and runs her fingers through her hair, then sprays it smooth to make sure it stays that way.
She slips into her black dress, and grabs a bag, glancing in the mirror and thinking what a shame it is she looks so nice when it is only Charlie who will appreciate it. Then she goes out through the door, shutting it firmly behind her.
“SURPRISE! ”
Kit’s eyes widen in shock, and delight. Charlie, Keith, Steve, Adam, Annabel, Tracy, Robert, Edie, Tory and Buckley are all crowding round, hugging and kissing her, in the private room at the Greenhouse.
“Oh my God! ” She is shaking. “I can’t believe this! ”
“We can’t believe we kept it a secret! ” Annabel flings her arms around her. “I’ve been skulking around trying to organize it, and I was convinced you’d know what I was doing.”
“No! I thought you were skulking around having a secret affair! ” Kit laughs.
Annabel blanches, ever so slightly. “As if! ” she says, relieved when Kit turns to hug the other guests.
“Your business trip?” she says to Steve, who gathers her in his arms and kisses her hard on the mouth.
“I wouldn’t abandon my favorite girl on her birthday,” he says with a big grin, and Kit feels tears well up in her eyes.
Adam watches her, feeling strange. Strange, perhaps, because for the first time since the divorce he doesn’t have feelings.
He loves Kit, will always love her, and can now admit to himself that he has been harboring a secret desire for them to get back together. Or at least he had, until he met Annabel.
Now, with sudden clarity, he can see that he and Kit could not get back together. They have both moved too far without one another, and trying again would be, for both of them, taking giant steps backward.
Annabel.
He didn’t believe in love at first sight either. Until he met Annabel. Or is it lust? Whatever it is, he cannot stop thinking about her. Counts the hours until he can see her. Has taken time off work to be with her. He loves the way she makes him feel when he’s with her: young, energized, excited, as if his life is just starting and all the possibility is in the future.
Of course he has got over Kit. Who wouldn’t, with someone as gorgeous as Annabel in his bed? As for the fact of Annabel being Kit’s sister, surely in time that will all work itself out. Annabel has to go back soon, but he has started making calls to immigration lawyers, started trying to figure out how she can stay, because now that he has found her, he does not want to let her go.
It couldn’t be more perfect. Kit has a man herself, and he has Annabel, and the kids adore her. Sure, there were those few times when Tory clearly suspected something was going on—he must remember that she is not a child any more, that they have to be discreet, careful—and Tory narrowed her eyes at Annabel, protecting her father, he imagines.
And it’s quite possible, probable, in fact, that Tory will have some difficulty, but that’s less to do with Annabel being her aunt, and more to do with her father having a serious girlfriend.
Time will iron everything out. Tory adores her, and even if she gives her a hard time at first, Adam can absolutely see how they will all live happily ever after, because how could they not, when life is so unbelievably exciting, so filled with opportunity and possibility?
Tracy comes forward to hug Kit. She doesn’t want to be here, has found that the handful of times she has seen Kit since they had that argument at Robert’s house have been deeply uncomfortable.
But how can she not be here? How could she possibly have said no, even if Kit is as reluctant as she is? She is acting “as if,” pretending that everything is fine. She flashes a bright smile, a smile that doesn’t reach her eyes, although no one sees that, except for Steve, who happens to be looking.
“Happy birthday, my darling,” Tracy says, pulling her in, affecting an intimacy she doesn’t feel, not any more.
“I’m so happy you’re here,” Kit says, her smile equally false, for she is finding Tracy more and more distant, is hurt by the loss of their friendship, by what she sees as Tracy’s rejection.
“Hey, Mom.” Buckley allows himself to be pulled in for a bear hug, and Kit covers him with kisses.