I followed the directions Jodi had given me and parked in front of the two-story house. I loved plays but hadn’t been to one in quite a while. Too much work and not enough play, my daughter had often said to me. I realized she was right. This was the first Saturday I’d taken off since I opened the salon.
The house was bigger and nicer than I expected it to be. The sidewalk leading to the house was lined with the young flowers of June. I rang the bell and waited. The door was opened by a woman about my height, with very short, faded red hair and a thin face. My first thought was that a different hairstyle would suit her better, but quickly chastised myself for being judgy. Sitting by her side was what looked like a collie mix, tail wagging so hard that it made a thud as it thumped against the tiled floor. The woman gave me a smile and extended her hand.
“Hi,” she said. “You must be Beth. I’m Claire.”
I shook her hand. “Nice to meet you, Claire.” I put the back of my hand out to the dog. “And who do we have here?” She gave my hand a sniff and then a quick lick.
“That’s Tess. I’m sure she’ll make a pest of herself,” she answered. “Tess, go lie down.”
“She’s okay. She’s beautiful.” I ran my hand over the fur on her head.
“Come on in. Jodi will be down in a minute.”
The large foyer was painted white, not eggshell, not off-white, not bone white, but pure white. I had never seen such a white white before. It extended up to the second floor. A chandelier hung from the high ceiling. An oak banister off to the left led up the stairs. Claire turned toward them and called up. “Babe, your friend’s here.”
Jodi came bouncing down. “Hi,” she said to me. She had a big smile on her face. I had come to expect that whenever I saw her. I looked forward to it. I smiled back.
“Would you like a cup of coffee or something to drink?” Claire asked me.
“Sure, that would be great. Thanks.” I followed her into the kitchen, with Jodi right behind me. It was as impressive as the foyer had been. The white cabinets stopped just short of the ceiling, and wicker baskets of varying shapes and sizes sat on top.
“Claire’s collection,” Jodi said when she noticed me looking.
“Very nice,” I said more out of effort to be polite than any real admiration.
I could tell by Jodi’s smile that she knew that.
Claire poured two cups of coffee and put them on the table. Jodi got a small container of half-and-half and put it on the table as well.
Claire sat at the head of the table and motioned for me to do the same. She pushed one of the cups in front of me.
Jodi handed me a spoon and sat across from me.
“Do you need sugar?” Claire asked me.
“Just cream,” Jodi answered for me. I was surprised she remembered.
I snuck a look at Claire. I’m not sure what I expected, but this wasn’t it. Jodi was very pretty. I guess I thought her partner would be equally nice looking. She wasn’t. She wasn’t what I would call ugly; maybe plain was the word that seemed to work best. She didn’t seem as warm as Jodi was either, at least at first glance. I realized I was making assumptions again.
“Claire,” I said. “Jodi tells me you work for Benderson. My uncle retired from there. How do you like it?”
She took a sip of her coffee before answering. “I like it a lot. I’m in charge of the warehouse. Inventory, that sort of thing. It’s a busy place. I like to keep everybody hopping.”
“That’s great,” I said. “Always good to like what you do for a living.”
Jodi slid the container of half-and-half in my direction. “How was your morning?” she asked me.
“Fine. Maddie was in rare form this morning.” I turned toward Claire. “Maddie’s my daughter,” I told her, not sure how much she knew. “She’s seventeen.”
Claire nodded.
“Anyway,” I continued. “She usually argues with me about everything. But this morning she got up before I did and made me breakfast. I was kind of waiting for the shoe to drop. Wondering what she was up to.”
“Did you find out?” Claire asked in a dull voice. Dull. That was the word I think I was searching for to describe her. Jodi seemed so animated, so full of life. Her partner, on the other hand, seemed dull, monotone. If Jodi was a movie she would be in full Technicolor. Claire would be in black and white. Grainy black and white. I wondered what Jodi saw in her. Maybe Claire was different when they were alone together.
I smiled, more at my thoughts about Claire, which I admitted to myself were not very charitable or Christian-like, than at Claire herself. “I have no idea. It kind of scares me.”
“I can understand that. Teenagers in general scare me. Make me crazy in fact.” There was no hint of a smile or that she was somehow kidding. I knew Andrew, Jodi’s son, was a teenager. I wondered how hurtful Claire’s statement was to her. I glanced at her but couldn’t quite read her face.
I sipped my coffee and looked around the kitchen. It was remarkably clean for a house with children in it. No matter how much I picked up after Maddie, mine never even came close to this. “Where are the kids?” I asked Jodi. “I was hoping I would get a chance to meet Andrew and say hi to Annie.”
“She had a play date and Andrew has lacrosse practice. I’m sure you’ll get another chance.”
“Thanks again for inviting me to this. I’m really looking forward to it.”
Claire piped up. “You’re doing me a favor. It got me out of going.”
“Not a fan of plays?” I asked.
“Hate ’em. I find them so boring. Jodi’s dragged me to enough of them. I’m glad she found someone else willing to go.”
Yeah. I didn’t like her. At all.
Jodi spoke before I had a chance to respond to Claire’s comment. I wondered if she did it on purpose. “You’re welcome. I’m so glad you agreed.” She looked at her watch. “Maybe we should get going just in case it takes us a little while to park.”
“Sure.” A sense of relief washed over me at the thought of not trying to make further small talk with Claire.
Jodi got up, took my cup, and dumped it into the sink. She rinsed it, put it in the dishwasher, and rinsed the sink with the sprayer.
“Well, Claire,” I said, pushing my chair from the table and standing up, “it was so nice meeting you.”
“You too.”
“Bye, honey.” Jodi gave her a kiss on the mouth.
I turned my head, a little embarrassed at the intimate act and wondering if I would have turned away if Jodi was kissing a man good-bye instead of a woman. I wasn’t sure.
As soon as we were in Jodi’s car, she turned to me. “So, that was Claire.”
I laughed. “I know.”
“Sometimes she comes off a little…um…short. She doesn’t mean it. She really is a great person.”
“Of course she is. She must be, if you love her.” And it was obvious that she did. I just wasn’t sure why. “She was fine.”
“Thanks.” Jodi backed the car out of the driveway, deftly avoiding my car parked on the street, and pointed us in the direction of Monroe Avenue and the play I really was looking forward to seeing with her.