Page 106 of It's Not PMS, It's You

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Ruth eyed the food area and then picked up the bag from the sand, handing it to my mom. “I can see you have a lot of food over there, but I never like to arrive to a party empty-handed. I hope you don’t mind my bringing a couple of Bundt cakes.”

My mom glanced at the logo on the side of the bag. “Nothing Bundt Cakes? They’re my absolute favorite.”

Ruth pointed to the bag. “Red velvet and lemon.”

“You are a doll.” My mom turned to me. “Your girlfriend’s a keeper.”

I sighed. “Mom. She’s not my—”

“Nicky’s dad, Ralph, is in the water, but this is my granddaughter, Lindsey. Nick’s daughter.”

“Nice to meet you.” Ruth gave Lindsey a big hug and then turned back to me, keeping her hand on Lindsey’s back. “You never told me you had such a beautiful daughter.”

Lindsey creased her eyebrows. “Dad! Really?”

I shrugged. “What? It hasn’t come up in conversation yet. It’s not like she knowseverythingabout me.”

Lindsey hooked an arm around Ruth’s arm and pulled her away from me, smiling. “Don’t you worry, she’s going to know everything when I get through with her.”

“What awonderfulidea!” My mom grabbed Ruth’s free arm. “Let’s start from the beginning when Nicky was in diapers.”

“Don’t believe a word they say!” I shouted, as if that was going to do me any good.

Ruth looked back over her shoulder, laughing. “Are you trying to tell me you never wore diapers when you were a baby?”

“Most of the time he ran around naked,” my mom said.

“Mom . . .”

“I couldn’t keep clothes on that boy! Running around with his little ding dong—”

“Mom! Don’t listen to her, Ruth. They’re all lies.”

Ruth laughed again. “I have the best BS detector around and right now the lies all seem to be coming from you,Nicky.”

“Oh, I love her already!” my mom said, the three of them laughing and making a rapid getaway.

I chuckled, happy that Ruth looked like she was already having a good time. The truth was, I wasn’t worried at all about what she could find out from Lindsey and my mom. Anything they told Ruth would be harmless, plus it would be the truth, and how could I have a problem with that?

Well, as long as they didn’t tell her that I still had the same teddy bear my grandfather had given me on my fourth birthday. I had named him the incredibly original name of Teddy and he sat on the shelf in my office.

Lindsey and my mom took Ruth around and introduced her to my other family members, my uncles, aunts, cousins, nieces, and nephews. They gave her the red-carpet treatment, smiling, laughing, hugging, staring in awe, like she was some hotshot Hollywood celebrity.

Ruth made it look effortless the way she worked her way through my family, practically fitting in from the very start. Like she was meant to be there. It was a stark contrast to the serious, stressed-out, uptight Ruth I had seen on more than a few occasions. She didn’t look overwhelmed at all. In fact, it looked like she was eating it up.

Was it just the case of taking her out of a negative environment and sticking her in a positive one? Was I witnessing Ruth changing permanently right before my very eyes? Or was this a one-off where most likely she’d revert back to her serious side after she got home and settled back into her office?

I had no idea.

But I liked what I saw.

Every now and then, Ruth would look back in my direction, like she was checking in with me, giving me a knowing smile, before returning to being adored again.

It may sound silly, but it did something to my heart.

I truly did want to see her happy.

Now, if I could only spend some time with her, since that was the reason I had brought her here in the first place.