her head vehemently. “We are friends, Brad. She isn’t my girlfriend, and she doesn’t need to meet the family. If you want to meet her, you have the right to, because she is around Ali, but anything else isn’t your decision.”
Brad furrowed his brows questioningly. “Why the secrecy? Is she ugly? She’s ugly isn’t she?”
Tess laughed. “No, she isn’t ugly. She’s gorgeous.”
“Aah,” Brad nodded knowingly and motioned to his chest, “You’re afraid she is going to see all of this, and she won’t want all of that,” he finished, motioning towards Tess.
“Yes, Brad,” Tess sighed exaggeratedly, “That is exactly what it is. You are just so damn good looking that it isn’t fair to the rest of us common folk.”
“Aww shucks,” Brad wrapped his arms tightly around a struggling Tess and squeezed the wriggling woman tightly. “You’re too good to me, and you’re right, it isn’t fair to the rest of you. I’ll tell you what,” he pulled her out to arm’s length and looked at her sympathetically, “I promise not to shower that day, and I’ll wear an old shirt. Now I can’t make any promises, because natural beauty can’t be shielded, but it might take the edge off.”
Tess swatted his hands away. “I swear, if your head was any bigger…” Tess didn’t get a chance to finish her sentence before she had two little arms winding around her leg.
“Mom, I’m hungry. I colored some pictures for Courtney and one for Jasper. Can we buy Jasper some treats? Courtney says he’s on a diet, so I think he’s hungry. Can we get a dog? Do we have ice cream?”
“Whoa, slow down, sunshine, one thing at a time.” Tess picked the little girl up and kissed her on the cheek. She made her way to the freezer to pull out the ice cream. “Yes to the ice cream, no to the dog. We have Snickers and cats don’t like dogs.”
Brad took a sip of the coffee that he had poured. Realizing that it had gone cold, he poured it into the kitchen sink. He walked over to the table to kiss his daughter on the forehead, and then leaned over to Tess to do the same. “Have a good day, my beautiful girls.” He stopped in the doorway and turned back to Tess. “Make it happen.” With that, he waved and walked out the front door.
Tess sat in the chair beside Ali and watched as her daughter methodically stirred her ice cream until it was the consistency of soft serve. She grinned, like mother like daughter. “What do you think. Ali? Do you like Courtney?”
Ali shook her head excitedly, “Courtney is awesome!” Ali took a bite of the ice cream and kept talking. “Is she going to be your new girlfriend, because if she is, and they move in, then Jasper can be my dog too!” She frowned in mid-sentence and then nodded, having worked out the silent dilemma on her own. “I’ll have to talk to Snickers, our dog and cat will have to get along. Maybe they will be good friends.”
Tess had nearly dropped the coffee cup she had been holding when Ali used the word girlfriend. Though Tess and Hillary had lived together on and off throughout Ali’s childhood, she had yet to be old enough to really understand that her mom did not have the same kind of relationship as most of those around her. Tess had never really focused on the issue, having just always referred to Hillary as her friend and kept affectionate displays to a minimum around her child, which was easy because Tess had referred to Hillary as her friend in public as well, having never really been out of the closet. Most of her acquaintances just assumed she was single.
Tess frowned. She had known eventually this day would come with Ali, and not for nothing she had spent countless hours agonizing over the conversation, wondering how it would go, wondering how Ali would react. In her head, during the conversation, Ali had always been a teenager that ended up hating her. Tess frowned again at her own ignorance. Ali was a very smart and perceptive child, of course she wouldn’t be oblivious until her teen years. Tess considered letting the conversation roll over and then thought better of it. She wanted to have a good relationship with her daughter and that began with being honest.
“No, Courtney isn’t my new girlfriend. Right now, we are just friends.” When Ali continued focusing on her ice cream, Tess took a deep breath and decided to stick a toe in the water. She turned to Ali and thought for a second about what she wanted to say. “Sweetie, you know how in your Cinderella and Snow White books, the prince and the princess live happily ever after?”
Ali shook her head and started getting up from the table excitedly. “Yeah I’ll go get them, I love it when you read me stories!”
“Hold on, kiddo,” Tess placed an arm on her daughter’s arm to still her. “We’ll read in a minute, I want to talk to you about something.” Tess could feel the nausea in the pit of her stomach rising and swallowed to keep it down. “You know how girls grow up and sometimes they fall in love with boys and get married and live happily ever after?”
Ali nodded. “Yeah, and sometimes they fall in love with girls, just like sometimes boys fall in love with boys. I don’t have a story like that though, we should get one, mom. Maybe I’ll make one.” She looked at her mom, her eyes full of innocence. “Do you want me to make you a book like that?”
The surprise hit Tess nearly as hard as the well of emotions did. “I would love that kind of book, honey, but
who told you that?”
“Told me what?” Ali looked at her mom confused.
“Who told you that sometimes girls fall in love with girls and boys fall in love with boys?”
“Oh! Dad did. He says everyone is different.” Ali jumped off the chair and carried her bowl to the sink. “He says I’m really lucky because when you fall in love and when he falls in love, I might have two step-moms, so if one of them is evil,” she paused to explain, “like in Cinderella, they will cancel each other out.”
Tess couldn’t contain the laugh that escaped her lips. I do love that man. Tess’s nausea had subsided as she watched her daughter rinse her bowl out and put it in the dishwasher. She felt like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders, and her heart swelled with pride at the matter-of-fact way the little girl spoke. “You are getting so big, little girl, I love you so much.”
Ali closed the dishwasher and skipped over to wrap her arms around her mom’s neck. “I love you too, Mom.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Courtney flipped down the mirror in her car and dabbed more makeup on her face. She touched her hair in a few places and looked down at what she was wearing grimly. I should’ve gone shopping, she thought, thinking that the simple black skirt and blouse weren’t quite professional enough. She stepped out of the car and looked around the parking lot for Chris before checking her phone again. She had already called him twice and sent him three text messages, but her brother had not answered her once. She dialed him again and talked to the ringing. “Pick up, you jerk, I’ve been reminding you about tonight all week!” When his voice mail picked up, she scowled into her phone.
“I swear, Chris, if you aren’t at this restaurant in ten minutes, there will not be a corner of this earth you will be able to hide in!” She hit the end button and checked the time before reluctantly tossing her cell phone back in the car, knowing her father would not tolerate an interruption during dinner. She looked at her reflection on the door window and adjusted her skirt one last time before making her way into the restaurant. She was ten minutes early, but wasn’t surprised to find that her father was already waiting inside.
William Anderson was a tall, thickly built man who enjoyed promptness. “Aaah, well hello princess.” He held his long arms out to hug his only daughter and kissed her cheek formally before glancing behind her. “I haven’t heard from Christopher lately, I expect he will be late as usual?”
Courtney considered agreeing, but knew the odds of her brother showing up were not in their favor. Rather than spark a future argument, she decided it would better to say he wasn’t coming. Then, if he did show up, her father might appreciate the interruption. “No, Dad, Chris is working late tonight, he has been swamped with calls lately.”
While Courtney talked, her father motioned for the hostess, who led them to their table. When they were seated, William ordered himself and his daughter a glass of white wine before turning his attention back to his daughter. “Well I had hoped to leave the unpleasantries until the end of our meal, but since your brother has once again decided to be irresponsible, I will address my concerns to you, as I assume he is living with you.”
Crap. Courtney kept a straight face, silently cursing her brother for not dealing with this sooner, but rather leaving her to clean up his mess. She thought about lying, but wasn’t sure what exactly to say. Either way, her brother didn’t come out on the positive side of the conversation. She wondered how much her dad knew and thought maybe lighthearted dismissal was the way to go. When the waitress gave them their wine and told them she would be back to take their order, Courtney took a sip. “What do you mean?”
Her father gave her the same look he had given her when he found the test she had hid under their couch in the tenth grade with a “C” marked in bright red ink. She had told him it stood for charismatic, which had earned her a month of grounding, followed by very intensive chemistry tutoring.
“You know very well what I am talking about, young lady. I received a call from Timothy over at Ohio State. He tells me that your brother has exhausted his leave of absence and that if he does not register for courses soon, he will be unenrolled.” William looked at Courtney scoldingly. “Now don’t tell me you didn’t know anything about this, young lady, your brother doesn’t purchase an article of clothing without consulting you first. He would not make a major life decision without running home to you.”
Courtney watched the look of distaste pass across her father’s face. When the waitress came, they hastily ordered their meals. Our father pulls strings with his alumni to get you into school, and you don’t think they will tell him when you leave? Courtney chastised her brother in her mind. In all reality, while she and her brother had always been very close, he had not consulted her before leaving school. He had simply showed up on her doorstep with bags and no explanation, knowing that Courtney wouldn’t ask for one. A few days later, he had simply told her he was bored and needed some time off. Courtney told him he should call their father, but he was a full grown man, and she wasn’t about to play mom.
“He just needed some time off, Dad.”
The look of distaste remained on her father’s face, even as he attempted sarcasm. “Needed?” He shook his head. “Need implies necessity. We need air. We need water. We need food. We need money. We do not need to leave college to pursue women and drink alcohol. Your brother needs to learn that it is time to grow up.”
Courtney closed her eyes and shook her head lightly. “He has a business, Dad. He is supporting himself. It’s not like he is living on the streets.”
“A business? Ha!” William scoffed. Compared to his multimillion- dollar IT company, Chris’s small computer repair business was the fast food of the Tech industry. “A man in his midtwenties should not be making a career out of,” he grimaced as if he had a bad taste in his mouth, “small computer repair.”
Courtney held up her hand in defeat. “Dad, please, I don’t want to spend the entire evening talking about Chris.”
“You’re right, you’re right.” William shook his head in truce. “So how is my princess doing? Moving up the ladder?”
Courtney fought the urge to roll her eyes. She should’ve left the focus on Chris, it would have avoided another conversation about how she was wasting her abilities and needed to come work for her father. She silently wished that one dinner with her father didn’t revolve around employment and monetary value. But that only leaves discussing our personal lives. Courtney winced. I’ll stick with the corporate conversation. “I’m still in IT, Dad. I don’t plan on moving up the ladder.” When her father looked at her disapprovingly, she added “I’ve had offers, Dad. I just haven’t taken them.”
With the admission, William beamed with pride. “That’s my girl, make them work for it. Just when they’re getting desperate, you make your own offer.”
This time Courtney did roll her eyes. “I’m not making them work for it, Dad, I’m comfortable where I am.”
“Comfortable? Nonsense,” her father grunted. “I will never understand my children. You have no drive! I have a brilliant daughter who sits in… comfort… and a son who repairs computers.” He took a sip of his wine and waved his hands across the table. “I know I raised you both better than that. Where is your ambition?”
Courtney thought about their childhood. William had not been easy on his children. He had pushed them to be their best at everything. If they tried out for a frivolous sport, they better have been MVP. If they took an elective, they better be the top of their class. If they baked a batch of cookies, they better win an award. William was right about one thing, he had pushed his children to come out on top, and he had showed his disappointment when they didn’t. “I’m happy, Dad, isn’t that enough?” She knew before the statement left her mouth that it wasn’t enough.
“Happy?” William looked at his daughter derisively. “How can you know if you are happy, if you aren’t on top? How can you be happy knowing that someone is out there doing more th
an you, with less of your intelligence?” He took another sip of his wine and shot her another look of disgust. “You drive a Honda, princess, when you could be driving a Porsche.”
Courtney sighed. “I like my Honda, Dad.”
An hour later, Courtney climbed back into her car, feeling as if she had just jogged an emotional marathon. She checked her phone and cursed Chris for still not responding. You owe me, little brother. She did have a missed call from Tess, and two messages. One was a picture of Ali making a face and holding up a Disney movie and a bag of unpopped popcorn and the caption: movie and snack night if you’re interested. The next message was also from Tess: miss you. The message had a smile spreading across Courtney’s face and a warm feeling in her belly. Miss you too, she thought and looked back at the restaurant.
She frowned, not liking that she had such a reaction to Tess’s message and thinking she should probably just head home, but after dinner with her father, she really just wanted to be around something that made her smile. She made her own silly face and snapped a selfie, hitting send for Ali. She added the caption: I’ll bring the ice cream, squirt.
She started her car and pulled out of the parking lot, thinking about what her father had said. What is wrong with being comfortable, she thought. I have a house, a car, my bills are paid, I have money in the bank, I can go out with my friends and have a good time, and I have a good life. Why can’t you see that? She wondered if her father ever did anything simply because it had made him happy. She thought about her childhood and tried to remember if her father had every done anything that didn’t bring him an income or attempt to advance his business and career. Her thoughts came up short.
Her thoughts led her to Tess. She suddenly had the sinking feeling she had spent her personal life settling. She never wanted a relationship, in fact her brother’s taunting about Brandy Swanson and her four-date girlfriend had been accurate. Courtney had never had four dates with any one girl, having never really been that interested in anyone that she had seen. She became bored with them quickly, finding that no one could keep her attention for long. Women intrigued her, and she enjoyed her brief encounters with them. She frowned suddenly, trying to remember the last time she had been out with anyone other than Tess. Months, she thought, it has been months.
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