Afternoon Delight - By Mia Zachary Page 0,59

her parts, not her face as a whole. Had she always appeared this stern? Did her eyes always look so uncompromising?

Was this how people saw her? P.J. had held up a different kind of mirror today, and she’d liked her reflection in that one even less. It hurt to be accused of sharing the fault for her failed relationships. She’d thought she had changed, but maybe she hadn’t come as far from her pre-cancer days as she claimed. Rei turned aside and left the bedroom.

After half-heartedly slapping a sandwich together in the kitchen, Rei wandered back upstairs to the office, still in her nightshirt in the middle of the day. She turned on the computer with the intention of checking the news. The best way to stop feeling sorry for herself was to remember that others had it so much worse.

Her e-mail program opened before the Internet browser, though. There were five messages from Chris each successively shorter until she reached this last:

HOW ARE YOU?

I know we’re through, but what did the doctor say? Are you all right?

Chris

We’re through.

She had spoken the words earlier today, the words that she should have anticipated hearing from him. She had no right to feel surprised or sad or disappointed, and yet her sense of loss went beyond tears. Chris was so much more than a great lover. He was charming and sweet and patient, more patient than she deserved maybe.

Having never reached out before, where did she begin? Begin with the obvious. But what did she want to say? She missed him, missed his affection and friendship. But, despite taking P.J.’s words to heart, she believed she had grounds for not fully trusting Chris.

And where did that leave them? Nowhere really.

RE: HOW ARE YOU?

I’m okay. Thanks for asking.

Rei

HE’D FINALLY heard from Rei and her reply couldn’t have been colder. He didn’t know if she meant she wasn’t sick, or if she was just blowing him off. He hoped it was the former and he wished her well. But, even though he missed her and worried about her, he was through chasing after someone who didn’t want to get caught.

Chris frowned as he pulled his truck in front of his mother’s house. There was a blue Toyota Camry parked next to her Honda in the driveway. He recognized it in abstract disbelief, but a quick check of the tag number confirmed that it was his father’s car.

What the hell was he doing here?

He opened the front door and walked through the foyer toward the back of the house. “Hello? Mom?”

“In the living room, dear.”

Sunlight streamed through the glass sliders, illuminating the tableau. Chris faltered in mid-stride at the sight of his parents sitting, side by side, on the green striped couch. It wasn’t their proximity after so long that shocked him as much as their relaxed demeanor. They appeared as if it were perfectly normal for them to be sharing a seat, when to his knowledge, they hadn’t spoken in years.

“Hello, son.” His father looked at him warily and shifted away, widening the space between him and Jeanna.

But his mother reached for his hand and greeted Chris with a quiet smile. “Hi, sweetheart. I was expecting you to stop by today.”

“What’s going on, Mom?”

“Come and sit down, Chris.”

He walked further into the room and chose an armchair across from his parents, who were holding hands. He felt like he was in the Twilight Zone, seeing but not quite believing.

Jeanna took a deep breath and glanced at David. She exhaled with a little laugh. “I don’t know how to tell you this. I realize it’s a bit of a shock. But your father is the man I’ve been dating. He and I are getting back together.”

She waited for his reaction with an expression of pleased anticipation. Chris looked at his father for confirmation, then back at Jeanna. “Why?”

His mother startled and the happy glow faded slightly from her face. The question had been spoken more harshly than he’d intended. But he couldn’t help the sudden flood of anger, false hope and resentment that filled him.

David faced him directly and calmly held his accusatory gaze. “I understand this may be difficult for you and your sisters to understand, Chris. I did wrong by your mother, and by you kids, and you have no idea how sorry I am.”

“No, Dad, I guess I don’t. What do you think, that you’re just going to pick up where you left off? With the emphasis on being on the word