“You’re only twenty-one and you’ve already been to more countries than your old mom,” Emily quipped.
“I really did miss you, though. It was a rough adjustment. I mean, I had my housemates and everything, but it was so weird not being there with you, not seeing you every single day. I wish you could have gone with me,” Blair said.
“Well, I want to see all the pictures. I’ll live vicariously through you,” Emily said, squeezing Blair’s hands tighter.
“Mom, you have no idea how much I missed you. Seriously,” Blair said, shaking her head. “So enough about me. What’s been going on here? Same old, same old?”
“You just got back from Greece and you want to talk about my boring little life?” Emily grinned, shaking her head gently.
“Yes! Did I miss anything exciting?”
“No, not a darn thing.” Emily said. “Hank just started a new construction job. They’re building a new bank on the corner of Paulson and Main.”
“He still hasn’t proposed?” Blair asked, her eyes narrowing on her mother.
“God, you want me to get married more than I want to get married.”
“No, I just know Hank makes you happy. He’s a catch and I know he’ll pop the question someday. I mean, he’s got to. You guys have been together for two years and you’re both not getting any younger,” Blair teased.
“Yeah, thanks for the reminder,” Emily said, rolling her eyes. “But you know it was hard for me after the divorce with your dad, and his separation from Christy wasn’t that joyful either. We just want to take our time.”
“Well, hopefully not too much time. You know it will happen at some point.”
“So how was Cole? Was he ecstatic to see you? He must have missed you a whole lot,” Emily said.
“I’ve never seen him so affectionate in my entire life, which makes sense since he hasn’t been getting any for a year,” Blair said, giggling.
“Blair!” Emily cackled, her eyes scanning the diner that surrounded them as her cheeks grew hot.
“Did you do what I asked?” Blair inquired, biting the corner of her bottom lip nervously.
“Yes, I drove by the apartment every now and then. I never saw a car there. As far as I know, he was a very good boy,” Emily said. “I bet Zoey was happy to see you, too.”
“Oh, yeah.” Blair smiled as she reached forward and grabbed her mother’s water glass. “She missed having someone to copy off of in Anatomy and Physiology. She was really happy to see me though. She kept an eye on Cole, too. Having a friend living right down the hall has more perks than just borrowing tampons.” Blair giggled and sipped from her mother’s straw.
“I guess you haven’t talked to your dad, have you?” Emily asked. Blair’s button nose scrunched up in disgust as she shook her head. She hadn’t talked to her father since last Christmas. Now, here they were in February, a year and two months later, and still not a single syllable uttered to him. Emily knew Blair took the divorce hard, understandably so. What he did hurt Blair just as much as it hurt Emily.
“I have nothing to say to him. I refer to him as the sperm donor now.” She laughed.
“Blair, that’s not nice,” Emily reprimanded. Sure, she agreed. But she would never let Blair know that.
“Please, Mom. Don’t act like you two became best friends while I was gone. It would take more than a year to patch that shit show up.”
“Well, I think it’s time the two of you get past this little disagreement,” Emily said.
“How are your meetings going?” Blair asked, shoving the conversation and hurling it into a new direction.
“That was a smooth transition.”
“Well, I just don’t want to talk about Dad, okay?” Blair sighed. “So, how are the meetings?”
“They’re going great. I am now six months sober,” Emily lied.
“Mom, that’s great! See! I had every faith in you,” Blair grinned.
“I know. It was hard with you being gone but I just buckled down. Hank helped me through it a lot.”
“It’s just really nice to see you so happy and healthy, Mom. I know you’ve had your issues and your struggles, but we all have. What matters is how you handle them, how you overcome them. I’m really proud of you.” Blair smiled, two dimples forming on her round, supple cheeks.
“And I’m proud of you,” Emily said, “for finally coming home.” Emily giggled as Blair smiled. “Promise you’ll never leave me again?” Emily joked, reaching forward once more. Emily’s fingers locked around Blair’s as her blue eyes darted up to her mother’s.
“I promise.”
desire
Emily’s hands wrapped around the steering wheel of her Honda Civic as she stared through the windshield. The rays of sun danced along the clear glass as Emily’s eyes stared forward, the old shops of downtown Elwood swirling by as she spun the wheel to the right. And that’s when she saw it: The Elwood Community Center, the yellow paper AA sign taped to the glass door.
She knew she should go back.
She knew the desire for the bottle still lurked deep down inside her, waiting in the shadows, preparing to slither to the surface at any given second. But now that Blair was back, she had the strength to quit for good. She had the drive to try again. The booze was the main reason she and Mitch called it quits in the first place; well, that and the affair he had with his big-chested, blonde, bubbly, size zero, twenty-one-year-old receptionist, Callie. She still remembered the feeling when she found out. The way her stomach
