unlike last time, Eleanor flings herself into Reed’s strong arms, first—but only to chastise him for it being so long between visits.
“It’s my fault,” I say. “I had a bunch of deadlines for my summer internship, and I had to hunker down. I promise, I’ll never let so much time pass between visits again.”
“No, no, it’s my fault,” Reed says. “I should have come weeks ago, by myself. The truth is, I haven’t traveled these past six weeks at all, other than one short business trip out West, because I’ve enjoyed staying home with Georgina so much.” He looks at me and flashes a smile that sends my heart fluttering. “Georgina’s living with me now, Mom. Permanently. And, suddenly, the only thing I want to do is stay home and hang out with her.”
Eleanor looks pleased. “Well, if you’re going to ignore me for way too long, I suppose that’s a delightful reason.” She waggles her finger at her son. “But never stay away this long again, Reed Charlemagne.”
“I won’t.”
Eleanor looks at me, all smiles. “Did you wind up getting offered your ‘dream job’ at Dig a Little Deeper?”
“Oh my gosh. I can’t believe you remembered me telling you about that. Yes, actually, I did. When Reed and I get back from Sardinia, I’ll start full-time as a permanent staff writer.”
Eleanor claps happily. “I knew it! After your last visit, I told all my friends you were going to nab your dream job. I even bought a subscription to Dig a Little Deeper, so I could see why you wanted to work there. I’ve now read every back issue, and, I must say, I’m impressed.”
“Oh, wow. Thank you for doing that, Eleanor.”
She leans forward. “I read your article in the last issue about that horrible football coach. I’m so sorry he hurt you and those other girls. But good for all of you for telling the world what he did.”
I’m astonished. I’ve always thought of Eleanor as living in a sort of bubble here in Scarsdale, cut off from the outside world. It never occurred to me she would have read my Gates article. “Thank you so much for reading it. That means the world to me.”
“Pish. I not only read the article, I also listened to your radio interview on Monday and watched your TV interview on Tuesday. And so did Lee, and all of my friends and nurses. I’m the president of your fan club.” Eleanor pats my hand. “Oh, my, we’re going to have such a glorious visit today. They’re serving chicken pot pies for lunch. Reed’s favorite. And after we eat, I’ll introduce you around to the other members of your fan club. And then, we’ll play Scrabble and cards.”
Reed says, “Don’t forget, Mom, Georgina and I have a flight to catch today. We’re going to make this an extra-long visit, I promise, but it sounds like you’ve got three days’ worth of activities on the itinerary for us.”
Eleanor waves at the air, dismissing Reed’s comment. “Let me tell Lee we’re going to the dining hall, so he doesn’t worry. He always worries about me when he can’t find me, though I don’t know where he thinks I’d go.” Giggling, she prances off gaily to the front of the yoga class.
“What the hell have you done to my mother?” Reed whispers out the side of his mouth, his eyes trained on his mother.
“What do you mean? She’s positively joyful.”
“That’s what I mean. That’s twice in a row now. I figured her preternatural joy last time was a one-off. Never to be repeated. But here she is again, prancing and giggling like a kid at Christmas... two times in a row? That’s some powerful magic you’ve got in your bag of tricks, Ricci. Please, always use your superpowers for good, or we’re all screwed.”
Eleanor returns and happily grabs my arm. “Come on, my beloved darling. We have so much to talk about!”
“I guess I’ll come, too,” Reed says dryly, trailing behind. But when I glance over my shoulder at him, Reed is smiling from ear to ear.
We reach the dining room and get situated with our food, and then proceed to talk for quite some time about the Gates article and the various ripple effects it’s had over the past few days, including the latest bombshell—that Gates was arrested in Los Angeles this morning, after yet another accuser came forward. This one, with a surveillance video of some sort to back her up.