going crazy,” Adam whispers, “or did I just see your mother actually bat her eyelashes? ”
“Nope. She did. Clearly, the subtlety is becoming somewhat less subtle with her advancing years.”
“Advancing years? She looks about forty,” Edie says.
“So would you if you had that much plastic surgery.”
“What’s she had done? ” Charlie, slurring slightly now, leans over.
“What hasn’t she, you mean. Eyes, nose, lips, facelifts.”
“Really? Well, that makes me feel better. I did Botox last year.”
Now Kit knows Charlie’s drunk. She’d never have admitted that in public, sober.
Kit turns to her in shock. “Did you? You never told me.”
“Why would I tell you? It’s no biggie. It’s like going to the dentist. Everyone does it. Frankly it was so wonderful, I wish I could do it again but we can’t afford it now. All I see when I look in the mirror is my frown lines.”
“What frown lines?” Kit peers closely, shaking her head in disbelief for she sees nothing.
“Sssh. Let’s watch your mom in action.”
“Okay, but she’s not mom. She’s Mother. Actually, she’d much rather I just call her Ginny but I can’t.” Kit sighs. “This is pretty horrific.”
“What? ”
“Annabel. My mother is so mesmerized by Robert McClore, she hasn’t noticed anyone else, which means she hasn’t realized Annabel is here.”
They turn to see Annabel, herself mesmerized by Ginny. But Ginny is not the slightest bit interested in anything other than the extremely attractive sixty-something gentleman standing before her with an amused smile on his face.
“Robert McClore. It’s a pleasure,” he says, introducing himself. He takes Ginny’s extended hand, leans down in a deep bow as if he were about to kiss it, but then he just raises it toward his lips, in a gesture.
Ginny is enchanted.
“Robert McClore? Now why do you look so familiar, Mr. McClore? Have we met? ”
“I don’t believe we have.”
“Oh my goodness me! ” She steps back. “You’re Robert McClore, the world-famous best-selling author! ”
“Only on a good day,” he says with a smile. “The rest of the time I’m just Robert McClore, Highfielder.”
“Hi, I’m Tracy—” Tracy attempts to interject, leaning over to be noticed, but she is no match for Ginny, who simply nods without interest and promptly directs the waiter to bring an extra chair. She squeezes in between Robert and Tracy, turning to face Robert and leaving Tracy completely in the cold.
Adam watches them before saying to Kit, “Is it my imagination or has your mother developed a Southern accent? ”
“It seems that she has, indeed, developed a Southern accent.” Kit starts to chuckle. “Although it’s hard to say, given that she’s only said one word to me since she got here. Robert McClore is evidently far more interesting.”
“I was hoping she might have changed, but it seems people never change that much after all,” Adam says, reaching out a hand to give Kit’s arm a gentle squeeze. “I’m sorry. I thought we were doing the right thing, inviting her. I didn’t believe she’d come, and I’m sorry. Honestly, I wish now I hadn’t told her about this. I never meant to hurt you.”
“It’s okay. And frankly, it’s great for the kids. They need to see their grandmother. As for me? I’m immune to her now,” Kit says, but the sadness in her eyes proves that this is not quite true.
“Your mom’s really something,” Steve says, when Adam moves away to watch Ginny. “What a beautiful woman.”
“That she certainly is.”
“Now I know where her daughter got it from.”
Kit smiles, and squeezes his hand, but there is something disingenuous about his comment, and it is this, she suddenly realizes, that makes her wary.
Steve says all the right things, does all the right things, but it is as if he has been trained. Kit cannot put her finger on it, but she can’t help feeling that despite the constant stream of compliments, the constant gifts, he does not mean what he is saying.
And with a pang of loss, she looks at Adam, remembers how she always trusted him. How she trusts him still, despite the divorce. She shakes her head to dislodge the disquieting thought, for Adam and she are divorced, and she will not travel backward in her life.
It is time now to let her mother know what is going on. Taking a deep breath, Kit stands up and walks over to Annabel, who has the little-girl-lost look on her face again as she gazes at Ginny, still locked in conversation with Robert McClore.