He parked in front of Rory and Dana’s cottage fifteen minutes later. The front door opened and three small animals dashed out. Andy got out of the car. Molly jumped out right behind him and started running around with the others. He watched them for a minute, smiling, then transferred the smile to Dana. “So where is the cherubim?”
“She’s at Dmitri’s, and then she’s going to the gym. What’s up? Come on in.”
“You finally got a break,” he said, following her in. “That show of yours is stupid.” She made a sound of agreement, leaving the front door open, taking him through to the dining den. “Jesus, it smells good in here.”
“Rory made cookies before she left.” There was a plate on the table with the coffee things. “You are amazingly hairy.” Andy snorted. “It’s really kind of hot.”
“Victor likes the beard. He’s all, don’t cut your hair. It seems to be a year for embracing the grizz.”
“I had to start with mine.” Dana was philosophical. “I realized it wasn’t only the not-getting-as-much-sun thing, though that was part of it, so I’ve been making time to get outside. Shaya is hooking me up.”
“Highlights?”
“She goes through with a crochet hook and separates the gray chunks and turns them a better color.” Dana was forty-six. “I am officially now high-maintenance. Between the Botox, the facials, the gym, the hair, and the imminent neck lift and eye job.”
“You’re going to do that?” Andy didn’t quite approve.
Dana shrugged. She wasn’t committed to it. But, “The face is the only part of me I can’t maintain in the gym.”
“It’s still way better than average. I think you’re more beautiful now than
you were when I met you.”
“Aw, thanks. I was thinking next summer for that, if this stupid show will wrap the season at a normal time. But maybe I’ll let it go a while longer.
Anyway. How are you doing? How do you like having Miss Cuban America in the house?”
“She’s so fucking cute. She didn’t grow up like us, with books. She’s mainlining Shakespeare, we talk about it constantly. Victor has more of the academic view, his high school was about ten times better than mine for that shit. I sit there with the internet open looking up commentary so we can figure out what the dude was actually saying with this line or that. And in exchange, she turned me on to romance novels.”
Dana laughed. “No kidding? I love a good romance novel. Rory and I have a keeper shelf up in the loft.”
“Do you read the dirty parts to each other?”
“Yes we do. So Victor is doing some time with the therapist, huh.”
“Well.” Andy ate a cookie. “We almost had another fight because he wouldn’t stop apologizing. I was like, dude, I was every bit as bad with my silent treatment. You forgive me? Okay, well I forgive you. He’s trying to get to the bottom of it. We’re talking a lot.”
“Still getting jiggy, I presume.”
“Oh my God.” Andy’s expression was eloquent.
Dana snickered. “Back at the beginning with me and Rory, when I wasn’t working full-time, it was so great. We could fool around and then, like, stay in bed. Talking or napping or listening to music.”
“That’s exactly what it’s like. We have so much time. We’re still kind of looking around going, don’t we have something we have to do? And we don’t! We have all this shit going on, but absolutely none of it is required!
It’s fucking bizarre!” Dana was giggling. “Anyway yes. We’re having a lot of great sex. Poor Loretta.” Dana cracked up. “But we’re also having these hours of kissing each other and holding each other, and there’s no hurry. It’s never like, let’s get to the main event because ten minutes from now we owe somebody something. It is sensational.” He drank some coffee, ate another cookie. “You changed the colors in here.”
“We had the red and pink look for a long time.”
“It looks almost underwater now. Moody. Are those the same
chandeliers?” A cluster of small ones over the dining table, all painted in shades of blue and green.
“Yeah, we told Lucy what we wanted to do and she said cool, I’ll come get them. By the time the new drapery was done, they were ready. When Rory saw the pearls and shit she swooned a little.”
“Our girl is a sensualist at heart.”
“Oh yes she is. So.” Dana ate a cookie. “I presume you actually do have ten thousand projects going.”
“Pretty much, yeah. Still waiting for you girls to tell me what Shakespeare characters you’re doing.”
“Well, what are you doing?”
“Antonio and Bassanio. That’s one reason for the hair situation.” Dana laughed again. Andy was grinning. “He came up with the staging in about five seconds. I was sitting there going yep, sounds perfect, okay. It’s going to be sexy as fuck for the Bassanio line, and full heartbreaker for the Antonio line.”
“Any hints?”
“Those are hints.” There was a slight rumpus of toenails, and then all four animals swarmed into the den. “Hello pretty girl. Did you have fun with the littles? What can I do for you? Oh of course, well, always. Such a good girl. Yes you’re the best girl. Jesus Molly you saw me a few minutes ago.”
He was laughing, wiping his face. “This dog, I swear.”
“I know.” Dana had her hands full with the two small dogs. Spike the cat was on the table investigating the cookies. “Get your ass down, you little shit.” She goosed him
