Night Road

ide was a gorgeous tableau of white and blue.

Jude had always loved snow days, and when they came for the holidays, it was a double bonus. Today, after brunch, the whole family was going ice skating down at the pond on Miller Road. It would be a good time, she thought, to have a serious talk with the kids about what had happened the other night at the party. It had taken a superhuman effort not to rail at them, but she had managed it. Still, there was some talking to be done, some ground rules for senior year to be reassigned.

She was so deep in imagining how she would conduct this conversation, what she would say to them, that she hardly heard what Zach had just said.

She turned to her son, who was busily buttering one of the cinnamon rolls she’d made. “What did you say?”

Zach grinned. From across the glittering expanse of their formal dining table, with his blond hair messy from sleep, he looked about thirteen years old. “A promise ring. ”

Silence fell. Even Miles frowned. His hand paused midreach. “Excuse me?”

Across the table from Zach, Mother straightened. “Excuse me, did you say a ring?”

“It’s really pretty,” Mia said, pulling a frosted bit from her cinnamon roll. She popped it into her mouth. “Mom? Are you having a stroke?”

Jude had to force herself to remain calm. Her son—her not quite eighteen-year-old son—had given his girlfriend a ring for Christmas. “And what exactly are you promising Lexi?” She felt Miles lean toward her. His fingers closed around her wrist.

“It means I promise to marry her someday. ”

“Oh, look. We’re out of fruit,” Miles said evenly. “Here, Jude. I’ll help you get some more. ” Before she could protest—she still felt frozen—he led her out of the dining room and into the big kitchen.

“What the—”

“Shhh,” he said, pulling her behind the fridge. “They’ll hear you. ”

“No shit,” she said. “I want him to hear me. ”

“We can’t come down on him about this. ”

“You think it’s okay for our son to give a promise ring to a girl he’s been dating for three months?”

“Of course I don’t. But it’s done, Jude. A fait accompli. ”

She pushed his arm away. “Great parenting, Miles. Do nothing. What if we’d found out he was doing heroin?”

“It’s not heroin, Jude,” he said tiredly.

“No. It’s love. Or so he thinks. ”

“It is love, Jude. You can tell that by looking at the kid. ”

“Oh, for God’s sake. ”

“I’m not going to have this debate with you. If you want to throw yourself on the sword, go ahead, but don’t expect me to suture you up when you start bleeding. ”

“But—”

“Don’t make a mountain out of a molehill. He was in a jewelry store, shopping for a present for his girlfriend, and he got swept away by romance. That’s all. It happens to men, too, unevolved as we are. ” He pulled her toward him. “Sadly, our son is an idiot. They should have told us this when he was born. That way we could have lowered our expectations. ”

“Don’t you dare make me smile. I’m pissed at him. ”

“It’s Christmas,” he said. “Our last one with them living at home. ”

“Low blow. ”

She let him put his arms around her. “Let’s not ruin this, okay?”

“JoJo, the idiot boy, promises to marry a girl—”