I drag myself out of bed, wrap myself in my white fleecy cotton robe, and head to the kitchen. It’s a gloomy morning with a thick layer of fog concealing the red and yellow leaves of the Japanese maples outside the window.
Eva’s up, tucked beneath a blanket on the couch. Tiana must be still sleeping in.
“Morning, baby,” I greet Eva, bending over to kiss her on the lips.
“Uck, morning breath,” she complains, making a face.
“Thanks, doll, love you, too,” I answer, covering a yawn, and that morning breath she hates, before heading to the kitchen to start the coffee.
In the kitchen, I clean out the filter and grind fresh coffee. Dumping the ground beans into the clean coffeemaker, I spot the vase of flowers Luke sent me yesterday afternoon, and then I think of last night and dinner and then that kiss. My stomach does an immediate flip.
That kiss . . .
That kiss was so good.
Determinedly, I push the flowers back on the counter so the vase and fragrant scent are no longer directly in front of me.
“So how long is Aunt T going to sleep?” Eva asks, glancing up from her movie, which from this angle looks like The Princess Diaries, the one where she’s got to get married or something bad happens to the kingdom.
“I don’t know. As long as she wants. We have nowhere to go.”
“How long is she staying?”
“I didn’t ask. I was afraid she’d say she’d have to go.”
Eva suddenly mutes the TV. “Mom, I have an idea, and don’t say no until you hear me out. This is serious. I want to take Aunt T to school with me.”
The coffee machine makes a snort behind me so I don’t have to. “You’re not going to take Tiana for show and tell,” I say.
“Show and share,” Eva corrects, rising to her bony knees. “And why not? Other kids do it. They take baseball players and ballerinas and stuff like that.”
“I think that’s called Career Day.”
“They don’t just do it for Career Day, they do it when they want to, and Mom, Aunt Tiana’s famous. Even more famous than Aunt Shey. T’s on the news every night. Everyone knows her.”
“And this will help you how?”
“Help us,” she corrects. “People will want to meet her and get her autograph, and to get her autograph, they’ll have to talk to me.”
I just look at Eva. She can’t possibly be my daughter. She’s either ridiculously smart or absolutely pathetic. I haven’t figured out which. “You’re going to use Tiana to make people like you.”
“Us.”
“No.”
“Mom, in the book—”
“How to Be the Most Popular Girl in Your School?”
She inclines her head, smiles. “You do what you have to do. It’s a fact.”
My Eva, the social climber.
“No,” I repeat, and I grab my coffee and head through the back door for the studio, where I sit answering e-mail until Tiana walks in an hour later, still wearing her pajamas and carrying a cup of coffee.
“Eva said you live out here,” she says with a smothered yawn.
I grab a chair for her and roll it toward my desk. “It’s my office.”
“How’s business going?”
“Good.” I roll back from my desk, face her. “By the way, congratulations again on your Emmy last year. I did send you flowers, didn’t I?”
“And champagne. And Cheryl’s Cookies. Balloons, too.”
“I was happy for you.”
“I could tell.” Tiana blows on her coffee. Without makeup Tiana’s freckles show and she looks like a little kid curled up in the office chair.
She looks up at me, dark bangs falling in her eyes. “Heard you walking around last night. Figured you needed some time to yourself, so I didn’t come out.”
“I would have loved your company,” I answer, reaching behind me to click off the Internet and close up the screen. “I was making myself crazy. Thinking too much.”
“About Luke?”
I make a face. “I Googled him.”
“Didn’t like what you saw, huh?”
“No.” I rub my face, see his Web site in my mind’s eye, the page with his bio and photo, the mission statement written and signed by Luke. “It was impressive. He’s impressive. He’s really into philanthropy. One of the biggest donors to disadvantaged youth programs in the Pacific Northwest.”
“That’s good.”
Too good, I silently flash. He’s too smart, too successful, too everything for me. I’m a rabble-rouser. I have a tiny tattoo on the back of my shoulder. I once had a pierced tongue (it grew in years ago).
I smile crookedly. That life in New York was so long ago. Before Eva. Before Mom’s illness. Before anything big and significant.
“Eva asked me about visiting her class,” Tiana says. “But I’ve got to fly out late tonight. We’re shooting new segments first thing Monday morning, and I have a lot of reading to do, but I did tell her I’d send a stack of signed photos to her and she could pass them out. And the next time I have a break, I’ll fly back up and we can do a party or school visit or whatever she wants then.”
“That’s very nice of you.”
“Hey, anything to help the cause.”
“Eva’s popularity quest.”
“Well, that and getting you married.”
I choke on my coffee. “Who said anything about marriage?”
“Eva’s pretty determined.” Tiana glances at me from beneath her lashes. “She really likes Luke, too.”
“I’m not getting married, and she definitely shouldn’t be getting too attached to Luke.”
“Why not?”
“Not interested in marriage, and definitely not interested in becoming one of these rich Bellevue wives. Now that I know Luke isn’t just handsome Luke, but one of Bellevue’s wealthiest executives . . .” My voice fades away.
Tiana leans forward. “You honestly feel different about him now?”
I nod. “I don’t like all the money around here, don’t like how people worship money—”
“And how do you know Luke does? He drives an old car. He wears Gap clothes. There’s nothing flashy about him.”
“I know, but still.”
Tiana gives me a look of disgust. “You’re so damn judgmental. You always have been.”
“I’m no more judgmental than other women here. Everyone here is so perfect. So competitive. They talk about you if you wear different shoes.”
“Ridiculous. This isn’t junior high.”
I shrug and mutter, “They don’t like me, Tits. They don’t want me involved or near their precious A team.”
“Marta darling, has it ever crossed your mind that they’re afraid of you? That you scare the shit out of them?”
“That’s not why they don’t like me—”
“No? You dress the way you want. You don’t mince words. You’ve the longest legs, incredible hair, a great figure. You own your own company. And you ride a motorcycle. You scare women to death.”
“This is how I’ve always been.”
“But you’re not just living in the ’burbs, babe, you’ve bought a home in Eastside’s crown jewel. If you want Eva to have more friends, if you want to have more friends, you’ve got to be less rabble-rouser and more PTA.”
“Become like them,” I grouse.
Tiana doesn’t answer, just sits.
Her smile makes me want to punch her. Lovingly. “Tiana.”
She just smiles wider, her grin illuminating her face and revealing the deep dimples on either side of her mouth.
I shake my head. “We shouldn’t have to change to make other people feel more comfortable.” And I mean this with all my heart. I’ve felt this way since I was just a kid, a little girl who couldn’t sleep at night because I hated the system, a system that gave more freedom to boys, a system that taught boys to fight, to struggle, to succeed, and taught girls to make peace, compromise, and not make a scene.
“I shouldn’t have to change me,” I add insistently, “so others will like themselves better. That’s wrong, not right.” Because isn’t this the very lesson I’m trying to teach Eva? Don’t change to please others. Don’t become less you so others won’t feel threatened.
“I’m not saying I like the system, Marta, I’m just reminding you that there is a system. And to make the system work, we’ve got to find ways to get along with other women so you—and Eva—don’t get hurt.”
“Because if I don’t play the game, my daughter gets hurt.” The bitterness in my voice is almost as sour as the taste in my mouth. This makes me furious. Absolutely furious. I grip my mug tighter to hide that my hands are trembling.