Page 10 of Sunkissed Memories
“Tell me,” Kathy said, arching her eyebrow toward Ada. “Do you have any friends?”
Ada was caught off guard. Hadn’t she just thought about her own mother’s lack of friends? And how dare her mother insinuate that she didn’t have a social life!
“I have a few,” Ada said. But she gestured toward Kade and Olivia, saying, “This season of my life doesn’t allow for a lot of me time, I guess.”
“But Peter has friends,” Kathy pointed out.
“Yes.” Ada furrowed her brow, realizing she’d never thought of it like that before. Peter had friends; Peter met buddies to watch games; Peter went out for beers. “But I need more solo time than Peter does, I think.” Was this true? Ada wasn’t sure. She filled her mouth with wine and considered how to tell her mother to back off.
“When your father left us, I had no one,” Kathy said, flaring her nostrils. “I realized I’d given myself over completely to you and your father and left no space for myself.”
“I do have space for myself,” Ada retorted, her tone haughty. She got up, telling her mother she had to clean the kitchen, and brought her wine inside. There, she scrubbed the already clean counter for a full ten minutes as her ears rang. Why did her mother think she could give her all this unsolicited advice?
Eventually, her mother followed her into the kitchen and peppered her with facts about female friendship, about how nourishing it was for all involved.
“I’ve started going to a little ladies’ card-playing group downtown,” she said.
“That’s great, Mom,” Ada offered, folding the rag over and over again and searching for a way out of this.
“You’re a therapist,” her mother continued, sounding half desperate. “I would think you’d know what happens when people end up with no one to talk to.”
Ada twisted her neck around to look her mother in the eye. It was clear from her mother’s expression that she genuinely cared that perhaps her “surprise visit” was less about Hannah and more about Ada. Was it possible that her mother had sensed something in Ada during their visit last weekend? Ada shook the thought out of her head and said, “Let’s play a card game.” Anything to get the topic off her and her so-called loneliness.
Peter called with more news two hours after he left for the game.
“Hey, baby,” he said, sounding gruff.
“What’s up?” Ada twisted away from her mother on the dark porch, and her mind raced. Had he gotten into an accident? Had he drunk too much and needed a ride? She wouldn’t get angry about any of it. All she wanted was for Peter to be home safe and a reprieve from all this time with her mother.
“You remember my buddy Max from the city?” Peter asked.
Ada remembered Max, Peter’s old roommate from their Manhattan days, another orthodontist who hadn’t left the city when everyone else had. They’d gone to his wedding about five years ago, for which Max had spent more money than most house down payments. His wife worked in event planning or a similar field.
“Is he okay?” Ada asked.
“He called, really upset. Abby left him tonight, and he doesn’t have anyone,” Peter continued. “I told him I could drive to the city early tomorrow morning.”
Ada threw her head back, trying to obliterate the wave of rage before it took over. “Oh,” she said.
“I know. It’s bad timing.” Peter sighed.
“I mean, yeah. It is.” Ada clacked her nails across the table and felt her mother’s burning gaze.
“I’m going to call Hannah tonight before she falls asleep and explain everything,” Peter said. “She’s basically grown up. I know she’ll get it. Sometimes life gets in the way, you know?”
“Yeah. She’ll understand.” Ada scrunched her face and willed herself not to cry. As quietly as she could, she said, “It’s just that it’s her senior year. She needs her dad at her last match.”She doesn’t even really like tennis! I think she played it to please us.She didn’t say anything because she knew there was no convincing Peter to stay.
She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt so angry toward Peter.
She couldn’t remember the last time he’d disappointed her so greatly.
“I’ll be home later to pack. But don’t stay up if you want to go to bed,” Peter said. “I’ll wake you up before I leave.”
Ada flared her nostrils. She couldn’t show any emotion in front of her mother. “All right, honey. Drive safe. Love you.”
“You too,” Peter said, hanging up.
Ada blinked at the dark phone and took three deep breaths to steady her mind. It took a minute to realize that her mother was talking about something. She’d let herself forget she was there for a moment.
