Page 16 of Summer Weddings
“Mom, I need my lunch money,” Jeff yelled from the bottom of the stairs.
“I’ll be down in a minute,” she said. Mornings were hectic. In order to get to the Glen Parkbartstation on time, Robin had to leave the house half an hour before Jeff left for school.
“What did you have for breakfast?” she hollered as she put the finishing touches on her makeup.
“Frozen waffles,” Jeff shouted back. “And don’t worry, I didn’t drown them in syrup and I rinsed off the plate before I put it in the dishwasher.”
“Rinsed it off or let Blackie lick it for you?” she asked, as she hurried down the stairs. Her son was busy at the sink and didn’t turn around to look at her.
“Blackie, honestly, is that maple syrup on your nose?”
At the sound of his name, the Labrador trotted over to her. Robin took a moment to stroke his thick fur before fumbling for her wallet to give Jeff his lunch money.
“Hey, Mom, you look nice.”
“Don’t act so surprised,” she grumbled. “I’m leaving now.”
“Okay,” Jeff said without the slightest bit of concern. “You won’t be late tonight, will you? Remember Mr. Camden’s coming back.”
“I remember, and no, I won’t be late.” She grabbed her purse and her packed lunch, putting it in her briefcase, and headed for the front door.
Even before Robin arrived at the subway station, she knew the day would drag. Fridays always did.
She was right. At six, when the subway pulled into the station, Robin felt as though she’d been away forty hours instead of the usual nine. She found herself hurrying and didn’t fully understand why. Cole was scheduled to return, but that didn’t have anything to do with her, did it? His homecoming wasn’t anything to feel nervous about, nor any reason to be pleased. He was her neighbor, and more Jeff’s friend than hers.
The first thing Robin noticed when she arrived on Orchard Street was Cole’s Porsche parked in the driveway of his house.
“Hi, Mom,” Jeff called as he raced across the lawn between the two houses. “Mr. Camden’s back!”
“So I see.” She removed her keys from her purse and opened the front door.
Jeff followed her inside. “He said he’d square up with me later. I wanted to invite him to dinner, but I didn’t think I should without asking you first.”
“That was smart,” she said, depositing her jacket in the closet on her way to the kitchen. She opened the refrigerator and took out the thawed hamburger and salad makings.
“How was your day?” she asked.
Jeff sat down at the table and propped his elbows on it. “All right, I guess. What are you making for dinner?”
“Taco salad.”
“How about just tacos? I don’t get why you want to ruin a perfectly good dinner by putting green stuff in it.”
Robin paused. “I thought you liked my taco salad.”
Jeff shrugged. “It’s all right, but I’d rather have just tacos.”Once that was made clear, he cupped his chin in his hands. “Can we rent a movie tonight?”
“I suppose,” Robin returned absently as she added the meat to the onions browning in the skillet.
“But I get to choose this time,” Jeff insisted. “Last week you picked a musical.” He wrinkled his nose as if to suggest that being forced to watch men and women sing and dance was the most disgusting thing he’d ever had to endure.
“Perhaps we can find a compromise,” she said.
Jeff nodded. “As long as it doesn’t have a silly love story in it.”
“Okay,” Robin said, doing her best not to betray her amusement. Their difference in taste when it came to movies was legendary. Jeff’s favorite was an older kids’ film,Scooby Doo,that he watched over and over, which Robin found boring, to say the least. Unfortunately, her son was equally put off by the sight of men and women staring longingly into each other’s eyes.
The meat was simmering in the skillet when Robin glanced up and noted that her son was looking surprisingly thoughtful. “Is something troubling you?” she asked, and popped a thin tomato slice into her mouth.
