“That’s amazing,” Ben said. “I’ve never seen him act that way around anybody.”
“Well,” Lily said, stroking Mordecai’s huge head. “I’m afraid he scores more points than you do in the doting-husband category.” She sighed at the thought of having to contact the Maycombs. “But if you want to improve your score, you can hand me the phone. I believe we have a dinner invitation to proffer.”
Lily dialed the Maycombs’ number and waited nervously for an answer. After three rings, Charlotte’s mother trilled a melodic “Hello.”
Shit, Lily thought, before she dialed, she should have figured out what she was going to say. “Um, hi, Mrs. Maycomb? This is Lily.”
“Lily Fox?”
How many Lilys do you know, old woman? she thought, but she said sweetly, “Yes, although that’s not my last name anymore. I...married recently.”
“Married?” Ida Maycomb squawked like a mynah. “To a man?”
Well, sort of. “Why, yes, of course. I’m Mrs. Ben McGilly now,” Lily said, gagging slightly. “The thing is ... Ben, Mimi, and I are living up in Versailles now, and his family and I wanted to invite you to dinner some night. You could spend some time with Mimi, meet her other grandparents ... and we could talk. I know we’ve had our differences in the past, and I was hoping we could sit down to a meal together and maybe straighten things out.”
“Well...um, I don’t know, Lily.” Ida’s voice quivered with the uneasiness of a person who never makes her own decisions. “I’d have to ask Charles, of course. And Mike ... would he be invited?”
“Sure,” Lily said cheerily, even as her stomach lurched at the thought of this horrid gathering.
“And when would this dinner be?”
“How about Saturday at six? Ben can meet you at the interstate exit to show you the way to the house.” Ben glowered at her, and she stuck out her tongue at him.
“Well ...” Ida waffled. “I’ll tell you what. I’ll talk to Charles when he gets home and see what he says.”
“Okay, well, let me give you the number here.” Ida hung up the second Lily recited the last digit.
Two beers for Lily and three dog biscuits for Mordecai later, the phone rang. Lily had only gone so far as to say “Hel —” when Ida said, “We’ll be there — Saturday at six.” Click.
“Well, they’re coming,” Lily sighed.
Ben shook his head. “It’s kinda hard to figure out whether that’s good news or not, isn’t it?”
That night, Mordecai slept in the bed between Lily and Ben, taking up more than his fair share of room. Between Ben’s snores and Mordecai’s flatulence, Lily could scarcely sleep for the noise and air pollution. Soon, she comforted herself, they’d be in their shoe box of a house, where at least they could sleep in canine-free separate beds.
The housekeeper had dusted, scoured, or vacuumed every available surface of the McGillys’
