I was stuck at home, I spent a lot of time online—I had a large group of friends around the country in similar situations, and we communicated online. We talked books and politics and traded recipes. There was also social media—I spent a lot of time at that. Since I took my job at the center, I haven’t paid any attention to those people. I have people sending me messages asking if I’m all right, if I’m sick or something.”
“Is he going to be back?” Jake asked. “The professor?”
“You won’t say his name,” she said, smiling and dipping her spoon in the container again.
“I hate him,” Jake said.
“Because he hurt me?”
“Not that simple,” he said. “You can get over a broken heart. It’s harder to get over self-doubt.”
“It’s kind of amazing what losing forty pounds and getting a job where you actually feel necessary can do for your self-esteem. But then, that’s the whole mission of our reentry program—giving people purpose, raising their self-awareness and making them feel a part of society again. A functional, productive part.”
“Yeah, well, if it makes you happy then it makes me happy, but Addie, you’ve always been beautiful and you’ve always had a hard job where you helped people.”
“You help people every day, Jake. Most of this neighborhood would be lost without you.”
“I don’t think of it that way. It’s my business. If I’m a good neighbor, I do a better business.”
“Jake, I think I’ve taken you for granted all these years. You’ve been my best friend. I counted on you, and you never let me down.”
“I never felt taken for granted,” he said. “And you never let me down either.”
He lifted her chin with a finger and looked into her eyes. “You weren’t ready to even think about anything more complicated than friendship, for obvious reasons.”
She dipped her spoon into the ice cream container and aimed it at his mouth. “One of these days, we might revisit that issue.” Then she laughed. “Now that I have a house bursting at the seams with people.”
“Addie, I have my own house. And you’ve never been inside.”
“Well now,” she said. “There’s a thought.”
* * *
Scott called Justine and asked if it would be convenient to stop by Addie’s house to have a talk with her and the girls. “A talk about what, Scott?”
“About the house in San Jose. A house that no one seems to be using at the moment.”
“We could probably have this conversation, again, over the phone.”
“No, I’d like the girls to be a part of it. If it’s okay with you.”
“It’s okay with me,” she said. “Don’t bring her. That’s nonnegotiable.”
“She’s out of town, visiting some friends. This is between us. Our family.”
Poor Scott, she thought sadly. He just can’t digest the fact that we are no longer the family we were. He thought he’d just step out, form new liaisons, step back in when it suited him and everyone would adapt to his needs. How could he not understand that they were a torn apart family glued back together in an awkward, lumpy, uncomfortable fabric that chafes and scratches.
“Your dad wants to come over and talk with us about the San Jose house,” Justine said to Amber. “He’ll be here in about ten minutes.”
“Isn’t that between you and Dad?” she asked.
“Well, it’s your home, too. I guess he wants to include you.”
“Great,” she said, putting in her earbuds, escaping back into music.
“Livvie, your dad is coming over in a few minutes. He wants to talk with us about the house in San Jose.”
“What about it?” she asked.
“I don’t know. I’d be guessing. Since he’ll be here in a few minutes, let’s just get it from him.”
“I hate this stuff,” Livvie said.
“Me, too,” Justine agreed.
She was so done with him. She hated that this Band-Aid was being pulled off so damn slowly, that the negotiations seemed never ending, that there was always one more piece of business.