“Jane, I’ve seen that movie. And when have I ever not been up for a challenge? Did you ever think maybe Lydia just needs a little fun to loosen her up?” Morrie demanded, not bothering to hide his laughter.
“Dad, ten pounds of prunes couldn’t loosen that grumpy old woman up,” Jane said frankly, laughing back.
“Well, I like prunes,” Morrie said as reasonably as he could, biting the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing himself. “I eat them most mornings for breakfast.”
“That better not be more crass innuendo, old man, I’m scarred enough already,” Jane threatened, even as she laughed. “Thinking about you chasing Lydia McCarthy makes me want to get a bunch of cats and give up men altogether.”
“Why would you do that? You hate cats,” Morrie declared, not fighting the grin that lit his face. “Buy a mean dog—a big one. Then I wouldn’t worry so much about you living alone.”
“For pity’s sake Dad, this is Falls Church, not downtown DC. I’m almost forty and fine by myself. If I buy a dog, it would be too tempting to have him trained to attack Nathan Waterfield on sight,” Jane said. “I don’t want to go to jail.”
“Nathan been giving you grief again?” Morrie demanded, his grin sliding away at the mention of his former son-in-law who had recently taken an interest in Jane’s life again.
“Personal grief? No. Nathan popped by last week on some lame excuse that the house in the Hamptons had problems. I called the management service. There are no problems. He’s just creating drama to get my attention, but I’m not biting. Do I look desperate enough to settle for taking that cheating bastard back?”
“Definitely not,” Morrie said with both confidence and great relief. “But I have been a little concerned that his renewed interest might be the reason you gave up dating. Or is there something else you’ve been meaning to mention to me, baby girl? You know I’m open-minded about any sort of relationship. Or lack of one in Elijah’s case.”
Jane’s derisive snort had her father chuckling, a reaction she tried not to resent. If they hadn’t been at her office, she’d have blasted the irreverent Morrison Fox with a solid round of swearing over his teasing accusations about her sexual orientation.
“Why is it that when a mature woman chooses to stop dating for a few months, everyone automatically assumes she’s turned into a lesbian? I’m just straight and picky. It’s a whole new kind of sexual problem to have. I doubt you’d find it in those Dr. Logan books you brag about reading,” Jane teased, giving her father a look that warned him to change the subject before the conversation went places he didn’t want it to go.
“Dr. Logan is an amazing woman, Jane. You ought to run down to Princeton to hear her speak. She guest lectures every few months. Maybe you could pick up a young college boy while you’re there who could remind you that life is supposed to be fun. Just make sure you throw him back afterwards and don’t get too attached,” Morrie warned, having learned that from the first few hearts he’d broken.
“Spoken like a true womanizer. Just don’t turn into Nathan. I’d hate to have to kill my own father,” Jane teased back.
“I’ve learned to set dating ground rules up front, but Dr. Logan makes me believe there’s real hope for all of us—
even Lydia
,” Morrie emphasized with an ever-widening smile as he noted his daughter’s frown and wrinkled forehead.
Jane gratefully pushed her chair away from her desk, enjoying her father's husky, unrepentant laugh, even if it was about Lydia McCarthy.
“Do you realize we’ve talked more about our private lives in the last five years than the whole time Mom was alive? This new honesty of yours creeps me out sometimes. I’m at least trying to date now and again. Go lecture Elijah on his total lack of a love life,” Jane said.
“Elijah is on a spiritual journey,” Morrie recited, a twinkle in his eye. “I don’t know what happened between him and Shira to send him off on it, but it must have been pretty bad to drive him to celibacy.”
“He’s as well rid of her as I am of Nathan. Shira got engaged to another man like the second she broke up with Elijah. If he was upset about her defection, he sure has a funny way of showing it,” she said. “Most men just jump into serial dating and sleep around to get even.”
“People genuinely in love do strange things,” Morrie said, hoping he sound wise enough to mollify his daughter. “Or at least they often seem strange to the other people in their lives.”
“Come on, I’ve had enough of this. I’m done for the morning until I buy a new cable. Let’s go to lunch,” Jane said briskly, desperate for a change of subject.
“Good,” Morrie said, clapping his hands together. “I’m starved.”
“You know, I hate to shut down access to your current dating pool, Morrison, but I’m completely ready to move on to other work. It was fun saving this place, but I will be nothing but happy to sign the business over to a buyer in the next few months,” Jane said, gathering her things. “The realtor said there’s been two inquiries already, and we still haven’t had the open house yet.”
“Do me a favor, Jane. Make sure the next business you rescue isn’t so demanding of your time. You really do need to start dating again,” Morrie ordered firmly, grabbing her hand as she swung her purse over her shoulder.
“Stop worrying about my love life, Dad. It’s not my fault all the good men in Falls Church are either married or gay. I mean as in really gay, not assumed to be by their fathers,” Jane emphasized, laughing and squeezing his hand as they walked to her father’s beloved royal blue Mercedes convertible.
“Hey, I have an idea. Save a dating service next time,” Morrie teased as they slid in, happy when Jane’s initial snort over the idea turned to a laugh. “Or better yet—start one from scratch. You’ll meet tons of straight men that way.”
“Clever idea, Mr. Business Genius. Maybe I just will,” Jane said sharply, looking sideways at one of the most handsome men she had ever known.
She had married her ex-husband because he had that same kind of rugged handsomeness, but Nathan sure hadn’t been like her father in any other way. That had been good at first, but bad during the last three years that he’d starting sleeping with his employees and clients.
“I think if I started a dating service, it would be an over forty one. Of course, we’d be competing with some major online services, so we’d have to be unique in our offerings. You can run the sixty and up group since you’re gaining all kinds of senior dating experience.”
Morrie sighed and laughed as he swung the car into the restaurant parking lot.
“Dating is easy honey, but it’s hard to find love at my age,” he said softly.
“It’s not easy to find love at my age either, Dad. I can hardly remember how it was to trip over it when I was younger. Now I'm too cynical and on-guard to want to date. How does anyone over forty ever do it?” Jane asked.
“Not sure. Fortunately, you still got a couple of years before you reach the age of needing prunes to loosen you up,” Morrie teased, hugging her as they walked into the restaurant laughing.
***
It had taken Lauren almost a year to be willing to come back to this particular restaurant where her mother used to make her attend their required lunches. She had occasionally missed the great Italian food, but not her mother’s negative company while she ate it.
If Regina hadn't planted a seed of forgiveness by encouraging her to give her mother another chance to be her friend, Lauren doubted she would be here even now. Well, Regina’s encouragement, and maybe a whole year spent watching Lydia McCarthy miraculously becoming an outstanding grandmother.
Lauren supposed such a dramatic effort merited a public lunch date together to see if her mother had maybe changed in other ways. Even Regina admitted her mother’s grandparenting skills were a good sign that her mother was evolving. Into what, Lauren wasn’t sure, but she had accepted the lunch invitation to try and figure it out. She well knew Dr. Regina Logan was rarely wrong, but there was always a first time. It was highly unlikely that Lydia McCarthy would ever willfully choose to be redeemed of her vitriolic past.
But at the very least, Lauren imagined she’d have quite a bit to talk about this Thursday at dinner. She was sure Alexa and Regina were both tired of hearing about how wonderful her son was being.
“Mother? Who are you staring at?” Lauren asked, digging into her pasta, amazed at the flavors dancing along her tongue. She had forgotten how great it was.
“Jane Wakefield just came in with her womanizing father,” Lydia said with a sniff. “I don’t feel safe going to North Winds to volunteer anymore with that man roaming about the place all the time.”
Lauren laughed. She couldn’t help it. “Why? Has
that man
done the unpardonable and actually asked you out?”
“Absolutely not,” Lydia said, huffing at the idea. “I would never tolerate that kind of thing from some strange man I don’t even know.”
Lauren turned around to take a look at the womanizing, strange man in question, whom she saw was happily chatting and laughing with his daughter. She felt a tug of envy for their easy family conversation, then sighed and told herself to just let it go.
“Well, you can relax, Mother. I don’t think he’s interested in you,” Lauren said flatly, returning her attention to her plate.
“It’s no wonder you stayed single all those years,” Lydia said, giving her attention to her food while keeping a watchful eye on Morrison and Jane. “Of course, Jane’s single too. Harrison Graham knows her and still lives at North Winds. He said Jane was divorced from a wealthy guy who owns a whole string of carpet cleaning services. Women just can’t seem to hold on to their men these days.”
Lauren rolled her eyes and sipped her wine. “Maybe her ex-husband wasn’t worth the strain on her arms.”
“You’re so droll in your humor, dear,” Lydia remarked.
“At least I have a sense of humor, Mother,” Lauren said, smiling back tightly. “Could I maybe enjoy the rest of my pasta without hearing running insults of people I don’t really know? I try only to insult people I've actually met.”
Lydia sighed. Lauren wasn’t calling her bad names, but it was getting close to the comments she had heard. This was not how lunch was supposed to go.
“You’re right. I apologize. The disgrace Morrison Fox makes of himself is not a proper topic of conversation for our lunch. Tell me about my grandson instead. Is JD liking his daycare?”
Lauren snickered about her mother using her son's nickname. They had named him James Davis, but her mother had been calling him JD almost from the beginning. Calling him Jamie or Dave hadn’t even had a chance to happen.
“Because of his bigger size, JD plays with the two-year-olds instead of toddlers his own age. He has now learned to yell at the top of his lungs and does so at every opportunity,” she reported, amazed when her mother genuinely laughed. Her son was the only human on earth who seemed to have that kind of effect on her mother.
"I agree JD is quite the spirited child for only seventeen months," Lydia said. "Do you think he likes going?"
"What’s not to like? You and Jim have him enrolled in the most expensive, fun-filled daycare in town,” Lauren grumbled.
“Jim and I both agreed that the security they offered at that daycare was needed. After all, Lauren, you married a very wealthy man. You need to take a few more precautions in your life now,” Lydia said.
“Martha was doing just fine with JD at the house. We could have brought kids in to play with him,” Lauren said sadly. “I miss him popping in on me, even those three days.”
Lydia’s heart warmed. Lauren was such a good mother. It made her hopeful that she hadn’t made a complete mess out of her daughter’s life with her own haphazard parenting. Without stopping to think, she reached over and rubbed Lauren’s hand.
“You are a wonderful mother. Those three days are good for both of you,” Lydia said sincerely.
Lauren’s mouth dropped open in shock. “You think I’m a good mother?”
Lydia nodded and swallowed a bite of her excellent pasta. “One of the best I’ve ever known. Much better than me, actually. I had no idea what to do with you when you were born. Thank heavens your father could afford a nanny to help me.”
“Mother—you just gave me a compliment,” Lauren declared, still in shock.
Lydia laughed softly. “Of course I did. I compliment you all the time,” she said.
“No—no you certainly don’t, but this one makes up for the past,” Lauren said, reaching across the table to take her mother’s hand and squeeze it. “Thank you for saying it. Sometimes I don’t always feel like a good mother.”
“Darling, you’re a poster child for the best mother and wife in Falls Church,” Lydia said expansively, teasing in her exaggeration, but it also held a lot of truth. Lauren was truly wonderful at both.
Lauren let go of her mother’s hand and reached for the wine glass by her mother’s plate, lifting it to her nose and taking an exaggerated sniff.
“What kind of wine is this? Did the wait staff slip a happy pill in here? I wouldn’t be surprised if they were plotting against you,” Lauren said, mostly teasing.
It was a cloaked comment not much better than the bitch remark, but it was the teasing affection in Lauren’s eyes that softened it. Knowing her daughter loved her made her slightly giddy with relief. What started out as a choked giggle, turned into a full-blown belly laugh that embarrassed Lydia when it echoed loudly through the entire restaurant. Fortunately, it was starting to empty of the lunch crowd that had filled it for the last hour.