Page 6

LITTLE THINGS

VANESSA

T he next afternoon, after decompressing in her backyard with some yoga, meditation, and gardening, Vanessa drove the half-hour drive over to Chappaqua.

She was obliged to visit her mother; she’d fallen back into going over for dinner and spending the night at least once a week since the split from Santino.

“It’s not good to sit in a house alone,” Nadine had said. She knew from experience as a young widow how empty a house could feel when the life partner you expected to live with forever was no longer there.

Ever since their father Robert had passed after the bus accident, Vanessa had hoped that when the time came, she’d be able to afford to bring her mother to live with her.

She’d make room for her father’s sister too, her beloved second mommy, Auntie Annabelle, who’d married and divorced young and whose only son was career military permanently stationed in Japan.

Bobby had become a neonatal heart surgeon, making the big bucks.

Before she was even done with law school, he and his wife, Zoe, had bought a huge old home with a detached house where Nadine could be close by.

They’d encouraged her to retire from her nursing gig early, so she could truly enjoy her mid-life years traveling and relaxing.

Now, Vanessa drove up to the old gray stone structure that used to belong to some famous Westchester County residents, including a former president. It was early yet, not quite four o’clock, so it wasn’t a surprise that Bobby’s Beemer wasn’t in the driveway. And thank God neither was Zoe’s SUV.

Vanessa drove past the house to the smaller two-story structure beyond, Nadine’s carriage house.

It had been renovated extensively when Bobby and Zoe bought the property, and it was gorgeous and comfortable.

Nadine was in the living room watching television at low volume while her niece Everly was sleeping in a bassinette nearby, to Vanessa’s delight.

She kicked off her shoes and placed them in the nearby closet, then headed toward the couch.

“Hey, Mom,” she whispered, leaning over to give Nadine a kiss.

She wriggled her fingers at the sleeping baby, playfully threatening to wake her up. Being around Everly made her baby fever flame up into a bonfire every time.

Her mother grinned back up at her with that gap in her teeth that jogged some of Vanessa’s earliest memories.

She’d remembered gazing at that gap, wishing she had one just like it.

She’d seen it often in her mother’s laughter while her father spun and twirled her, dancing together in the living room.

Her mother had smiled a lot more back in those days before the accident that had taken him away from her, away from them.

“I like this,” Nadine said, touching Vanessa’s jacket.

“You know what they say. ‘Dress for the job you want, not for the job you have.’ Keep this up and you’ll be running that firm in no time.

Drexler, Mancini, Watson, & Associates.” Vanessa’s face warmed at her mother’s compliment and her grandiose plans for her future.

“We missed you yesterday for Friday night dinner. Zoe made the most delicious meal.”

Aaannnnd the moment of basking in her compliment was already over. “Oh? What did she make? Where is she, anyway?”

There was a random moonstone in her pocket that she’d put in there once and forgot to remove. She rubbed its cool, smooth surface with her fingers absently while she settled on the couch next to Nadine.

“Getting something waxed. I don’t even want to know what.

” Nadine’s expression said she would have clutched some pearls if she’d been wearing any.

“She’s been experimenting with Spanish food.

Absolutely amazing. I’ve been telling her that when Everly is more independent, she should consider running her own catering business. ...”

Vanessa’s mind took a detour from the conversation about Zoe’s amazing cooking to pull up the internal file on the stone: moonstone, found in New Mexico, Old Mexico, Tanzania, Poland, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar, to name a few locations.

It was known for its calming properties and connection to spiritual energy. And also, she found it really pretty.

She became aware that Nadine had stopped speaking and was waiting for a response. “Spanish as in tacos?”

“ No , as in paella and food from the Basque region. That’s what she said, anyway,” Nadine said.

Next, her mother launched into all the details about her sister-in-law’s excellent baking. “All the ladies in the neighborhood have been saying the same thing. You wouldn’t believe how popular her pastries are at birthday parties…”

Nadine saw Zoe as a younger clone of herself, right down to the nursing career and West Indian heritage.

The difference was the freedom Zoe had to quit her position as head nurse of the NICU at the hospital where Bobby still worked when they had gorgeous little Everly a year ago.

She’d turned her considerable energy toward raising Everly and keeping herself and her home in tip-top, magazine-ready shape.

The Guyanese Kween, as she referred to herself, was perfectly coiffed at all times, as well as waxed, moisturized, and hydrated.

And best of all, in Nadine’s eyes, she treated Bobby like a kang .

“Anyway, what did you do last night?” Nadine finally asked.

“Not much. I watched The Conjuring for the fiftieth time. I was wiped out after work. It’s this case I’m on. It’s really wearing on me. They —”

The soft sound of Nadine gently sucking her teeth interrupted her.

“Vanessa. You’ve been wanting to be a lawyer for as long as I can remember.

Now that you’re where you wanted to be, at a top law firm, all you do lately is complain.

Do you know that in the three years since you started, you are making three times what your father made driving that bus up and down Fordham Road for twenty years?

He never had a negative word to say about it. ”

Yes, she knew. Nadine never failed to remind her.

Her mother didn’t believe in complaining, especially not from her. She’d always stressed that Vanessa should act like a lady, be strong, keep her cool. Persevere. “Nobody cares. Work harder” was her motto.

“If you want to make partner, you’re going to have to do what they ask you to do.

That’s just how it is. Look at your brother.

Day in, day out, he’s at the hospital working on those babies, then he comes home and takes care of his wife and his own child.

And people are noticing. If you’d come over last night, you would have heard the good news.

” Nadine’s eyes took on that familiar gleam of almost worshipful pride.

“Your brother is receiving a huge award for his work at the hospital. Best physician in the tri-state area for his advancements in neonatal cardiothoracic surgery. They’re going to have the ceremony in Philly in October.

Isn’t that exciting? He’s worked so hard for all of this. ”

Vanessa’s fingers involuntarily clenched around the stone. “Oh really? That is great news. He definitely deserves it.”

“Of course! I want both my children to have the best. Bobby has his work, he has Zoe and this precious child,” she said, glancing down at Everly and admiring her tiny fingernails and long black lashes.

Her face turned reflective. Vanessa knew what was coming next.

“And you have this job. You have to make the best of it.”

Please wake up and save me , Vanessa silently urged her sleeping niece. Everly stirred, tooted, and settled down. Even her passing gas was adorable. She hoped as Everly grew they would be as close as she and her Auntie Belle had been.

Right when Vanessa thought Nadine might move on, here it came.

“I used to hope you’d have your baby first,” Nadine confided, leaning over to adjust the cap on Everly’s head full of wavy black hair, then staring into Everly’s precious little cocoa brown face.

“They always say your daughter’s children will be closer to you.

But it’s just as well. I liked Santino, but let’s face it, he wasn’t mature enough to be a father. Imagine a baby raising a baby.”

She laughed at her own joke while Vanessa seethed inside.

It wasn’t the first time her mother had made a remark like that about Santino.

Despite how immature Santino had been at times, she’d known and still believed he’d make a wonderful father.

He would have been a fun, playful dad, and deeply caring, infusing their children with that outsized spirit of his.

Only now he’d have to have that with someone else. The thought of that made her ache.

Nadine had had “complicated feelings” about Santino.

When she’d heard they’d met in an elevator rescue, she’d pronounced, “Those firemen are such flirts. You know what your grandmother said. How you meet a man is how you lose him.” Then, the first time she’d met him, Nadine had declared afterward, “Yup. He looks like a cheater.”

But over time, she’d come to like him. He’d charmed her, like he’d charmed everybody else, and she lamented when they broke up, seeming to vaguely infer that it was Vanessa’s fault in some way. Not patient enough. Not willing to compromise like a good marriage required.

As usual, Vanessa tried the well-worn tactic of redirection. “Well, maybe soon I’ll have good news of my own on that front. You know I’ve been dating someone. His name is Scott. He’s coming up with me to Montreal for the Jazz Festival.”

Silence. Her mother’s mouth turned down slightly at the corners. She brushed her short, relaxed brown hair behind her ear with her fingertips.

“Bobby mentioned that. Do you really think it’s appropriate to bring him up there? Bobby’s job is so stressful, and he works so hard. He should be able to relax without having to entertain some stranger. Do you feel you know him well enough?”