The Friendship List(33)

Cooper looked at her, then raised and lowered one shoulder. Not an unexpected response.

The first time Jeremy had contacted her, she’d debated for days before telling her son. He’d been so excited and had waited for nearly a month to find out if his dad would call back and want to see him. But Jeremy hadn’t and Coop had slowly gotten over his disappointment. Over time they’d both learned that Jeremy checked in every few years, but never made any attempt to take things further. Until now.

“He lives in LA,” she said, poking at her salad. Suddenly she wasn’t hungry. “He’s married, again, with a couple of little kids.”

Cooper finished the first burger. “Big deal. This is his what? Third marriage? Mom, why are you telling me this?”

She met his dark gaze. “He said he wants to get to know you. He regrets what he’s missed and would like to have some kind of relationship with you.”

Cooper’s eyes widened. “He said that?”

“Uh-huh.”

“But he never wanted to before. Why now?”

“I don’t know. Maybe he’s grown up enough to realize what he missed. Maybe having more kids has shown him being a dad is a great gig.” She made herself smile. “He’s your dad, Coop. You should think about getting to know him.”

“Are you okay with that?”

“Of course,” she lied. “I’ll admit that I’ve loved having you all to myself, but I always knew you wanted to have a relationship with him. Why don’t you get in touch and see if you can set up a meeting? There would be time for lunch after the UCLA tour. You could meet him and then join the rest of us on the beach.”

Cooper looked both hopeful and worried. “You’re sure?”

“I am.” She picked up her burger, as if she were comfortable enough to eat. “He’s a movie producer. That could be fun to talk about.”

“He’s in the movie business?” Coop sounded excited.

“He is.” She pulled Jeremy’s phone number out of her back pocket. “Text him and see what he says. We’re going to be hanging out by the pier in Santa Monica. Have him pick a place and we’ll drop you off there, then you can meet up with us.”

He gave her a wide grin. “This is the best, Mom. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” She pointed at his lunch. “Finish eating before you text him. If you don’t, you’ll be starving later, and I’m pretty sure Coach Kinne meant what he said about not stopping.”

Coop nodded eagerly and grabbed a handful of fries. Ellen put down her burger and told herself she’d done the right thing and eventually she would feel good about it. But right now her stomach hurt and she wanted to crawl into a corner and make the whole Jeremy thing go away.



nine


Dinner at a local Medford restaurant was a raucous affair. They had a long table for all thirteen of them. Ellen and Keith sat at one end. Ellen noticed Lissa was still keeping her distance from her father and had planted herself as far away from him as possible. At some point Ellen would have to talk to the teen about what was going on, but not today. Ellen didn’t feel she was in a position to give anyone advice about anything. She was feeling too emotionally frail.

As she’d suggested, Coop had texted his father. The two had gone back and forth for nearly half an hour and now her son had plans to meet Jeremy for lunch at a restaurant in Santa Monica. Ellen told herself she should be happy and excited, but she was having trouble summoning any enthusiasm for the event.

She supposed she should look at the bright side—having them meet would check off one more item on her list. She should think about that, and how Unity was going to treat her to a great spa weekend at the end of summer. Because there was no way Unity was going to do anything to get out of her rut.

She pushed away her half-eaten dinner. Thinking about Coop and his dad wasn’t doing much for her appetite. She looked around for a distraction, but Keith was talking to Aidan. Realizing no one was paying attention to her, she pulled the list out of her handbag and studied it.

“We should go out and sing karaoke,” she said loudly.

The table went silent as everyone stared at her with identical expressions of shock and horror. Even Keith.

“Don’t you have to be twenty-one?” Luka asked tentatively.

“To go into a bar,” she said, hearing her defensive tone. “But what about a bowling alley or something? Don’t they have karaoke? It would be fun.”

“Mo-om,” Coop said, his teeth clenched. “No one wants to do that.”

“Why not? It’s an experience.”

Lissa shot Coop a sympathetic look. He sank down in his seat. The other teens avoided making eye contact.

“You ready for the check?” their perky server asked Keith.

“We are.” He pulled out his wallet and handed her a credit card. “Thanks.”

“No problem.”

“We done here?” Aidan asked, already stepping away from the table.

Keith nodded.

“Then we’ll, ah, head back to our rooms.” He glanced at Ellen, then away. “Night, Ms. F.”

She couldn’t believe it. They were going to run out on her?

When they were alone, Keith looked at her. “Karaoke?”