Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 109608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 548(@200wpm)___ 438(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 548(@200wpm)___ 438(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
“How’s JT doing?” Allegra asked.
“He’s so adorbs. I love him, and I haven’t even met him yet,” Valentina decreed (obviously, I’d texted them all pictures). “We should all plan a family thing in Arizona sometime later this summer.”
“I don’t have time off to go to Arizona,” Nico said. “Maybe we could do something around Thanskgiving.”
“Darryn’s mom would murder me if I wasn’t at her table at Thanksgiving,” Allegra noted.
Darryn’s mother, Jaclyn, had maneuvered that tradition, with no fight from me. I was no cook. And I unwaveringly gave Alyona time off at Thanksgiving and Christmas. But Jaclyn cooked beautifully. I was always at Mika’s.
And since Nico, Felice, Valentina, Archie and I were invited to Jaclyn’s for every Christmas dinner, that worked splendidly too.
Would Jamie wish to go to Jaclyn’s for Christmas dinner?
Would Jaclyn, who was already cooking for fifteen people, want to add Jamie and Dru?
She would, but Jamie…no.
Because he and Dru went to Arizona to have Christmas with Judge, and I couldn’t imagine him wishing to make a change from that.
My.
It seemed Jamie and I needed to get our heads out of the clouds and have some important conversations.
“Ma, you okay?” Nico called.
I tuned into the conversation. “I’m fine. You two don’t seem to have an issue with the apartment going to Allegra.”
“Since you’ve been drilling that’s going to happen into us since we were babies, it’s not news, Ma,” Nico drawled. “And anyway, Felice would have a conniption if I tried to move us into that humungous space.”
She would. And then she’d realize she could house refugees here, and she’d be pleased as punch.
Darryn would redecorate, of course, but since he had superb taste, I didn’t mind.
“I don’t have long to talk,” Nico said. “I have to snarf down a sandwich and get to my next class.”
I truly wished my son didn’t use words like “snarf.”
Per usual, I said nothing.
I also understood why this was a lunchtime call, which wasn’t exactly convenient for any of them. It was so he could sneak it in, and Felice wouldn’t be the wiser or around to hear my voice over a computer.
Per usual, I buried that.
“What time for lunch on Sunday, Mom?” Allegra asked.
“Anytime after noon. We’ll eat at one thirty,” I told her.
“I think Felice and I can manage that,” Nico said.
This made me happy.
All of it.
All right, maybe the Felice part didn’t make me ecstatic, but I couldn’t wait to see my son.
We caught up a bit more, then Nico had to sign off. I continued to chat with my daughters, until they both had to get back to work from their lunch breaks.
And after I shut down the computer, I picked up my phone again.
Because I couldn’t delay any longer.
It would be awkward, considering I hadn’t heard from him, so there was no springboard from which to deny his suit, but I’d promised Jamie.
So I called Roland.
He didn’t answer.
But his voicemail did.
Thus, with no other choice, I left a message.
“Roland, although it’s not yours to know, but considering your recent behavior, and our last chat, I feel it’s fitting to share that Jamie and I are moving in together. As I believe you’re aware, my partner is not fond of your attentions toward me, and I’ll reiterate, I don’t welcome them either. Therefore, unless it has to do with the children, I require that you don’t contact me. This can’t come as a surprise. The house we built, you burned down. There is no phoenix that will rise from those ashes. So allow us both to move on.”
With that, I hung up.
Then I took my phone, my drink, and I went to my closet to form a preliminary plan to find Jamie no small amount of space.
Because the space I gave him in my closet was a metaphor for the space he occupied in my heart and in my life.
And that was not small at all.
CHAPTER 12
HERMÈS
Nora
“This is classic Hermès,” Ryan intoned, staring at the scarf draped over his hands with awe. “I’ve been obsessively checking The RealReal for this exact scarf for two years. Not a single listing.”
“Take it,” I said.
Four sets of eyes whipped to me.
Teddy and Mika, however, both lounged on my closet chaise, didn’t blink.
Teddy, because he knew I was generous.
Mika, because she knew, me giving that scarf away meant it’d be an excuse to buy another.
That said, the loss of that scarf meant Jamie could fit at least three of his lovely ties somewhere in that closet, so I wouldn’t be replacing it.
“Are you sure?” Ryan asked.
“I don’t speak words unless I’m sure,” I replied.
Ryan gleamed.
The other three looked on with jealousy (yes, the G-Force was in the house).
“We are here making space,” I reminded them (and yes, within ten minutes of their arrival, I’d recruited them into my closet reorganization efforts). “I can’t send everything to storage.”