All We Ever Wanted(57)

“Good point,” I said. “But I’m trying to set a better example. I’d rather Lyla be like you than me.”

   Bonnie smiled.

“So. I’m hoping she says no on her own. That she accepts his apology but still wants nothing to do with him. I am hoping this has taught her a few things about self-respect.”

Bonnie nodded, then squinted up at the sky. The late afternoon sun highlighted all her lines and wrinkles, making her look older than I thought of her as. Then again, she probably was in her early seventies by now, which somehow seemed so much older than one’s late sixties. At forty-seven, I thought about how fast I would get there, too. I was almost fifty, for fuck’s sake. How had that happened?

“What if she says yes? What if she ends up really liking him?” she asked tentatively, reaching down to stroke one of her two black cats, who was just moseying by.

“I guess I’d cross that bridge,” I said. “With your help.”

“Do you think he likes her? Or is he…?” She struggled to find the right slang.

“Playing her?”

Bonnie nodded. “Yeah. That.”

“I can’t tell,” I said. “Maybe both?…I know I’m biased, but Lyla really is a special girl.”

Bonnie squinted harder, deep in thought. “Well. What could it really hurt if they did go out?”

“She could get her heart broken,” I said.

“God forbid she take that risk,” she quipped, clearly making a separate point.

“It’s not the same thing,” I said, knowing she was about to get on her soapbox about my personal life. “I don’t have time for that stuff—”

“Nonsense,” she said. “People make time for what matters to them.”

   “Not interested,” I said. “I’ve seen what’s out there. No, thanks.”

“If only Nina were single, huh,” she said breezily, almost under her breath.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I said, though I knew exactly what it meant.

“I think you like her.”

“I do like her,” I said, playing it cool.

“Like her, like her.”

I rolled my eyes, trying to remember exactly what I’d just said about Nina. That she was attractive? That she was much nicer than her husband? That she’d been kind to Lyla? Certainly none of that indicated I had feelings for her.

“Don’t be an ass,” I said, feeling a little guilty about calling an older lady an ass. But I knew Bonnie could handle it, maybe even liked it.

“You’re denying it?” she said.

“Hell, yeah, I’m denying it….For one, she’s married.”

“So?” Bonnie said. “When has that ever stopped anyone?”

“Cynic,” I said, thinking that I had never touched a married woman.

“Well?”

“Well…for another, she’s the mother of this jerk kid.”

“The same jerk kid who you gave permission to ask your daughter out?”

“I told you. I want Lyla to come to her own conclusions….And maybe, if she and Finch become friends, she could spend a little time with Nina. That would be good for her, no?”

Bonnie nodded, a hint of a smirk on her face.

“What?” I said.

“Nothing.”

“Tell me.”

   “You don’t feel anything for this woman? Not even a teensy-tiny crush?”

“That’s the wrong word for it entirely.”

“What’s the right word?” she said. “What’s that look you keep getting on your face when you talk about her? Intrigue?”

“That’s too strong, too….At most?…Maybe I’m a little curious.”

“About?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. I just kind of want to know her deal…like how she ended up with that douchebag of a husband.”

Bonnie rubbed her fingers together in the universal sign of money and raised one eyebrow.

“Yeah. Maybe,” I said. “But I get the feeling it’s not that simple….She just doesn’t strike me as a gold digger….Something else is going on there. It’s almost as if she’s…I don’t know…”

“Do you think there is abuse?” Bonnie said.

“No. Nothing that sinister. That’s not my read, anyway…but something doesn’t add up,” I said. “She’s clearly not in sync with the guy….Like, I don’t think she’s told him we’ve met. At all. She seems trapped. At the very least, unhappy. Really unhappy.”

Bonnie nodded, then said, “What if she ends up having a romantic interest in you?”

“Not possible,” I said as quickly and adamantly as I could, even while I wondered what it might be like to kiss Nina.



* * *



—

WHEN I GOT home a few hours later, I noticed that Lyla had changed clothes and was now wearing a sundress that I hadn’t seen before.

“That’s pretty,” I said, pointing at it. “Are you going out?”

“Yeah,” she said. “I’m going to the Luke Bryan concert. If that’s okay?”