Blush - Jamie Brenner Page 0,10

she wasn’t at all intimidated by Leonard and Vivian.

“It’s getting out of control,” said Vivian, ignoring her. “These young kids. Speaking of kids—where is my granddaughter?”

“Mom, I told you. She has a job at school. As a research assistant.”

“She couldn’t take a few days off?”

“It’s a prestigious position,” Leah said. “You know how seriously she takes everything.”

“Her grandparents would like a visit. That’s something to take seriously,” Leonard said.

Leah and Steven exchanged a glance. Her father had always been gruff, and he certainly wasn’t mellowing with age. But Leonard, like a lot of brilliant, successful men, was given a lot of latitude. He commanded respect. Even when she was irritated by him, she had to admit she also worshipped him. He had been her first teacher in life, and her most important one. Nothing she learned in college or in running her own business could overshadow the lessons learned growing up with Leonard Hollander.

“So how’s the cheese biz?” Asher said.

“Business is booming,” Steven said.

“Oh, yeah—you two are working together now,” Asher said. “I forgot.”

“How wonderful,” Vivian said, smiling first at Leah and Steven and then at her husband. “Working together has been such a rewarding part of our life together.”

Leah shifted uncomfortably. She turned to her brother.

“So—how did you two meet?”

Asher and Bridget exchanged a look, that intimate look between a new couple, as if they were the only two people in the world who had ever met and fallen in love. Leah remembered bringing Steven to the estate for the first time, sitting in that very spot.

“I was sailing with my buddies out of Sag Harbor,” Asher said.

“I was working on the boat,” Bridget added, smiling at him.

“It was this epic, sixty-three-foot catamaran. My friends and I were kicking back, having some drinks. I asked for a bottle of champagne. And then this vision appears holding an ice bucket. I said to myself, Before we reach dry land, I’m getting her number.”

“Before we reached land? You got my number before I even uncorked the bottle.”

Someone’s phone beeped, then beeped again.

“Whose phone is that? No phones at the table,” Leonard said. It was a policy he adhered to himself, even though running the winery was a twenty-four/seven job.

“Sorry. My bad,” Bridget said. Then, to Asher, “I posted that thing, and my phone is, like, blowing up.”

Leah glanced across the table at her mother, her face framed by the verdant greenery in the background. But Vivian was distracted, looking in the direction of the house. Her face broke into a smile.

“Oh, Leah. You fooled me. Sadie is here after all!”

Five

The bedroom furniture had been replaced since the days of Leah’s childhood: a king-size bed instead of a queen, muted wallpaper instead of the lavender she’d insisted on as a teenager, museum-quality paintings on the walls instead of her Madonna posters. But while the décor had been updated long ago, in her mind’s eye, it was still 1988.

Steven turned on the TV, a news channel. She slipped into the bathroom, brushed her teeth, and changed into a well-worn tank top and loose cotton night shorts. When she was growing up, her mother had always worn fancy nightgowns—“peignoirs,” she called them. Vivian Hollander would never dream of wearing a T-shirt to bed. Leah didn’t hold herself to that kind of standard, but in the summer she did like to find cute things at the GapBody store on lower Fifth Avenue.

She returned to the bedroom, where Steven was unpacking his clothes.

“What do you think about Sadie showing up like that?” he said.

“I’m thrilled, obviously. But I have to wonder if something’s going on with her.”

It was so unlike Sadie to be spontaneous; when she explained her sudden appearance by saying that she just couldn’t miss the family vacation, Vivian had nodded approvingly. But Leah and Steven had exchanged a look: Sadie had been too busy to answer their calls for days, and suddenly she felt compelled to run out to the vineyard?

“Your mother kept asking me if you and Sadie planned the surprise all along,” Steven said, closing a set of drawers and putting his empty suitcase into a closet. Leah was one of the few among her friends who didn’t have reason to complain about her husband being a slob.

She climbed into bed. “Why would we do that?”

He shrugged. “You know your mother loves to make things dramatic.”

“Oh, she doesn’t. Come on.”

“Did you notice that she barely spoke to your brother’s girlfriend the entire dinner?”

Leah sighed. “Yeah. I’m sure she’ll have plenty to