I Was Told It Would Get Easier(37)

She asked me how she looked and I told her the truth: good. My mom is still pretty slim, and she has great arms. Well, whaddya know, she’d packed a sleeveless top I’d never seen before, and she put on slightly nicer-than-normal dark jeans, and even boots. She’s always bugging me to take up archery, which is where she got the arms, and maybe I should.

Anyway, we went down to the hotel bar, and when the guy waved across at us, I was pretty impressed.

“Wow, he’s kind of cute for an old guy,” I said.

“Oh please,” replied my mom. “He’s not old. He’s my age.”

“You said it, not me,” I said, but then we were at the table so I stuck out my hand and introduced myself.

The guy grinned and said it was nice to meet me, but then he came around the table and gave my mom a full up-and-down look and pulled her into a hug. And I’m not talking the kind of hug adults usually give each other, but the kind of hug I don’t think he would have given her if she’d been married.

And that’s when I realized they used to date, and that, even worse, this asshole still fancied my mom.





JESSICA


Uh, so David Millar is still really hot, which caused a minor problem in my body for a moment, but my brain was able to get it together. I simply wasn’t prepared for him to look so attractive. Mind you, if I were being honest, I would point out that I had dressed as nicely as I could under the circumstances—the circumstances being two decades having passed since the last time he saw me naked—and that it was shamefully satisfying to see his eyes widen when he saw me. I’m so shallow.

All this went over Emily’s head, thankfully, and she was being charming and chatty, which is my favorite kind of Emily. I don’t want to be the kind of person who beams proudly at the achievements of their kids, as if the parent had more than a passing influence, but it is very nice when your kid is being the polite version of herself in public. Again, so shallow.

I did that thing where you gaze around for the waiter to buy yourself time, while Emily and David got to know each other a bit.

“So,” asked David, “you’re touring colleges?” I glanced at his hands where they lay on the table, and tried to cool down. Since when did my libido get so independent?

“Yes,” said Emily, “we’re going up the East Coast looking at eleven different schools, it’s a bit nuts.”

“Sounds fun.” His hands were still gorgeous, still strong, still . . . wait, no ring.

“Kind of.”

“Only kind of?” He had definitely been married. No question.

Emily shrugged. “Well, it’s kind of speed dating, for a start, it’s not like you really get any more than a first impression. And I’m not really sure what I want to study.”

“You’ll find something,” I said, unable to stop myself from chiming in. “College is fun, isn’t it, David?” I had been so certain he was married; if he was single, that was a whole other problem. Married, it was a problem of damn it, you’re still hot and there’s nothing I can do about it, oh well. Unmarried, it was a different thing. Not that he had shown any interest in me.

He smiled at me. “Sure, if you meet a supersexy girl on the first day of class.”

Scratch that. Definitely interested. I looked at Emily. “He’s joking. It’s good whoever you meet. You meet lots of people, not all of them are sexy. Some are, some aren’t. But they’re all interesting, and you meet lots of them.” That didn’t come out right.

Emily raised her eyebrows very slightly. “So, you meet people at college, that’s what you’re saying?”

“Yes.”

“Good to know,” she said, clearly deciding I was losing my mind. “I’ll make a note.”

The waiter came over to take drink orders.

“I’ll get another scotch,” said David, which was when I noticed he was finishing up a pretty substantial drink. I ordered a glass of wine and a Sprite for Emily, and hoped he wasn’t too drunk. He’d always enjoyed a drink.

“So,” said Emily, “what was my mom like in college?”

“Oh god,” I said, “can we not do this?” Please don’t mention . . . oh, so many things.

David smiled at me. “She was not what she appeared to be.”

Emily said, “How do you mean?”

“Just that. She seemed one way, she turned out to be another. She was very self-assured, very disinterested, very cool. She was unexpected and delightful.”

Emily’s eyes widened. “Oh my god, you two dated.” She raised her eyebrows at me. “You did, didn’t you?”

David frowned. “She didn’t tell you?”

I blushed. “I didn’t think she’d be interested.” I glanced at Emily, willing her to drop it. “It’s not a big deal.”

“It was a big deal to me,” said David. “She was one of the most beautiful women I ever took to bed.” He looked at me. “She still is.”

Oh my god. Suddenly the attraction I felt for him began to fade. It was fun when it was hypothetical, or even simply one sided, but now I frowned. “David, Emily doesn’t want to hear about this.”

“Wait, maybe I do,” said Emily, although her face was difficult to read.