to ask?
They’d all been responding in a casual way, “Sure, Mom, probably.” And now here it was, August 1, and she still didn’t have a real answer from any of them. Not even Martha, who was living with them. It was like none of them knew that things took planning, like they all expected her to just wait for them to make up their minds, and then rush around to get ready for it.
Weezy called Claire for the third time that week. As soon as she said, “Hello,” she could hear Claire sigh. “Mom, I told you I’d try. I’m not sure if I can take the time from work.”
“It’s less than a month away,” Weezy pointed out. She tried to stay calm. “Have you even talked to them about it? Have you asked? I’m trying to finalize everything.”
“I’ll ask today, Mom. I promise. But they might say no.”
“Well, see what you can do. Your sister would love to spend some time with you. And Max, too. He’s bringing Cleo. And your Aunt Maureen will be there for sure, although it’s looking like Ruth and Cathy can’t make it. Neither can Drew, which is too bad.”
“Max is bringing Cleo?” Claire asked.
“Yes. He asked if he could, and I said it was okay, of course.”
Claire stayed quiet for a few moments and Weezy wondered what she was thinking. They’d all met Cleo last year, when Max had brought her for a visit. Right after they’d all been introduced, Weezy and Claire went to the kitchen to get drinks for everyone, and Weezy whispered, “She’s a bombshell.” It was the only word she could think of to describe Cleo.
“Mom.” Claire laughed. She’d started to say something, but then stopped and nodded. “She really is, isn’t she?” And the two of them had bent their heads together and giggled like girlfriends at the pretty little bombshell that Max had brought home.
Weezy had warned her sister before she came over for Thanksgiving. “Just so you know, Max’s girlfriend is quite a showstopper.” Maureen had laughed and said something about Weezy’s being a protective mother. “No, it’s not that,” Weezy said. “She’s just … she seems older. She seems, well, very sexual.”
Maureen had laughed again, but when she got to the house and met Cleo, she was visibly taken aback. She recovered, walked over to Cleo to introduce herself, and tripped just as she got near her. Maureen put her hands straight out, ended up pushing Cleo down on the couch to break her fall, and the two of them landed tangled together. They pulled themselves up and off of each other, and then sat side by side on the edge of the couch.
“I’m Max’s clumsy aunt,” Maureen had said. Claire, Martha, Cathy, and Ruth had watched the whole thing with their mouths hanging open. Cleo brushed off her arms and insisted she was okay, that there was no problem. She’d even laughed.
Later in the kitchen, as Weezy poured Maureen a glass of wine, she said, “I told you.”
“You weren’t kidding,” Maureen said. “Good lord.”
It wasn’t that she didn’t expect Max to bring home a lovely, pretty girl. She did. But Cleo was something else altogether. She seemed out of place in their house, like a runway model that had been dropped out of the sky and into their Thanksgiving. She was nearly as tall as Max, and she wore strange, funky outfits that looked amazing on her, like the fake fur vest that kept shedding, so that little tufts flew behind her when she walked, making Will sneeze.
Weezy was immediately worried that she was too much for Max. She wanted Max to date someone just a little less stunning, someone who didn’t seem like she would break his heart so easily. And so, although Cleo seemed perfectly polite and nice, Weezy prayed every day that they would break up.
Claire had defended Cleo. “Just because she’s so pretty doesn’t mean she’s not a good person,” she’d said. Claire was always protective of Max, and she’d gone out of her way to be nice to Cleo.
But Weezy could hear something in Claire’s voice now, like she didn’t want Cleo to go to the shore for some reason. Maybe Claire finally sensed that Cleo wasn’t the right match for Max? Weezy started to ask Claire about it, but Claire interrupted her.
“Okay, Mom. I’ll ask at work and let you know, okay? I’ll call you later.”
Weezy hung up and started to cross the item off her list, but