in middle school.”
“Now you’re making me nervous.”
Melody rolled her eyes. “Don’t be. If my son were more like Ben, I wouldn’t have reason to be nervous. Ben has an old soul. He’s always polite, he’s always kind, always the first to help the younger kids. He’s empathetic. I, on the other hand, have Zach.”
“Zach’s a great kid, too.”
“I know he is. But he’s always been more difficult than Ben. And he’s more of a follower than Ben.”
“Have you seen them playing? From where I’m sitting, Ben’s been doing all the following.”
“You know what I mean.”
Actually, she did. Even from a young age, Ben had been content to forge his own path. Which was nice, she had to admit, since it had been a pretty good path. Though he didn’t have many friends, he had a lot of interests he pursued on his own. Good ones, too. He had little interest in video games or surfing the Web, and while he occasionally watched television, he’d usually turn it off on his own after thirty minutes or so. Instead, he read or played chess (a game that he seemed to understand on some intuitive level) on the electronic game board he’d received for Christmas. He loved to read and write, and though he enjoyed the dogs at the kennel, most of them were anxious because of the long hours they spent in a kennel and tended to ignore him. He spent many afternoons throwing tennis balls that few, if any, ever retrieved.
“It’ll be fine.”
“I hope so.” Melody set aside her drink. “I suppose I should go get the cake, huh? Zach has practice at five.”
“It’ll be hot.”
Melody stood. “I’m sure he’ll want to bring the Super Soaker. Probably squirt the coach.”
“Do you need some help?”
“No thanks. Just sit here and relax. I’ll be right back.”
Beth watched Melody walk away, realizing for the first time how thin she’d become. Ten, maybe fifteen pounds lighter than she’d been the last time Beth had seen her. Had to be stress, she thought. David’s affair had crushed her, but unlike Beth when it had happened to her, Melody was determined to save her marriage. Then again, they’d had different sorts of marriages. David made a big mistake and it hurt Melody, but overall, they’d always struck Beth as a happy couple. Beth’s marriage, on the other hand, had been a fiasco from the beginning. Just as Nana had predicted. Nana had the ability to size people up in an instant, and she had this way of shrugging when she didn’t like someone. When Beth announced she was pregnant and that instead of going to college, she and her ex planned to get married, Nana began shrugging so much that it resembled a nervous tic. Beth, of course, ignored it at the time, thinking, She hasn’t given him a chance. She doesn’t really know him. We can make this work. Nosiree. Never happened. Nana was always polite, always cordial when he was around, but the shrugging didn’t stop until Beth moved back home ten years ago. The marriage had lasted less than nine months; Ben was five weeks old. Nana had been right about him all along.
Melody vanished inside the house, only to reemerge a few minutes later, David right behind her. He was carrying paper plates and forks, obviously preoccupied. She could see the tufts of gray hair near his ears and deep lines in his forehead. The last time she’d seen him, the lines hadn’t been as evident, and she figured it was another sign of the stress he was under.
Sometimes, Beth wondered what her life would be like if she were married. Not to her ex, of course. That thought made her shudder. Dealing with him every other weekend was more than enough, thank you very much. But to someone else. Someone . . . better. It seemed like it might be a good idea, at least in the abstract, anyway. After ten years, she was used to her life, and though it might be nice to have someone to share her evenings with after work or get a back rub from now and then, there was also something nice about spending all day Saturday in her pajamas if she wanted to. Which she sometimes did. Ben, too. They called them “lazy days.” They were the best days ever. Sometimes they’d cap off a day of doing absolutely nothing by ordering pizza and watching a movie. Heavenly.
Besides, if relationships were hard, marriage was even