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She glanced down in the vicinity of her boobs which sported the iconic Fleetwood Mac Rumours album cover. “I did,” she gushed. “Jules and I went. It was great—we had amazing seats. I was a little disappointed because Lindsey Buckingham wasn’t with them, but it was still great. Stevie Nicks! I love her. What about you?”
Their musical tastes had always been more similar than dissimilar and a love of Fleetwood Mac was something they’d had in common.
“I was there. I went with my mom, actually,” he told her. “Yeah, I was that guy.”
“It’s not like anyone would’ve known she was your mom. I mean, unless something happened in the last five years, she probably still looks like your older sister.”
“She does. But still … going to a concert with one’s mom …”
She patted his forearm. “Makes you a good son.”
“Thanks.”
On the way out of the kitchen, Paige paused for a second, then grabbed the bottle of wine.
They went into the living room again and resumed their previous seats. Paige already had some music on, coming from what was obviously a nice sound system, with several small speakers placed around the room. She grabbed her phone and after a few swipes on the screen, Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” started playing, cutting off the previous song.
“Jesus, I can’t get over how different you are,” he said quietly, after they’d been eating for several minutes. Sputnik had once again parked himself on David’s lap, making it so there had to be some maneuvering in order to eat. To some people this might’ve been aggravating, but not to David, who firmly believed cats ruled the world.
Paige bit into an egg roll. “Different, how?”
“Jesus, I’m sorry. That sounded so bad.”
“It’s fine.” She waved off his concern and repeated her question. “Different, how?”
“Healthy. Strong. Confident.”
“Normal?”
His expression darkened. “Damn it, Paige—”
“It’s not a loaded question. I honestly want to know if you think I seem normal. Like, if you didn’t know me, would you think I was just a normal person?”
“Yes,” he finally replied. “You seem like a ‘normal’ person. Your inner sadness or inner reserve, I guess, is gone.”
At that, her entire face lit up and she looked so beautiful, David almost couldn’t breathe; if he’d been standing, it probably would’ve brought him to his knees.
“I can’t tell you how glad I am to hear that.” She was still smiling, although her eyes had taken on a bit of a shine. “I worked really hard to become normal.”
He wasn’t exactly sure what to say to that, so he didn’t say anything.
Paige finished her egg roll and set down her empty plate. Then, giving him a long look, she asked quietly, “You sure you want to do this?”
He set his empty plate down as well. “I’m sure.”
“All right.” She took a deep breath and released it slowly. “I’m going to ask you to just listen for a while and not say anything. Okay?”
“Okay.”
She took a drink of wine and then began quietly, without shame, “An hour after signing our divorce papers, I was home doing my best to finish a bottle of Merlot. It helped me get through that night, so I did it again the next night … and the next. I did it until the day I lost Spook and I realized I’d been doing it for almost six months—”
“Jesus Christ.” He stared at her in dismay.
“Well, that lasted all of ten seconds,” she said drily. “This is going to be a long night.”
“I’m sorry. That was just hard to hear.”
“I hate to break it to you, but my drinking isn’t the worst thing you’re going to hear tonight.”
