The Better Liar(39)

I went to the refrigerator. “I don’t want Elaine to meet her.”

“Why not? She seems—Eli, come back here—she seems fine.” Dave imprisoned Eli in his bouncer and gave him a couple of noodles from the pot to munch on.

The noise of a car driving up made us pause, except for Eli, who was occupied with the strands of pasta. I stood motionless in front of the refrigerator as the car shut off and the doors slammed. Dave disappeared into the front hallway, throwing open the door before Elaine had the chance to knock. “You’re early,” I heard him say.

“I know, I thought it would take longer, but I made margarita mix—and virgin, for the kids—”

“For the kids?”

“They love to be included.” Her voice got louder as they entered the kitchen. “Brody, Tanner, say hi to Dave.”

Tanner shouted hello; Brody huddled silently behind him. They were each dressed in tiny denim jeans with plaid button-down shirts, Brody’s red, Tanner’s blue. Elaine stood over them, carrying two glass pitchers. She had her hair in twin fishtail braids tied off with what looked like twine, and she wore a brightly embroidered tunic and leggings. I was still holding the spoon I’d been using to stir the pot.

I went back to the stove, dropped the spoon in the pot, and moved toward her. She handed the pitchers to Dave and hugged me with her purse still on her shoulder; it slipped down onto her elbow, dragging her tunic over her shoulder. “Leslie, hi,” she breathed in my ear. “So happy to see you. How long’s it been?”

I nodded. “Dave, can you put those in the fridge? For later?”

Elaine released me and grabbed Brody before he could take Eli’s last remaining noodle, swinging him up over her shoulder. “Honey, you’re in your going-out shirt. Can’t get food on it before we’ve even been here five minutes.” She glanced down at the half-chewed noodle on Eli’s front and smiled, turning toward me. “I think you’ve got a little emergency on your hands.”

“I got him,” Dave said, letting the refrigerator door slam and whisking Eli into the laundry room.

“Sit down,” I said as Elaine got Tanner set up with a pop-up book in one of the kitchen chairs and let Brody sit on her lap, poking at her phone. “Can I get you anything to drink?”

    “Well, one of those margaritas,” Elaine said. “The purple lid is virgin. For the kids. Brody, do you want one?”

Brody shook his head, absorbed in some sort of game involving bubbles with faces.

“Tanner?”

He held out his hand and made a grabby motion. Elaine laughed. “Tanner! Say please to Leslie.”

“Please, Leslie?” Tanner said, baring his baby teeth. Elaine rolled her eyes at me as I put the virgin mix in a plastic cup from the baby cabinet and handed it to him, making sure he didn’t spill.

I didn’t have any margarita salt for Elaine’s glass. She told me not to worry about it. Lowering light from the kitchen windows picked out a few strands of early silver in her left braid. “Dave said your sister is in town. Am I going to get to meet her?”

“Robin,” I said. “She’s just in town to do some paperwork. For my dad’s estate. I couldn’t— She won’t be here, most likely. She’s out tonight.” I made myself smile back at her. “How are you?”

“I’m so grateful not to be cooking tonight. You’re an angel.” She rummaged in her purse, jostling Brody, and took out a camera, a real one, the kind with a vertical viewfinder, for shooting from the waist. “Would you mind if I took a picture of you? I have so many pictures of Eli, I thought maybe people would like to see where he gets his looks.”

“He looks just like Dave,” I said. “Everyone says so.”

“Oh, just one.” She slipped the strap over her head. “This light suits you.”

I watched as she transferred the camera from one hand to the other, twisting off the lens cap and craning her neck to see through the viewfinder. I was still looking at her when she snapped the first photo.

“How’d you get her to pose for a photo?” Dave asked, coming back into the room with Eli tucked under his arm. “I got her to do it for our wedding, but I think that’s just because we’d already paid the photographer.”

    “I didn’t say you could take the picture,” I said, half under my breath.

Elaine looked stricken. From her lap, Brody gave a pleased yelp when he saw Eli being placed back into his bouncer. “I’m sorry…” Elaine started.

Dave glanced at me. “Don’t be sorry. You’ve got to catch her unawares. That’s the only way to do it. She’s like Nessie. How’s cooking?”

It had almost burned; I turned down the heat. “Done,” I said. “Just a second. I’ll get plates.”

“They’re so cute together,” Elaine said, watching Eli give his spatula to Brody of his own accord. “And your house is so beautiful. Anytime you need a babysitter, Leslie—”

“When do you have time to babysit?” Dave took his plate from me. “You have a playdate every other day.”

“I’d make time.” Elaine smiled up at me as I set her plate in front of her. “It’s part of the mommy code. The mommy brigade.”