Lily White Lies (25 page)

He remained quite for several miles, and then asked, “Are you still sure that you want me to go with you when you talk to your grandparent’s about all of this.  I know it’s going to be pretty intense and I wouldn’t want to make them feel uncomfortable in their own home.”  As an afterthought, he said, “Especially when I’m trying to endear myself to them.”

“I want you there; you’ll make me feel more comfortable.”  Caressing his hand with mine, I added, “Besides, if I let you come with me, there’s a better chance you’ll take me when you talk to your grandfather.”

He shook his head.  “You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into.  I don’t know what I may have said to make you think he’s someone you’d want to know...  but trust me, he isn’t.”

“I just can’t imagine him being as bad as what you and my grandfather describe.”

“I’ll reserve the right to say ‘I told you so’ afterward.”  Turning down my street, he continued, “When I was a kid, my mother and I used to pass the time on long trips by coming up with as many adjectives as we could to describe my grandfather.  She said it made her feel better and it helped to build my vocabulary.”  He laughed.  “Trouble is I can’t say most of the words I learned in public.”

“I still think you’re exaggerating...”  I pointed to a large brick building on the corner, and said, “This one here.”

It had been a long time since I was in my apartment and it took several minutes of rummaging through my purse before I found the right keys.

“How long have you lived here?”

“I moved in about six years ago but I sublet it once I moved in with Brian.  My tenants bought a house about a month ago.  I’ve just been too busy to run an ad or show it...  but, as it turns out, that was a blessing.”

Con carried my bags in for me and after several stirring kisses that I hated to see end, he reluctantly said goodnight, leaving me locked in my apartment with my thoughts, the taste of his lips on mine and a few pieces of furniture that I barely remembered.  Sleep wouldn’t come easily tonight.

Twenty

...If I didn’t think I’d look like a lunatic, I would do a Doublemint kick right in the middle of Main Street or throw something into the wind like Mary Tyler Moore.  I was ecstatic and I wanted to share my news with someone. No. I wanted to share my news with Con...

I began staring at the alarm clock almost a half an hour before it went off; counting down the minutes until my busy day officially began.  Lying next to me on the couch were three empty Diet Pepsi bottles, a half-eaten apple, a pen and a pad intended for my ‘to do’ list.  I managed to write ‘talk to Gram and Gramp,’ but that’s as far as I got.  However, I did manage to scribble several pages of my name in many forms, Meg Ellis...  Meg Embry-Ellis...  Mrs. Connor Ellis...  I felt like I was back in high school at an all night slumber party, penning secrets and wishing on stars for a good-looking boy in my class to notice me.  I laughed inwardly at the thought of anyone catching me at my sophomoric play. 

I had very few of my belongings with me and had to set aside the time to retrieve the rest of my things from Brian’s house.  By now, he’d probably moved back in, making the chances of running into him much greater.  I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.

At the moment, I had more on my plate than I could say a blessing over.  I had to finish moving, check in with Marco, meet with Ron at the bank, visit Gram and Gramp and I also wanted to make a trip to Cherry Hall, but first, I was going to Sal’s to meet the girls.  Spending an hour over coffee, talking about the new man in my life was much more pleasurable than the other errands that were accumulating rapidly.  It had been a whirlwind weekend and I felt as though I’d burst if I didn’t tell someone about it soon.

A search through the bag that the girls had brought for the weekend produced another pair of jeans and an Old Navy t-shirt.  It wasn’t what I would normally choose to wear to work, but I didn’t find another option in the bag.  Casual wear on a workday was about as outrageous or impulsive as I ever got, making this past weekend something I would always hold dear to me, no matter what happened or didn’t happen between Con and me.

As I stepped out of the cab at the café, I heard my name called out in a shrill tone and saw Cory standing at a far table, waving frantically.  Charlotte pulled on Cory’s sleeve in an attempt to get her back in her seat.

“We’ve been waiting, like, forever.”  She wailed.

Knowing that Cory’s forever was anyone else’s five minutes, I waved her off with a smile and pulled out one of the heavy chairs.

Our waiter took our order but became increasingly nervous by Cory’s heavy sighs and agitated side-glances, messing up Cory’s order and forgetting to ask what we wanted to drink altogether.  Once we finally got our order in correctly, he wasn’t out of earshot when Cory began her grilling.

“So-o?  Tell us, how was it?  You look so totally happy... is he as
screwable
as I thought he’d be?  Are you guys, like, an item now?”

“For Christ’s sake Cory, let her answer one question before you fire another one at her.”  Charlotte turned her attention to me, and asked, “So... don’t hold out on us.  What did you do all weekend?  Is he a
keepable
?”

I looked to Cory and then Charlotte, letting the corners of my mouth turn up slowly.  They were under my spell now, each of them drawn forward in their seat by their anticipation of my answer.

Once I had made them suffer enough, I said, “He’s
comfortable
.”

Cory’s lower jaw dropped.  “
Comfortable
?  That doesn’t tell us a whole hell of a lot about his bedside manner, Meg.  Come on, get to the good stuff.”

I threw my hands in the air, and replied, “He’s comfortable!  We didn’t really do anything... at least not anything you’d be interested in, but I had a great time”

Cory slapped the table and turned to Charlotte in disbelief.  “That’s it Char, she’s gone gay on us.”

Her remark was so ridiculous I couldn’t help but laugh.  “What are you talking about?”

“Two whole days
alone
with a modern day Adonis and nothing happened?  You’re either gay or stupid and you’re too smart to be stupid.”

“I just met the guy, how easy do you think I am?”  Unable to conceal my smile, I admitted, “Alright, if I had my way, something might have happened but he has this policy... a code of ethics thing...”

“You’re kidding, right?”  Charlotte asked.

I shook my head.

Cory asked, “Don’t tell me you have to be, like...  married first.”

Charlotte added, “Maybe
he’s
the one who’s gay.”

“Would you two stop with that gay stuff?  He just believes that if you learn to be friends first, the relationship has a better chance of making it for the long haul.  I know it sounds a little old-fashioned, but I thought it was kind of sweet, too.”

They looked to each other in doubt, before Cory said, “I suppose it is sweet... if you’re not the one taking cold showers!  I’m sorry, Meg, but if I were you, I’d attack his fine ass the very next time we were alone.”

I laughed.  “That’s what makes you, you.”

Charlotte straightened her back and cleared her throat.  “Well, since Meg’s news was something of a disappointment, I have news of my own.”  Making sure our attention was on her, she continued, “Kevin and I are getting married in just over a month.  On July seventeenth, I will finally become Mrs. Kevin Pastornelli.”

My tooth-bearing smile let her know just how happy for her I was, as Cory’s words poured out of her.

“Where are you guys getting married?  You have to let me help with the arrangements... oh; I have a great idea, how about you let me take care of everything.  I love parties.  Meg’s party was totally rad, can you imagine what I could do with a wedding?”

“Cory, slow down.  Actually, Kevin and I decided to have the JP marry us at the courthouse.  We thought we’d have a small get-together afterward.”

I said, “I don’t know, it’s your decision but I’d have to agree with Cory on this one.  You two did take the high road getting here; I think you should do it up big.”

Dabbing at her lips one more time, she set her napkin on the table and said, “Well, you guys will have to take this up with Kevin.  He was less for the idea of making a fuss over it than I was.  I have to run.  I have a meeting with Bobby’s teacher this morning.”

“Parent conferences during school hours?”

“Not exactly.  His principle called first thing this morning.  It seems my son is quite the little entrepreneur.  He has been selling his lunch off every day and it seems they have a policy against that, especially when he’s bilking the other kids for two dollars a cookie.”

Cory joked, “There’s a place in my father’s company for someone with his skills.”

As she pushed her chair in, she replied, “Yeah, well Kevin’s attitude was, ‘Hey, he isn’t forcing anyone to buy his cookies... give the kid credit for being enterprising,’ so I’m the one going to the school to straighten this out.”

Cory said, “Well, good luck and you tell Kevin that I want to talk to him about this wedding thing.”

She replied, “I will,” as she waved goodbye.

Cory and I finished our meals and as we stood to go our separate ways, she said, “
Comfortable
...”  She shook her head.  “I think that’s why I like you so much, Meg.  You’re unlike anyone else I know.”

I wrapped my arm around her shoulder and gave her a squeeze.  “And that’s why I like
you
so much.”

She lowered her head before looking at me, a smile slowly stretching across her face.  “Thank you.”

I turned her to face me.  “Seriously, thank you for everything.  This past weekend was the greatest weekend of my life, even without the sex.”

“I really am trying to understand that,” she joked, “but, you’re welcome.  I enjoyed doing it.”

We said our goodbye’s and  as I made my way through the busy patio, I spotted a woman I had seen here many times before, only this time she made more of an impression since I thought I knew who she was. 

Her attire was businesslike but stylish, her hair done in an upswept fashion that made her facial features appear to be more petite than they actually were.  If I had to describe her in a word, that word would be ‘classy’.

Without giving it much thought, I made my way over to where she was giving instructions to several employees.  When the waiters left with their orders, she turned in my direction and my nearness caused her to step back slightly.

“May I help you?”  Her demeanor was cheerful, her smile genuine.

“I don’t know...  I was just wondering, are you the owner?”

“Yes, I am.”  She extended her hand.  “Sally Ellis, how can I help you?”

Suddenly questioning my reason for approaching her, I shook her hand, and bashfully replied, “Oh, I don’t want anything, I’m... well, I’m a friend of your sons... of Con’s.  He mentioned that you owned Sal’s and my friends and I eat here often so I...  I just thought I’d say hello.  That’s all.”

She looked at me with an inquisitive eye.  “A friend, huh?”  She motioned to a table as she pulled out a chair.  “Con’s friends wouldn’t come in and make it a point to meet me.  You must be Meg.”

She laughed at my look of complete surprise.

“Con told me about you a couple of weeks ago, but he pointed you out when you were having breakfast with your friends this morning.”

“This morning?  He was here?”

“Yes, he stopped in.  He said that he would have said hello to you,” a crease formed in her forehead, “but he didn’t want to be a lone buttercup... whatever that means.”

I shook my head, leaving it a private joke.

“You have quite a son; I’ll bet you’re very proud of him.”

She nodded with zest.  “I am, especially considering his genetic influences.  Do you know that when he comes in for dinner, he insists on paying for his meal and he will never accept money when he helps me out?”  I saw a mothers’ pride shine brightly in her eyes, when she said, “He is my proudest moment.”

“He speaks very highly of you.”

“Of you, also.”

I suddenly realized that I wasn’t aware of how much he had told her and I felt embarrassed.

“How much has he told you about me?”

“Enough.  I know who you are, what you do—which reminds me, I would like to talk to you about servicing my café—and...  How he feels about you.”

“I have to ask, do you have a problem with me because of who my family is?”

She shrugged.  “Why?  Should I?”

I hesitated for several seconds, trying to form my thoughts into sensible words.  “Well, there’s been some confusion as to what happened all those years ago, but to the best of my knowledge, my grandfather killed your husband, so I would completely understand if you were less than gracious toward me.”

She replied, “You know, Con mentioned that and I don’t know where that story came from.  My mother-in-law killed my
ex
-husband and that’s all there is to it.  I think you might want to talk to your grandparents about the confusion though.  I can’t clear that up for you.”