Annihilate Me: Holiday Edition (13 page)

And
hopefully having a wonderful time
,
I thought.

“There’s
nothing like nature,” Alexa said.
 
“Even when you cut down one of its trees, end its life, and stop its sap
from running.”

“Alexa,”
Daniella said.

“I
know, I know.
 
I do love the
tree.
 
I mean that.”

“Check
the cheese cake.”

“I’m
on it.”

In
the background, I heard Streisand launch into my favorite song on her first
Christmas album—her haunting version of Gounod’s “Ave Maria.”
 
I looked at Blackwell.
 
“Did you choose the music?”

“I
did.
 
It’s a classic.
 
I used to play it for the girls when
they were children.
 
It’s something
we’ve always listened to.”

“I
remember listening to it as a child.
 
It’s my favorite.
 
Thank you.”

And
with that, Blackwell got up from her seat at the kitchen island.
 
She came over to me and, to my surprise,
she hugged me.
 
In my ear, she said,
“Thank you.”

“For
what?” I said.

“Why
don’t we go and look at the tree.”

We
left the kitchen and moved into the living room.

“Are
you all right?” I asked.

“I
was wrong about coming here.
 
None
of this would have happened in New York.
 
They would have been distracted by their friends.
 
They would have wanted to be anywhere
but with me.
 
You were right.
 
I’m grateful that we’re here.
 
I can’t tell you what tonight has meant
to me.
 
Cooking with my girls?
 
Talking openly with them about the
divorce, boys, life?
 
That’s never
happened between us.
 
I think
they’re at an age where we can become friends.
 
So, thank you, my dear.
 
You’ll always be a treasure to me.”

“How
much wine have you had?”

“Enough
to say that you’ll always be a treasure to me.”

She
pulled away from me, and I could see in her eyes that she was stone sober.
 
I kissed her on the cheek and we returned
to the kitchen, where she kissed Alex on his cheek.
 

“Now,”
she said.
 
“Go on you two.
 
The Blackwell women have to make sure
that this cheesecake comes out well.
 
Then we need to make a raspberry sauce for it.
 
Then we’ll be done for the night.
 
Tomorrow, we might make another
pie.”
 
She looked over her
shoulder.
 
“What do you think,
girls?”

“I’d
love a chocolate cream pie,” Daniella said.

“Me
too,” Alexa said.
 
“And hopefully
we’ll use whipping cream free of hormones and antibiotics.”

“Seriously?”
Daniella said.

“It’s
important that we do.”

“Here,”
Daniella said, reaching for the bottle of wine.
 
“Let me refill your glass.
 
No really.
 
Let me fill it right up to the top, then
we’ll go in search of a new bottle.
 
That’s right.
 
Take a good,
long sip.”

“You’re
trying to get me drunk.”

“Not
at all.
 
You’ll be fine.
 
You’ll see.”

“So,
we’ll make the pie in the morning,” Blackwell said.
 
“And then we’ll relax.
 
Maybe we’ll read a book, walk along the
ocean, or listen to music.
 
Maybe
we’ll watch a movie.
 
Or just have a
conversation.
 
Soon, it will be
Christmas Eve.
 
I have all sorts of
cheeses and crackers and grapes to eat tomorrow night.
 
And other things, like cherry tomatoes
and hummus.
 
We have plenty spirits,
and God knows we have enough wine to last us for the next hundred years.
 
So, we’ll make a feast of it.
 
And then on Christmas Day, I’ll make us
a suitable dinner that has nothing to do with roughage or ice.
 
Stop looking so worried, Jennifer.
 
I’ve got this.
 
Tonight has given me confidence.
 
That fat contessa has taught me
plenty.
 
I know the tricks.
 
And I’ve got my bird.”

“Was
it cage-free?” Alexa asked.

“Drink
up,” Daniella said.

“I
have no idea,” Blackwell said.
 
“But
I do know this—when I cook it, that bird won’t be dry.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Later
that night, when Blackwell and the girls were in bed, Alex and I built a fire
and were seated in the living room on one of the sofas facing the tree and the
moonlit ocean beyond when Lisa and Tank came into the room holding hands.
 
We hadn’t seen them all night.

“Hi,
you two,” I said brightly.
 
Too
brightly.
 
Impossibly brightly.
 
I needed to check myself.
 
“Thank you for getting the tree.
 
It’s gorgeous.”

“Tank
did all the work,” Lisa said.
 
“I
think we must have been a good mile away.
 
He hauled it back here with one arm.
 
I was of no use.”

“I
didn’t do all the work,” Tank said.
 
He was wearing Levi 501s and a flannel shirt that barely contained his
chest, his broad back, and his muscular arms.
 
I’d never seen him like this
before.
 
He looked bigger than ever
to me.
 
He turned to us.
 
“Lisa picked out the tree, not me.
 
And she found the perfect one, don’t you
think?
 
It was a team effort.”

I
smiled at them while inside, I barely could contain myself.
 
Something’s different.
 
Something’s different.
 
Something’s different.

“You
did a great job,” Alex said.

They
sat on the sofa to our left, Lisa moved close to Tank, and he put his arm
around her shoulder.
 
I just stared
at her, she narrowed her eyes at me, and then I caught myself and glanced at
Tank, who was looking at me with the hint of a smile on his lips.

“How
was your shopping trip?” Lisa asked.

“Oh,
you know Ellsworth,” I said.
 
“Lots
of little shops.
 
Lots of cute
little things.”

“Lots
of small little motels.”

“Yes,
there seem to be more than ever.
 
Would anyone like a martini?”

“I
would,” Alex said.

“Same
here,” Lisa said.

“Tank?”

“You
wouldn’t happen to have a Guinness, would you?”

“We
do,” Alex said.
 
“I made sure of it,
Tank.
 
There’s plenty in the
fridge.”

“I’ll
have that, if you don’t mind.”

“Absolutely.
 
Lisa, would you like to help me?”

“I’m
actually really comfortable right—”

“Thanks,”
I said.
 
“Let’s make drinks.”

When
we were in the kitchen together, I pulled out three martini glasses from the
freezer, grabbed the shaker from a cupboard, and also retrieved a glass for
Tank.
 
Lisa hummed while she got
Tank’s beer from the fridge.

“Bottle
opener?” she said.

I
pointed to a drawer.
 
“There.”

“Tank
loves Guinness.”

“You
don’t say.”
 
While I took ice out of
the freezer, which rattled loudly, I also said, “What else is Tank loving these
days?”

“Maybe
the hour-long back rub I gave him?
 
You know, when he was face down on my bed with his shirt off and I was
straddling his back?”

“You
better come clean with me now.”

She
came next to me.
 
“But they’ll
hear.”

“Not
when I start making these martinis.
 
When I start shaking, you spill.
 
There’s been a shift between you two.
 
I want details.”

“Then
start shaking.”

“The
vodka’s in the freezer.
 
The
vermouth is in the fridge.
 
Would
you hand each to me?”

She
did, I poured, and started shaking while she stood as close as she could to me.

“Major
breakthrough,” she said.

“Spill
it.”

“When
we were out looking for a tree?
 
It
took a couple of hours to find the right one.
 
But about an hour into it, when we were
walking through the woods side by side, he manhandled me.”

“He
what?”

“He
pinned me against a tree, he said he couldn’t stand it anymore, and then he
kissed me like he’s never kissed me before.
 
It was beyond hot.
 
I think I even grabbed his ass.
 
In fact, I know I did.
 
Have you seen his ass in those jeans of
his tonight?
 
I had a big handful of
that.”

I
giggled while I continued to shake our drinks as loudly as I could so no one
could hear us.
 
As smooth as silk
and as cold as January.
 
Coming
right up!
 
“What got into him?”

“He
told me that he was sorry for holding back.
 
He said that coming here was good for
both of us.
 
He said that after
everything you and Alex went through, he felt that he finally could relax and
focus on what mattered—our relationship.”

“Oh,
my God.”

“I
know.”

“It’s
finally happening.”

“You
don’t even know the half of it.”

I
kept shaking.
 
“What happened during
the back rub?
 
Because I swear to
God I know that something happened.
 
I can smell it.”

“Let’s
just say that thirty minutes of it was about me having my hands all over his
back and shoulders, which pretty much sent me over the edge because I was
sitting on that hard ass of his.
 
Then, without any warning, he turned around and everything after that
became a total make-out session.”

“Stop
it.”

“It’s
true.”

“Did
you have sex?”

“No!
 
But I think we might.”

“Holy
shit.
 
When?”

“I
don’t know.
 
I hope tonight.”

“I’m
so happy for you.”

“Praise
the baby Jesus!”

“I
have to pour now or they’ll know that we’re talking.”

“They
already know that we’re talking.
 
They’re not stupid.”

“Well,
they don’t need to actually
hear
what’s being said.
 
Pour Tank’s beer while I pour out these
first two martinis.
 
Then I need to
make another one for you.
 
Then
we’ll talk again.
 
That’s the plan.
 
Go.”

We
went through the motions.
 
She
poured Tank’s beer while I poured out two perfectly chilled martinis.
 
I swung around to the freezer, got more
ice, poured more vodka and vermouth into the shaker, and started rigorously
thrashing a fresh cocktail.

“How
are you going to get him in bed tonight?”

“The
way he’s acting, I don’t think I’m going to have to do much.”

“The
angels are singing—but you still need a plan.”

“I
seriously think I just need to get in some skimpy red lingerie and give him a
kiss goodnight.
 
Then I’ll just fall
back spread-eagle on his or my bed.”

“So
subtle.”

“Fuck
subtle.
 
Where did you and Alex go
today?”

“We
totally went to a no-tell motel and sexed it up for hours.”

“I
love it.
 
Was it good.”

“At
this point in our relationship, I thought that I had a fairly good idea of how
many ways my body could be maneuvered, but today, I learned just how many other
ways it could be maneuvered.”