act together? Why? Why? Why? “Oh sweetie, I’m so sorry. I got confused.”
“I don’t believe you.” Jessica started to cry. “Oh shit, now I’m going to look terrible.”
Listening to Jessica’s sobs, a boulder dropped on Lori’s chest. “Jessica, you can never look terrible, you hear me? You’re beautiful even when you cry and please don’t use that word. I’m going to hang up now and you’re going to wipe your face with a tissue. You will always look beautiful and you’re going to be fine. I love you, honey.”
Lori hung up and lay back on the bed. My poor sweet daughter. She’s scared about the future, just like I am. Except Jessica’s thirteen. In a couple of years she’ll be clamoring to get away from her parents, to throw her beautiful self at what life has to offer on her own. I’m forty-one, look sixty, feel eighty.
Lori snapped off the light and closed her eyes. Her mother’s voice pierced the darkness. “Lori Corvino, stop feeling sorry for yourself this minute!”
For once she was right. And yet . . . Lori breathed deeply and tried to release the tension in her body, something that she was learning in Pilates class. And yet . . . she had to help Jessica and also help herself. How?
C HAPTER 3
----
Lori walked through the double doors of the customs area at Kennedy into the crowded arrival area. A line of darkly dressed men held up signs with names on them. It brought back the memory of the only other time she came home from abroad—a summer trip to Europe with Beth right after graduating from college. She’d been dating Rob for about a year and he was furious that she preferred ten days in foreign lands with Beth to his company in steamy New York State. Lori was flattered by Rob’s need for her, mistook it for devotion. She invited him to come along, out of loyalty more than desire, as she knew he would require all her attention and she wanted a last girl fling with Beth before they both plunged into new jobs—Beth as a social worker at the public high school in Hawthorne Park, and Lori as the owner of a company of one, Corvino Catering. Rob saw no reason to travel that far. “Not even for you.” Only later did Lori learn that he was terrified of flying.
As Beth and Lori walked out of customs, Lori had seen Rob in the front row of men, dressed in a dark suit, with a chauffeur’s hat on his head. When he saw Beth and Lori coming, he held up his sign, which read: Mrs. Robert Staunton? It had been such an exhilarating moment, the surprise of it had left Lori dumbstruck. Beth had to push her forward into Rob’s arms. Lori and Rob were married three years later, a week after Rob graduated from law school. Beth was her only bridesmaid.
Now Lori was standing alone, in a line for the van that would take her back home to Hawthorne Park, willing the memory away. The Connecticut van eased in front of her and stopped. The driver got out, swung the back door open, and began to stow luggage. As Lori moved up the line, she felt a tap on her shoulder.
“Let me give you lift.” Rob, without a sign this time, looking even more handsome, more tanned, nineteen years later.
Lori turned cold. “Is Jessica all right?”
“Yes, she’s fine. I just dropped her home.” His smile was reassuring, believable. Why was he here then—a day after he married someone else? And why hadn’t she put on makeup, combed her hair before getting off the plane? So many times she had fantasized about looking drop-dead gorgeous when she ran into Rob for the first time after their divorce. Well, not drop dead, but at least really good, and instead she looked like something the dog had slept on. If they had a dog, which they didn’t because Rob was allergic. Good, she would get a dog. A golden retriever that shed a lot of hair. That way Rob could never come back to the house. Great idea.
“Go away, Rob.” She reached down to pick up her suitcase. Rob grabbed the handle before Lori had a chance to. Bent close
“I don’t believe you.” Jessica started to cry. “Oh shit, now I’m going to look terrible.”
Listening to Jessica’s sobs, a boulder dropped on Lori’s chest. “Jessica, you can never look terrible, you hear me? You’re beautiful even when you cry and please don’t use that word. I’m going to hang up now and you’re going to wipe your face with a tissue. You will always look beautiful and you’re going to be fine. I love you, honey.”
Lori hung up and lay back on the bed. My poor sweet daughter. She’s scared about the future, just like I am. Except Jessica’s thirteen. In a couple of years she’ll be clamoring to get away from her parents, to throw her beautiful self at what life has to offer on her own. I’m forty-one, look sixty, feel eighty.
Lori snapped off the light and closed her eyes. Her mother’s voice pierced the darkness. “Lori Corvino, stop feeling sorry for yourself this minute!”
For once she was right. And yet . . . Lori breathed deeply and tried to release the tension in her body, something that she was learning in Pilates class. And yet . . . she had to help Jessica and also help herself. How?
C HAPTER 3
----
Lori walked through the double doors of the customs area at Kennedy into the crowded arrival area. A line of darkly dressed men held up signs with names on them. It brought back the memory of the only other time she came home from abroad—a summer trip to Europe with Beth right after graduating from college. She’d been dating Rob for about a year and he was furious that she preferred ten days in foreign lands with Beth to his company in steamy New York State. Lori was flattered by Rob’s need for her, mistook it for devotion. She invited him to come along, out of loyalty more than desire, as she knew he would require all her attention and she wanted a last girl fling with Beth before they both plunged into new jobs—Beth as a social worker at the public high school in Hawthorne Park, and Lori as the owner of a company of one, Corvino Catering. Rob saw no reason to travel that far. “Not even for you.” Only later did Lori learn that he was terrified of flying.
As Beth and Lori walked out of customs, Lori had seen Rob in the front row of men, dressed in a dark suit, with a chauffeur’s hat on his head. When he saw Beth and Lori coming, he held up his sign, which read: Mrs. Robert Staunton? It had been such an exhilarating moment, the surprise of it had left Lori dumbstruck. Beth had to push her forward into Rob’s arms. Lori and Rob were married three years later, a week after Rob graduated from law school. Beth was her only bridesmaid.
Now Lori was standing alone, in a line for the van that would take her back home to Hawthorne Park, willing the memory away. The Connecticut van eased in front of her and stopped. The driver got out, swung the back door open, and began to stow luggage. As Lori moved up the line, she felt a tap on her shoulder.
“Let me give you lift.” Rob, without a sign this time, looking even more handsome, more tanned, nineteen years later.
Lori turned cold. “Is Jessica all right?”
“Yes, she’s fine. I just dropped her home.” His smile was reassuring, believable. Why was he here then—a day after he married someone else? And why hadn’t she put on makeup, combed her hair before getting off the plane? So many times she had fantasized about looking drop-dead gorgeous when she ran into Rob for the first time after their divorce. Well, not drop dead, but at least really good, and instead she looked like something the dog had slept on. If they had a dog, which they didn’t because Rob was allergic. Good, she would get a dog. A golden retriever that shed a lot of hair. That way Rob could never come back to the house. Great idea.
“Go away, Rob.” She reached down to pick up her suitcase. Rob grabbed the handle before Lori had a chance to. Bent close
Similar Books
Lost City of the Incas (Phoenix Press)
Hiram Bingham
The Word for World is Forest
Ursula K. Le Guin
In Your Wildest Scottish Dreams
Karen Ranney
Dead Poets Society
N. H. Kleinbaum
Unnatural Issue
Mercedes Lackey
To Stand Beside Her
B. Kristin McMichael
Gryphons Quest
Candace Sams
The Watercress Girls
Sheila Newberry
Winter's Passage
Julie Kagawa