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“Yeah? Any news?”
“Well, we went out to surf a little in the afternoon. I don’t remember when we last did it together.” Oliver looked at Leah with pride. “She got an A on her last exam, didn’t she tell you?”
“That’s great, honey!” my mother exclaimed.
“Thanks,” Leah said softly.
“You want any more sides?”
“No.” Leah got up. “I’ll be right back.”
I did the same thirty seconds later. “I’m going for dressing,” I said.
I walked through the kitchen to the bathroom. I waited in front of the door until she opened it, then took a step forward, got inside, and closed it behind me. Leah looked surprised, then uncomfortable, when she found herself trapped.
“Now you don’t talk to me? You want everyone to realize something’s up?”
“Oh, is something up? I thought you made it clear that it was nothing.”
“Don’t fuck with me. You know what I mean.”
“I don’t, but they’ll start thinking something if they find you in here.”
I was mad. But I didn’t know if it was at her or at myself. “Leah, don’t make my life complicated…”
She got tense. Her eyes stared through me.
And she had a deadly look… Deadly, captivating, and electrifying.
“I won’t. From now on, I won’t make anything complicated. I won’t bother you; you can rest easy. Let me out, Axel. I want to go back to the table.”
I stepped away, relieved and disappointed at the same time. As if this were possible. As if it made sense…
Leah exited like a hurricane. I washed my hands and passed through the kitchen to get my dressing. In the dining room, my mother was upbraiding Justin for something to do with purveyors.
“I promise you, it’s under control,” he said.
“No one else would say so,” Mom said, clicking her tongue.
“The boy’s doing all he can, Georgia,” Dad intervened.
“Why are you calling your son boy?”
“He’s only thirty-five.”
“The way he manages things, I’d have thought he was younger.”
I don’t know why I reacted. If it was because I saw Emily biting her tongue to keep from defending her husband or because the girl beside me had pissed me off a few minutes before, but I interrupted my mother.
“Let my brother be.” I sounded dry, brusque.
Everyone looked at me. Everyone. Even Oliver raised an eyebrow in surprise from the other side of the table. My mother looked perplexed, but she ended the meal in silence. When she got up for dessert, I followed her. I watched her lean on the counter before she started sobbing.
“Shit, Mom, I didn’t…”
“It’s not your fault, dear.”
I hugged her and waited for her quietly while she wiped away her tears with the back of her hand. She grabbed the pile of dirty plates she had brought and set them in the sink.
