I Liked My Life(60)

I pester Brady’s subconscious with carnal thoughts. I start simple, saying things like She’s beautiful and I wonder if she’s attached, but eventually my dark humor kicks in and I funnel down things like Don’t you want to see her naked? and Try not to get a hard-on in front of your daughter. He’s alarmed by this internal chatter, but chalks it up to not having sex in so long.

“So, how’s calculus going?” Brady asks as everyone sits down. He looks sharp. I lured him into wearing his best-fitting dark jeans with a gray button-down shirt. He wouldn’t remove his wedding ring, but he did brush the gel from his hair, giving him a softer, more casual air.

“Great,” Rory answers when Eve doesn’t. “I think we’ll finish by the end of the month, which is no small task.”

“Can we please not talk about it?” Eve sulks. “Sorry, but taking a class during the summer is a pain in the ass.”

Brady isn’t looking for a fight. “Fine,” he agrees. “Rory, are you originally from the area?”

She smiles before answering and the whole room relaxes. Rory’s smile is as contagious as a long yawn. “Yes. Well … Boston. But I went out west to Pepperdine for school, and lived there until about ten years ago.”

The house phone rings. Brady gets up to answer it while Rory and Eve distribute food. They hear him going back and forth with whoever is on the line, but can’t make out any details until the end when, in a voice loud enough to infer he’s talking over someone, Brady says, “Christie, I understand you’re worried, but of course I’m sure. I’d know if Kara was at my house.”

He reenters the dining room shaking his head. “Eve, you don’t know where Kara Anderson is, right?”

Eve laughs—she hasn’t seen Kara since the last day of school—but I worry. Given the circumstances of our last interaction, I momentarily ditch my family to make sure she’s okay. I focus my energy until I find her alone on a dock at her aunt and uncle’s cabin north of the city. There’s a fifth of Captain Morgan propped against her side, but she’s subdued. She won’t do anything but pass out and be hunted by mosquitoes tonight. I leave her and return to the most important dinner party of my death.

Brady sends Eve a decisive look of warning in response to whatever happened during my absence. “Where were we?” he says, recharging the conversation. “Oh yeah, Pepperdine in southern California. Beautiful area, especially this time of year. Do you miss it?”

“Not so much.”

Brady chuckles at her unexpected negativity. Rory is someone you expect to deliver only sunshine and roses. It’s why I picked her. “I enjoyed it while I was there, but I’m a New Englander at heart. I came back to be closer to my family, and I’m thankful for the time I had with my parents. My brother is here too, so that’s good. Well, mostly.” She winks at Eve, who is happy to be in on the joke. “What about you, where are you from?”

Eve, looking for a way into the conversation, answers on Brady’s behalf. “We’ve lived in Massachusetts my entire life. It gets duller every year. I plan to go away for college though. Maybe Texas.”

Brady puts his fork down and looks at Eve, trying to gauge how serious she is. “I didn’t know that,” he says, unable to hide his disappointment.

“Well, you still have time to think about it,” Rory intervenes. “Apply widely. That way you’ll have choices. I remember wanting to go to Florida, but my mom convinced me the hurricanes would be a nightmare. When I got to California, I discovered earthquakes. There are advantages and disadvantages to every location.”

“And Boston is rich with options,” Brady says. “I don’t know if you’d agree, Rory, but I was envious of people who were a car ride from home, especially on the weekends when I needed to do laundry.” His obvious sales pitch gives Eve another opportunity to be controversial. She ignores my guidance to stand down.

“I’m surprised you’re so totally emotional about the idea of Texas. I thought you’d enjoy the space. Then you could go for long runs with Mrs. Dundel or whatever.”

Of all the times for Eve to bring up what she thought she saw three weeks ago, I cannot believe she picked tonight. It’s sabotage. If only I had more recourses at my disposal. I wouldn’t mind zapping her with a bout of explosive diarrhea to get Brady and Rory some time alone.

Brady takes the heat well, calmly wiping his mouth with his napkin. “I don’t go for runs with Susan Dundel, first of all, and more importantly, I’m going to miss you a lot when you leave for New Hampshire in September, not to mention college next year.” He tenses his lips to not tear up.

“I bet you didn’t think you’d be saying that two months ago.” Eve tries to pull it off as a joke, but her bitchy tone transmits hostility, making it easier for Brady to suppress his rising emotions. Our girl is on a mission to be memorable.

I’ve seen her this petulant only once before, about a year ago. She’d invited a handful of friends over after a tennis match, including two very popular seniors. They were hungry and wanted pizza, so Eve screamed for me from the kitchen. When I appeared—which I only did because I thought something was gravely wrong—she told me, with assumed authority, to “get your credit card because everyone is starving.” I told her to meet me in the living room, alone. When she got there, without the comfort of her army present, she apologized before I even spoke. I had her send the friends home and go to her room. That was the end of that.