The Husband Hour(36)
Beth tried not to stare at the necklace. “Why not?”
“For one thing, I have a job. It’s the start of the busy season. I can’t just take off.”
“Have you ever taken a day off in the four years you’ve worked there? I’m sure Nora would understand.”
“Okay, I don’t want to take time off. I don’t want to go to Florida, Mom.”
Beth moved closer to her, biting her lip to keep from crying. “Lauren, hon, why are you wearing that necklace again?”
Lauren’s hand fluttered to her throat as if she had forgotten about the Tiffany heart necklace, though she could only have put it on in the past hour or so. She certainly hadn’t been wearing it at dinner.
“I just found it. In this box.”
Damn it, Beth knew she should have just taken it upon herself to get the boxes in storage.
“Let me take care of this stuff for you,” Beth said, reaching for one of the boxes.
“No!” Lauren said, jumping up and lunging at the unopened box. “I’ve got it.” She tried to pick up the box but struggled with the weight. Changing tactics, she stood behind the box and pushed it like a cart on wheels until she reached the stairs.
“Lauren, come back,” Beth said. But Lauren was already dragging the box down to her room.
“Unbelievable,” Lauren muttered, shoving the box into her closet. There was plenty of room on the floor considering that her only footwear was a pair of flip-flops and three pairs of running sneakers. Later, when everyone was asleep, she would go up to the attic and move the rest of the boxes into her bedroom.
What did her mother care if she wanted to wear an old necklace? And the whole Florida suggestion? Lunacy.
“Aunt Lauren?”
She turned to find Ethan standing in the doorway. He wore Batman footie pajamas, his dark hair wet from the bath. She smiled.
“Hey there. What’s going on?”
“I’m saying good night.”
“Oh, good night.”
He walked over to her and she put her arms around him. He smelled like baby shampoo, though he was far from a baby. She’d missed so much of his young life, and she felt a pang. She’d try to make up for it this summer.
“So, you’re going back to Philly tomorrow?”
He nodded.
“Are you excited for the end of school?” she asked.
“I want to stay here,” he said. He looked so forlorn, she gave him another hug.
“Oh—well, we’ll be here waiting for you to come back. The house isn’t going anywhere.” Not yet, anyway.
She heard Stephanie calling for him from the hallway.
“In here, Steph,” Lauren yelled.
Stephanie poked her head in. “Hey. Bedtime, mister.”
Ethan gave Lauren a little wave, then dutifully marched off to his room.
“See you later,” Stephanie said to her.
“Wait—come in for a second,” Lauren said.
Stephanie walked into the room. “What’s up?”
“Look, I don’t know who you still hang out with back home,” Lauren said. “But if you hear about anyone talking to Matt, will you let me know?”
“Are you still worried about the stupid film? Just forget about it.”
“I can’t, okay? Not as long as he’s still here trying to dig into my life.”
She instinctively touched her necklace.
“Fine, I’ll keep an ear out. But aside from old coaches or a few guys from high school, who would he talk to? Although, you know Emerson is back in town.”
“What?” She froze.
“Yeah. He’s teaching at Villanova. One of my friends takes his wife’s yoga class.”
Lauren pressed her fingers to her temples. “Ugh. I don’t want to think about Emerson.”
“So don’t. Forget about it. And forget about the film. We’ve got bigger things to worry about.” She nodded her head in the direction of their parents’ bedroom.
Stephanie left and Lauren closed the door behind her. Would Emerson talk to Matt? No, there was no way. Emerson, the control freak, had already warned her off a film project years earlier. Could it be this same film?
But then, Emerson was never one to sit by and let things just happen. What if he talked to Matt specifically to control the direction of the film? If he had, he certainly wouldn’t be neutral on the subject of her marriage.
She’d never told Rory what his brother had said to her on their wedding day. She’d meant to, but there was so much going on that she never got around to it. She’d never told anyone, and it bothered her still.
Emerson had pulled her aside an hour before she walked down the aisle. Lauren was already in her dress, having just taken photos with the bridal party on the roof deck and in front of the famous twenty-foot statue of Benjamin Franklin in the rotunda of Philadelphia’s Franklin Institute.
“Lauren, can I talk to you for a minute?”
Lauren smiled and happily followed him to a quiet corner in the massive room, a domed space with an eighty-two-foot-high ceiling and so many pillars it was like the Roman Pantheon.
Emerson put a hand on her back and led her to the museum lobby. Lauren still felt nervous around Emerson. Rory revered his brother so much; Lauren was desperate for his approval. Now that they were about to become family, she thought she might finally get it.