He took her hand across the dinner table. “You’ve always been so lovely to me. You’re the one true love of my life.”
She smiled. Then the smile faded and she suddenly pulled her hand back. “Oh no you don’t. Attitudes and platitudes,” she sipped her wine, “and platypuses. You do this to me every time—you pull me back in. Damn you!” She emptied her glass and reached for the bottle.
Lowell watched silently. She was stepping over the line. He’d seen it a few times before.
The waiter ran over and grabbed the bottle first. “Allow me, ma’am.” He started to pour.
Lowell put his hand up. “A double espresso, please.”
He looked over at Catherine. She grimaced. Then nodded.
“Make that two double espressos,” he said.
After dinner they walked around town, passing the playhouse theatre and houses more than a century old.
She took his arm. “You know, coffee doesn’t sober you up. That’s a fallacy. It just makes you an awake drunk.”
“I’m still in love with you.”
“David, you have to stop. It’s not going to work. We’re just so…we’ve changed too much.”
There was a chill in the air. She pulled the collar up around her neck, and then took his arm again. “You know I still love you. I always will. You’re the man in my life, no matter how we describe it. But right now I just can’t see us…you know.”
They walked in silence through the underbrush, kicking up the few early fallen leaves as they went.
He wanted to pull his collar up as well, but was afraid to let go of her arm. “We must have walked this path a thousand times through the years.”
“Um hmm.”
“Do you remember that time Melinda fell out of the tree? It was somewhere right around here.”
She held on tighter. “Oh sure. That’s when she broke her arm. What a to-do that was!”
He laughed. “What was she, about eleven?”
“That’s right. She had just had a birthday party that week. She was always such a tomboy.”
“I remember Robert came screaming up to the house, he was sure she was…” He stopped.
Catherine looked over at him. “It’s okay to say it, David. He was sure she was dead. If we’re ever going to get past this we have to face it in all of its subtlety. When someone close leaves you forever the feelings seem to never let go completely.” She stopped walking and looked at him. “Losing Robert was such a terrible time. I never thought I’d be able to feel again or enjoy life. But I do.”
David was silent.
She leaned her head on his shoulder. “I didn’t mean to blame you, really I didn’t. I guess I just had to blame someone. And God is just too convenient a scapegoat.”
“What could I have done?”
“You’ve helped people in all areas of their lives. You’ve predicted dozens of world events, prevented your clients from making the worst mistakes of their lives. Why couldn’t you have done the same for your son?”
“I tried, but he wouldn’t listen.” They had been over this so many times, and each time he hoped would be the last. “Robert never took to astrology the way Melinda did. He wasn’t so much a non-believer, he just ignored it. It was his nature to be rebellious, and maybe that was just another way of displaying it.” He took his arm back and turned his collar up. They walked again, disconnected. “I knew the transits and progressions Robert was facing and warned him repeatedly to avoid dangerous situations. But it’s exactly under such aspects that one would find himself in the position he did. He saved the life of the bodega owner.”
She nodded. “At the cost of his own.”
“Don’t you know that I would gladly give my own life in return for his?”
The tears started to fall from her eyes. She nodded. “Yes, I do know.”
She took his arm again and held on so tightly it hurt. But it was a good hurt. She took out a tissue from her coat pocket and dabbed at her eyes, then shook a little and regained control. They walked for another half hour. The effects of the wine began to wane. “Let’s go home and build a fire.”
They walked back to the dark house. As they reached the porch Lowell thought he heard footsteps behind them. He turned quickly, just catching the glimpse of someone scurrying into the woods. Probably some teenagers looking for a make-out spot. He thought. But for some reason it left him feeling uneasy.
Lowell went in first and turned on the porch light. “I guess Melinda’s still on her date.”
“Are you being a jealous father?” Catherine chuckled.
“No. Actually I’m glad she’s out. I don’t think she dates much.”
“You see her all the time, don’t you know?”
He shook his head. “We don’t discuss certain things.”
“Why David Lowell, you’ve become such a prude. Whatever happened to the fiery, sizzling lover who used to take me into these very same woods and make love to me under the stars?”
“Please, Catherine, the chipmunks are blushing.”
They went into the living room, a large space with very high ceilings and exposed wooden beams. The house was built in the early twentieth century and had an old, solid feeling about it, a structure from a different era, before houses were made of metal and looked like they belonged in a Picasso painting.
The fireplace was huge and had originally been used to heat this part of the house before the oil furnace was installed. David took some kindling and laid it across the base of the fireplace. Then he took four large logs and arranged them in such a way as to maximize the starter fire of the kindling and make sure they all caught the blaze. There was always at least a cord of wood stacked in the backyard, and before he settled down, David made several trips to ensure enough wood to last the evening.
They sat on the floor and watched as the wood crackled and sang. “Do you think we should have a nightcap?”
Catherine thought for a moment. “I’m pretty sober now. I think a cognac wouldn’t hurt, do you?”
He went to the bar to the left of the fireplace, took two snifters, and poured them each a Remy. Then he sat back down on the floor and handed one to Catherine.
They clicked their glasses and each took a sip. The hot liquid drizzling down his throat had a relaxing, soothing effect.
“You know,” he said, “I almost never drink this stuff. I only seem to like cognac by a blazing fire. They seem to go together in some strange way.”
She took a sip and looked at her ex-husband, the firelight dancing a minuet behind him. There was something so right about this man, and yet…She sighed. Then took another sip. She was careful, didn’t want to get sloppy. She had been drinking quite a bit lately and was a little concerned about it. She didn’t want this to turn into a fight, as it had the last time they were together. “David,” he turned toward her. “David I…”
“What is it, Catherine?”
“Why don’t you stay until Monday morning?”
“Okay.”
She sipped her Remy. “In the guest room.”
He sighed. “Whatever makes you comfortable.”
Melinda got home about midnight and found her parents asleep under a blue blanket, in front of a dying fire. Rather than wake them, she built the fire up again, made sure it was secured behind the metal guard, and went to sleep.
***
They all had breakfast together the next morning and spent the day meandering through town. Zack joined them for lunch at a local diner and they reminisced. The evening was a quiet dinner at home just for the family. They built another fire and played Clue. David won.