“And your father?”
“He left. Many years ago.” It was better than saying “Fuck knows.” And why sugarcoat it, right? Facts were facts. I picked up my remaining half slice of sourdough bread, nibbled at the crust. It was nice but I was full. We needed something neutral to talk about but the now-empty dinner plate offered no inspiration. My brain wouldn’t cough up a damn thing.
“You two staying for the first few tour dates?” asked Mal. I could have kissed his feet for the save.
“We’ll see,” said his dad.
“Of course we will. At least the first,” Lori corrected. “We love seeing you and the boys play. How are they all? Jimmy feeling better?”
“He’s good, Mom. They’re all doing good. Davie wants to introduce you to Ev as soon as possible.”
His mom happy sighed. “I would love to meet her. I always knew David would settle down first. He’s such a sensitive soul, more so than the rest of you.”
“I’m sensitive. I’m nothing but a big ball of mushy sensitive stuff inside. Tell her, pumpkin.”
“Your son is very sensitive,” I dutifully recited.
“That didn’t sound believable.” He gently tugged on a strand of my hair, moving in closer. “My feelings are hurt. You’ve wounded me. Kiss it better.”
“Apologies.” I gave him a brief but sweet kiss on the lips.
“That the best you got?” He rubbed his lips against mine, trying to lure me in deeper. “You should be ashamed of yourself. I think you can do much, much better than that. Why, you missed my mouth entirely.”
“Later,” I whispered, doing my best to keep things below an R rating in front of his parents. But damn, it was hard.
“Promise?”
“Yes.”
“Such a pity you weren’t home when we dropped by your place earlier, Anne,” said Lori. “But you have a lovely little apartment.”
“Thank you.”
“Malcolm just needs to stop breaking your furniture and causing floods.”
Mal groaned. “A man needs to be free to bounce on beds and bathe as he sees fit, Mother.”
“You’re twenty-seven-years old, honey.”
“And?”
“Isn’t it time to start acting like a grown-up?”
“I pay my bills, see to my responsibilities. Beyond that, does it really matter?” Mal sat up straighter, staring his mom down with a smile. You couldn’t help but get the feeling they’d had this conversation many times before.
“Funny,” said Neil, talking for the first time in forever. “Could’ve sworn I heard two voices in that bathroom.”
“Thin walls,” Mal and I both said at once. Yeah, my smile … I highly doubt it was even the tiniest bit believable. Excellent.
His dad grunted.
Lori tried to cover her smile by dabbing her lips with the napkin.
Shit. We were so busted.
“Eat more, hon.” Neil pushed Lori’s plate closer to her. The rest of us had wolfed the excellent food down, but Lori had barely touched hers.
“I’m not all that hungry.” She patted his hand.
The fingers rubbing my neck froze.
“But …” Neil leaned in, whispering in her ear.
After a moment Lori shut him down with a quick kiss. She put on a bright smile, a fake one. It was an expression I knew well. Hers wasn’t bad, but it still jarred. I guess I hadn’t expected it from her. What was going on here? Of course, there could be a hundred and one explanations. Couples fight.
A rousing rendition of “Happy Birthday” broke out on the opposite side of the room. A large group of people around Lizzy’s age were starting to get seriously loud. The host on the front desk watched them with wary eyes.
“Malcolm, you have to bring Anne home for the party so she can meet your sisters,” she said. “We’re having a big family get-together next week in Coeur d’Alene and you both have to be there. It’s between the Seattle and Chicago shows, so the boys all have time to come.”
“That’s where you’re from?” I asked Mal without thinking. A real girlfriend would know these things. But Mal and I hadn’t gotten around to discussing normal everyday stuff yet. Though the past wasn’t a topic I tended to encourage. Fortunately, Lori didn’t appear to be concerned.
“Yeah.” He nodded, eyes fixed on his dad.
“What’s it like?” I asked.
His gaze stayed on his parents and he wasn’t smiling. “Trees, lake, a couple of good bars. It’s nice enough.”
“It’s lovely, especially in fall,” said Lori enthusiastically. “You have to come, Anne.”
“I’ll see what I can do.” I moved restlessly in my seat. Something had changed. Both Mal and his father seemed subdued, preoccupied. Neither would meet my eyes. The atmosphere in the booth had cooled and I didn’t understand why.
“You’ll make sure she comes, won’t you, sweetie?” Lori reached over and squeezed Mal’s hand, ignoring whatever weirdness had come over the table. If anything her smile was larger than before, like she was making up for the lack. “We’ll have a wonderful time showing you around.”
“Sure,” Mal said, his voice hollow. Someone had flicked a switch and turned him off. He simply wasn’t there anymore. I recognized that too.
“We better get back to the hotel,” announced Neil. “Don’t want to get tired out.”
Lori smiled glumly. “I suppose so. Say, do you think it’s really haunted, Anne? I saw something about a ghost tour. Wouldn’t that be a blast?”
“It sure would.”
From his pocket, Mal pulled out his mobile and fired off a text. “They’re bringing the car around.”
His arm disappeared from around my shoulders and he slid out of the booth. Suddenly, a pair of girls, maybe eighteen years old, appeared out of thin air. Mal took a step back as if startled.
“Oh my god, we thought it was you,” gushed the first, giggling.
“We’re your biggest fans.”
“Ah, hey. Thanks.” Mal took the pen they held out and signed their napkins, notebooks, and whatever else. His hand was a blur. Clearly, he’d done this a million times or more. I climbed out after him as Neil helped Lori, his hand to her elbow.
Heads turned and soon more people from the rowdy table joined the two girls circling Mal. The crowd gathered incredibly fast. Flashes went off, blinding me, and I raised a hand to guard my eyes from the glare. There were two, three people between me and him now. Hands pushed me aside and I stumbled into the end of a table, hitting it hard with my hip. A glass smashed on the floor at my feet and suddenly Mal was there.