didn’t know, Audrey faltered in her smile and returned the hug. “Thank you so much. And it was very nice meeting you.” Then, as she stood back, she added, “And you have a couple of pretty great kids, too.”
Dad seemed startled, looking from Audrey to flit his gaze between Jake and me. Something shifted in his gaze as he barely bobbed his head. “Yeah. I guess I do,” he replied quietly, still nodding and looking at us both.
Mom’s departure was a little chillier but just as genuine, with a gentle grasp of Audrey’s hand and a tight smile. “We’ll see you this weekend,” she said, before lifting her other hand in a slight wave as she added, “See you soon, Freddy.”
Jake and I hugged tightly and I told him that I’d see him in the morning. Then, it was just Audrey, Freddy, and me, in a house that, to me, instantly felt more relaxed and airier. But when I turned to face Audrey, to say all the things I’d been holding in since dinner, I found an annoyance I couldn’t previously have envisioned her displaying. But seeing it now, it left me disconcerted and eager to fix whatever the hell it was that was bothering her, just to make her smile again. Her face was made to smile.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, searching her eyes for clues.
My expectations were set on her not replying or skirting around the issue, the way so many women do. Cee had once spent an entire work day in a pissed off silence, and it was only the next day that she’d told me it was because I had unwittingly used the last roll of paper towels. So, I wouldn’t have been surprised if Audrey had taken this opportunity to shut down and make her exit, but she wasn’t like other women, was she?
“I thought you were kidding when you said you don’t celebrate your birthday.” Her voice was strangled by her disappointment and despair, and to make her feel better, I shook my head and replied, “I told you, I don’t like to acknowledge it.”
That wasn’t good enough for her, though. “But your parents should want to,” she said, practically whispering against the emotion building a barricade in her throat. “I don’t care if you don’t want to; they should insist on it.”
She stood up with an impressive control, taking the cake plate from the table and carrying it to the counter. Then, with her back to me, she continued to say, “I can’t believe they didn’t even wish you a happy birthday.”
I glanced at Freddy, who was sitting at the kitchen table with a book from Jake’s room, and took the chance to approach Audrey at the counter. It was just over a week since I had stood at this counter and contemplated my next move, before rushing at her with an aggressive kiss. Now, the very thought of kissing her made me crazy with nerves and anxiety, but it still wasn’t too far from my mind as I stood next to her, hands on the counter and eyes on the cabinet in front of me.
“They texted me this morning. It’s fine.”
“Texting you isn’t the same as giving their son a hug and wishing him a happy birthday.”
My fingers moved busily against the countertop. “I don’t know why this is bugging you so much. It doesn’t matter to me, seriously. I don’t care.”
With the turn of her head, her golden hair left her shoulder, cascading over her back and exposing the length of pristine skin along her neck. A swarm of attacking bees filled my gut at the thought of leaning in to press my lips there. They stabbed, warned, and reminded me that we were sober, and that she might not want me in that way, not right now.
“It is so sad that you don’t care,” she whispered, and I replied in a matched tone, “I said it doesn’t matter.”
“But it does,” she replied in a voice so harsh it surprised me. “Do you know how much my parents would love to wish my sister a happy birthday, to her face, just one more time? Do you understand what they would give to have that chance?”
I shook my head. “No. I can’t pretend to know or understand what that’s like for them.”
Her nod was slow as an unknown understanding sunk beneath her skin. “And I’m telling you that it’s horrible for your parents to have allowed you to feel like this.”
I scoffed, feeling