Juans, the boat and the ski lodge in Schweitzer. She’d divorced Daddy faster than you could say more money, leaving him hurt and broken. Her poor, innocent father. He’d been so naive and trusting. Didn’t see the writing on the wall from the beginning of their relationship: The End, Coming Soon.
Now here was a whole table full of potential The Ends. Athena had her work cut out for her.
* * *
Conversation over dinner was congenial, the kind of easy talk you had with people you were getting to know. The older ones compared the ages of their grandchildren while the younger ones shared more about what they liked to do for fun. They all bantered over which state was the best to live in. And, of course, they had to ask each other about the various dishes they were enjoying.
Catherine licked up every bite of her pork stuffed with dried plums. “I’m going to have to see if I can duplicate this when I get home,” she said to no one in particular.
“You like to cook, then?” Rudy asked.
“I enjoy being in the kitchen,” she said.
“There’s an understatement,” said Denise. “She can name you every show on the Food Network. One of the highlights of Christmas is getting a jar of her raspberry jelly.”
“That sounds yummy,” said Sophie. “My grandma used to make jam. I always helped her.”
She looked wistful and Catherine took that to mean that her grandmother was no longer around. Rather than ask, though, she simply said, “She sounds like a wonderful woman.”
“She was,” said Sophie. “You remind me of her.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“Good. It was meant as one. I sure miss her. She left a big hole in our hearts when she died.”
Rudy wasn’t smiling anymore. “I can understand that.”
“My mother left a big hole in ours,” said Athena. “She was irreplaceable.”
A compliment to her mother and maybe a warning to any woman who might be trying to do just that, thought Catherine. Athena had hardly looked happy to see her and Denise approaching their table for dinner.
She supposed she couldn’t blame Athena for feeling the way she did. The loss of her mother probably made her father doubly precious. It stood to reason she’d be reluctant to share, fearful of losing his affection.
“How long ago did she die?” asked Sierra.
“Six years,” Athena said, and looked almost ready to cry. “I still miss her so much. She was my best friend.”
Catherine couldn’t help feeling sorry for her. “Life’s not the same after you lose someone you love,” she said.
Her life hadn’t been. She’d felt so lost without Bill. Thank God she had such good friends.
“But I do believe it makes the people left in your life all the more precious,” she continued, hoping to put everyone back in a happy frame of mind.
Rudy smiled at his daughter. “Yes, it does,” he said, and she smiled back. It was plain to see how much they loved each other.
“I always say, you should appreciate both what you had and what you still have,” said Denise. “My husband, Carlisle, was a good man and we had a happy life together, but after a year and a half of mourning I decided enough was enough. Those of us who are still here can’t spend the rest of our lives living in the past. That’s the worst kind of ingratitude, if you ask me. Life’s for living and if we’re still here we should be living it to the fullest.”
“Well,” Catherine said, “no one can accuse you of not doing that.”
“I should hope not,” said Denise. “I’m going to milk every bit of joy I can out of every minute of every day.” She pointed a finger at Catherine. “And so are you.”
Catherine could feel her cheeks warming. Was everyone at the table wondering what kind of pathetic loser she was?
“I am,” she said. “I’m here with you, aren’t I?”
Denise smiled. “Yes, you are. And so you should be. Bill wouldn’t want you to stop living your life. You have to make the most of what you have now.”
“Find something good in every day, right?” put in Sophie, looking at her sister.
This was a good place to end such a serious conversation with people they’d just met. “Speaking of good, doesn’t this Bûche de Noël look delicious?” Catherine said as their waiter set one down in front of her.
Athena wasn’t ready to switch topics. She ignored Catherine’s comment, frowned at Denise and said, “But you can’t just go skipping