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I give Thad a look. So far, so good.
“Come in, come in!” She gestures the two of us inside, then winks at Thad. “You, too, Thad Hemsley! Don’t think I missed you hovering there.”
“Hi, Donna,” Thad says with a smile.
He steps forward and leans down instinctively, accepting her peck on his cheek.
“Ugh!” she quips. “Still so handsome.”
“I tried to get rid of it,” he jokes, "but the doctors said it’d be fatal.”
She gives him a light slap and swings toward me, hooking her arm around mine to walk me inside. Phoebe releases my hand, letting me go and hanging back with Thad instead. I can’t help but clench as I glance back, their smiles only for each other. It’s never bothered me before. It shouldn’t bother me at all. No petty jealousies, right?
And yet…
My mother yanks on my arm, twisting me forward. “We’ve invited all of your colleagues to the party,” she coos. “They’re already here.”
“Colleagues?” I ask.
“From the office, you remember! Oh! And the girls — my girls, I mean. You remember Barbara? Pamela? And Rita?”
“Yes, I do,” I say, nodding along with the flashes of memories involving my mother’s drunken brunch buddies I’d strongly prefer to forget about.
“Everyone is just so happy you’re here and want to celebrate your long-awaited return to Los Angeles.”
“Mom, I’m not returning to Los Angeles,” I say gently. “It’s just for today. My birthday.”
“Oh, of course, honey.”
We walk through the open double doors into the sitting room. It’s a standard Donna Monahan affair with long tables of catered treats and finger-foods. A string quartet plays on the deck outside just beyond another set of open double doors. An open bar, of course, densely populated with my father’s work colleagues… and the man himself.
I square my shoulders.
“Keith, darling!” Mom says. “Look who’s home!”
He excuses himself and walks over, his hard-lined jaw cracking a smile. “Max!” he says, extending a hand. “Good to see you, son.”
I shake his hand. “Yeah, you too,” I say.
“Wassup, Keith!” Thad says behind me.
Dad glares over my shoulder. “Thad,” he says.
“And this is Phoebe Pink!” Mom says, drawing Phoebe forward. “We finally meet!”
Phoebe smiles. “It’s nice to finally meet you, Mr. Monahan.”
My dad bows his head, barely.
Well, I guess it could be worse.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Max
Yes. It’s nice to be in Los Angeles again.
I forgot how warm it was compared to New York.
