Page 21 of Except Emerson (Detroit ABCs #7)

She brushed that aside. “I’m sure he isn’t even thinking about it yet.

My husband has certainly forgotten, and the invitation has been tacked up on the bulletin board in our kitchen for months.

” She grimaced. “When I remind Jeff about it, he’ll be so pissed.

He can’t stand that branch of the family. ”

I searched through my lettuce for more sunflower seeds and thought about their aunt Kellie making snide comments to Levi about his entry-level job or his borrowed apartment.

I was sure that he was capable of dealing with her, but wouldn’t it have been better if he had a specific, designated companion, a person to be on his team?

I made my decision. “If he asks me, I’ll go,” I stated.

“He will ask,” she assured me. “I’m so glad you’ll be there for him. One thing, though…uh, it’s black-tie.” She peered at me, but attire was the least of my problems.

“I have lots of dresses,” I answered, and the rest of our lunch arrived while I considered that my dresses were great for nice events, but possibly my conduct wouldn’t be.

Grant had always produced a list of complaints about things that had gone wrong, from the small talk I attempted, to how much I ate, to my inability to recognize jokes.

He used Vivienne as a foil for all that.

Vivi always knew the right thing to say, like she never would have asked about that girl failing to graduate, and she never, ever would have eaten the last few bites of her dessert.

She would have used her fork to toy with the individual chocolate torte instead of devouring it, like I had at that particular party.

My food now, at this restaurant, was also very good. Levi and I weren’t doing all that much exercise, nowhere close to what you’d need to prepare for the Pacific Coast Trail, but it had increased my appetite anyway. I took a quick glance at my chest, to see if my breasts reflected that…not yet.

As we ate, Ava questioned me carefully about my black-tie attire and where I’d worn it, and I was able to reassure her that I had something appropriate and maybe in the right color, too. “I’m sorry,” she said finally, and looked ashamed. “I don’t mean to give you the fashion third-degree.”

“That’s ok. It’s better to make sure that someone is going to look right,” I answered. “If I do end up going, I wouldn’t want to embarrass Levi.”

“You wouldn’t. I’m sure of it,” she said, but I saw her eyes move to my arm.

The last time she’d seen me, that area had been striped, like an old-time circus tent.

It was all right now, but I could understand if she had any lingering concerns.

“One thing you should know about Levi is that he’s hard to embarrass.

He wouldn’t care if you both went to the wedding in your PJs. ”

“Really?” But I thought about it and realized that he’d never, not once, criticized anything I’d worn.

He’d even complimented me on the cocktail outfit I’d put on for the party at Ava’s house, although he had wondered about the bronzed streaks decorating my skin.

“I guess you’re right,” I agreed. “He doesn’t care about appearances, but others do.

It’s important to wear things so that you fit in, as best as you’re able.

” It was also important to behave the way they expected, and I would work hard to do that, too. If he wanted me to come.

We talked more about wedding fashions and the occasions at which I’d worn my nicest stuff, and that meant I told her about the parties hosted by Grant’s friends.

There had been the wedding in the Turks and Caicos and the engagement party in Courchevel, for example.

That had been exciting because I’d looked forward to skiing, and I’d gone out on the mountain.

Once. Grant didn’t know how to ski and he’d been furious about me leaving him alone in the hotel.

Anyway, we’d also attended the anniversary party for Lance’s parents in Palm Beach and we’d gone to another wedding out west, in Malibu.

There had been many marriage ceremonies as, one after the next, his friends had coupled-up permanently.

Actually, it would have been better to say that they’d made things legal, but not actually permanent.

Several of those pairs were already divorced.

Ava listened to me with wide eyes. “You went all those places?” she asked. “Wow!”

“Grant’s best friend has a plane. Well, Lance’s parents do,” I explained. “We got to fly around with him and his wife Vivienne, and they picked up most of our expenses while we were away, too.”

“That’s amazing!”

“It was lucky for me,” I agreed. “I never would have gotten to experience it all without their money.”

“But you didn’t have fun? I mean, you’re talking about all these wonderful cities and beautiful locations, but you don’t sound very excited about any of it,” she pointed out.

“It was always very stressful,” I said. “My boyfriend was worried about how I would fit in and I was always on my toes to make sure I wasn’t behaving wrong.”

“How?”

There had been so many things. “It sounds like your aunt Kellie also doesn’t behave very well either,” I mentioned. I wondered what would happen if she ever needed help. Would they all drop her because they’d never really liked her?

Ava was now attacking her sandwich. “My aunt is ok sometimes, but she really turns on bitch-mode with Levi.”

“Why does she dislike him?” I asked. It made me pretty mad, since he had only been nice in front of me.

He was polite to servers and he was patient when Hernán gave him advanced grammar lessons in Spanish as we sat on the steps.

He always helped me up and down stairs and he always listened when I talked, even if it was only about Coral.

He was actually listening and not just waiting to say something else about himself, as some other guys did.

“It’s because her son Braylen was born a month after my brother,” Ava explained.

“Aunt Kellie always felt like they were in competition, but Braylen was always losing. Levi is smarter, and he got better grades when he put his mind to it. He was better at sports, like soccer and skiing. He’s taller and better-looking, but my brother never cared about anything like that.

” She shrugged her one shoulder. “Braylen’s just a know-it-all and none of us like him much. ”

“Maybe he’s trying his best,” I pointed out. “Maybe he says the wrong things because he’s trying to fit in.”

“Trust me, when you meet him, you won’t like him either.

He grates on everybody. My sister had a terrible thing happen and stupid Braylen wouldn’t leave her alone about it.

He kept bringing it up and he couldn’t seem to understand why she wouldn’t want to talk about something traumatic.

Last Christmas, Liv’s husband almost threw him outside into the snow.

He’s very strong and Braylen is fairly scrawny,” she mentioned.

We chatted more about members of her family and I had a lot, a whole lot, to dictate for my transcript when I got home.

Finally, we finished eating and split the check, and Ava offered to give me a ride.

I would have accepted but I could see that she was in a hurry after our somewhat leisurely lunch.

She checked her phone, frowned, and then said, “Excuse me, sorry,” before typing like crazy.

That happened a few times before we even made it to the door of the restaurant.

“Why don’t you drive?” she asked as we stepped out onto the sidewalk. “Is it because of your accident?”

“No, it’s to save money. I sold my car and I don’t need one, since I don’t go out very much.

Except I am more, lately,” I admitted. For example, this morning I’d gone with Hernán to get moving boxes and bubble wrap, which he insisted on buying even though he would be transporting everything himself in his trunk.

I found myself telling Ava about his trip and then even more about my neighbor, how he’d tried to teach me to speak Spanish and then how we had become friends.

Somehow, I hadn’t recognized that and now he was leaving.

But finally, I pulled myself to a halt. She really was in a hurry and she didn’t have time to stand here and listen to me blabber. “Sorry,” I said. “Sorry, I don’t know why I said all that to you.”

“No, don’t be sorry. I’m so glad you’re finally talking to me!” she answered, smiling. “Sometimes I feel like I’m forcing you to answer and I hate that idea that I’m prying.”

Not according to Levi, who said that she wrung information out of him like he was a wet rag. But what she’d just said was wrong in another way. “I talk,” I said, puzzled, and she shrugged just the one shoulder.

“You don’t really say too much,” she answered.

“You seem to keep a lot to yourself. I’m sorry, too, that you were having such a hard time when you came out of the hospital.

I only had the problem with my shoulder, and I still had to depend on my family so much with the recovery.

It’s good that your neighbor was there to help you. ”

I thought of what I’d just told her. I had described how Hernán had brought me food and a cat, and I had said that I’d recently learned how he’d been keeping track to make sure I was buying groceries and going outside, beyond our front steps.

“I was lucky to have him for a while,” I answered, “and I’m going to miss him more than I realized.

He’ll be happy with his daughter but I wish he wasn’t moving so far away. ”

Her face changed to reflect surprise and sympathy. “Oh, Emerson, I didn’t meant to make you cry.” She stepped forward and hugged me.