Jamie was Alicia’s daughter who was a senior at the University of Vermont, studying marketing, and doing an internship at Cinched for the year. I’d been so preoccupied, I’d forgotten she was there and that would have noticed my absence and reported it back to her mom.
Since that was the case, then there was a chance everyone in this house had already heard the latest news. If by chance they hadn’t, then they were going to now. “I pulled back from Cinched. With everything going on it was just time.”
“Of course it was,” Alicia said, putting her hand on my arm while Karen tightened her grip on my shoulders. “When I lost my mom, I couldn’t sleep. I’d just lie awake and think about her. Finally, I went to my doctor and he had to put me on something because I couldn’t function anymore. It was awful.” Her fingers rubbed over my sweater, her thumb swiping back and forth like she was deleting emails. “My mom died in her sleep. But if I had to watch her cling to life for as long as your dad did …” Her eyes began to fill. “You haven’t had it easy, honey.”
I couldn’t comment. I couldn’t even agree. If I did, I’d fall apart and that didn’t need to happen in her kitchen. So, I focused on something that wouldn’t make me cry. “It’s amazing how many closets go neglected when you work eighty hours a week.” I tried to smile. I was sure it looked forced, but it was still on my lips. “I have lots to keep me busy.”
“If you don’t ever go back to Cinched, that’s okay, too,” another woman said. “Now, maybe you’ll have time to meet us for lunch.”
I didn’t look at her.
I didn’t look at anyone.
I smiled and sipped my wine and when an appropriate amount of time had passed, I excused myself to the bathroom. On the way there, in the hallway, I saw Emery standing in the doorway of the mancave. He was staring at me, reading my expression, waiting for me to give him some kind of reaction. When I didn’t, he mouthed, “Are you okay?”
He needed me to be okay tonight, to have his wife with him while he unplugged with his friends and celebrated the Boston project. He needed to have a few drinks and laugh about his buzz on the way home and make love to me the second we got in our bedroom.
For that reason I mouthed back, “Yes, I’m fine.”