The Smart One and the Pretty One (13 page)

“Three dozen?” Ava said. “That’s a lot of bagels.”

“I didn’t know how many people were coming—didn’t want to run short.”

She flicked the edge of the bag. “No danger of that.”

“Is Lauren always this flaky about things?”

“Only about things that don’t matter,” Ava said. “She’s dependable when she needs to be.”

“Is that true, or are you just being a loyal sister?”

“I don’t know. She’s just Lauren.”

Nancy came down the stairs. “Russell!” she exclaimed with what appeared to be genuine delight as she joined them and gave him a big hug. “Look at you! You’re a man now.”

“Not even a young one,” he said with a laugh.

“Young enough,” she said and stepped back. “I mean, if
you’re
not young, where does that leave me?”

“He brought you flowers,” Ava said, rescuing him from answering. “Look.”

“Oh, they’re beautiful,” Nancy said. “Thank you, Russell. You didn’t need to, but they’re lovely.”

“He also brought bagels,” Ava said. “And he
really
didn’t need to do that, since Lauren and Dad are out getting some right at this moment.”

“Lauren told me to,” Russell said. “I swear.”

“Oh, I believe you,” Nancy said. “She’s like me—completely disorganized. Go put the bagels and flowers in the kitchen, Ava. Russell, come with me.” As she watched them leave the foyer, Ava saw Russell look down at her mother—he was much taller—and pat the hand that was on his arm with a warm smile that Nancy didn’t even see but which made Ava suddenly like him more than before.

By the time she’d arranged the flowers in a vase (badly—she just shoved them in there with the elastic still holding the stems together) and rejoined them, Nancy had apparently already caught up on what Russell was doing and was moving on to the rest of his family.

“And Jonah? What about him?” she was saying as Ava sat down on the living room sofa next to her. “What does he do?”

“He’s a guidance counselor at a high school in upstate New York.”

“Good for him! It must be challenging, with kids bringing guns to school these days and selling drugs and all—”

Russell laughed. “He’s a counselor at a small private prep school. I think his biggest problem is keeping the kids—and their parents—from freaking out when Harvard e-mails their rejections.”

“Is he married?”

“Yes, to his college girlfriend. They’ve been together over a decade, which seems incredible to me.”

“No wonder,” Ava said. “I mean, only one marriage in all those years? What’s wrong with the guy?”

He shot her a look. “I just meant that we’re getting old.”

Nancy touched him lightly on the arm. “I heard that your father remarried. Did your mother ever—?”

“No,” he said. “She’s much too busy being miserable to make time for an actual relationship.”

“Do you like your father’s new wife?”

He shrugged. “He seems happy.”

“I’m glad,” Nancy said. “People should be happy.”

“Really going out on a limb there, Mom, aren’t you?” Ava said. “You sure you want to take such a controversial position?”

“Oh, shush,” Nancy said.

Russell said, “I don’t know if I’m supposed to mention your health or not . . .” He looked at Ava, who looked at Nancy, who waved her hand.

“It’s fine,” she said. “
I’m
fine. I’m doing chemo right now, which isn’t as much fun as they’d have you believe. But once that’s done, I’ll be as good as new.”

“Better, if Lauren has her way,” Ava said. “Lauren wants her to get new breasts,” she told Russell. “Despite the fact she still has her old ones.”

“Lauren thinks everyone should have new breasts,” Nancy said.

“She’s like the breast fairy,” Ava said. “She wants to flit about the country giving beautiful new breasts to all the good little girls and boys.”

“Really?” Russell said. “Boys too?”

“Maybe not them so much.”

“And yet she disparaged Carson Flite’s fake breasts,” Russell said. “Oops—allegedly fake breasts, I mean. Anyway, I sense a discrepancy here. Might your sister be a tiny bit inconsistent in her views?”

“She might,” Ava said.

“Just like every woman I’ve ever met,” Russell said.

“Present company excluded?” Ava said, but she was teasing this time, not angry. The truth was, she was enjoying Russell’s company. Somehow having her mother as the third rather than Lauren made a difference. For once, she didn’t feel like she was losing a competition she hadn’t entered in the first place.

“You took the words right out of my mouth,” he said as the front door banged open.

“We’re home!” Lauren called from the hallway. “We have fresh hot bagels!”

“So do we!” Ava called back, trying to ignore the strange pang of disappointment she felt at hearing her sister’s voice. “We had a visit from the bagel fairy!”

“Do you have to call me that?” Russell said. “It makes me feel unmanly.”

“I have a fairy thing,” Ava said.

“I’ve noticed.”

“It’s not like I like them. Actually, they scare me, with their little wings and all.”

Russell started to respond, but was interrupted by Lauren’s sticking her head into the living room. “What do you mean, we already have bagels?” she said.

“You told me to bring some.” Russell rose to his feet.

“Did I?” she said. Then: “Oh, right. I did. Where are yours from?”

“New York Bagel.”

“Oh, good.” She came into the room and gave him a friendly peck on the cheek. “Ours are from Noah’s. We can do a taste test.” She turned to her sister. “Hey, A, can you help Dad make the coffee? He asked me but I don’t know how.”

“How can you not know how to make coffee?”

“Duh,” Lauren said. “Starbucks? Ever heard of it?”

“Yeah, I’ve heard of it,” Ava said. “They charge like four bucks for a cup of coffee. That’s another habit you need to break.”

“Dad’s waiting for you,” Lauren said, and Ava got up and left the room. It wasn’t like anyone needed her to make conversation now that Lauren was there and already chattering away about how ruthless the old ladies at the bagel place were about cutting the line.

She found her father standing by the kitchen counter. “Something’s wrong with this machine,” he said without looking up. He was punching at the button on the coffeemaker with short, angry jabs. “I keep trying to start it, but nothing.”

“It’s not plugged in,” Ava said. She plugged it in and Jimmy pressed the start button again. The machine immediately started making brewing noises.

Jimmy said, “Why the hell wasn’t it plugged in?”

“I have no idea.
I
didn’t unplug it.”

“Everything’s falling apart around here,” he said, putting the container of coffee back in the freezer and closing the door with an unnecessarily loud slam. “It’s because your mother’s not feeling well.” Jimmy was built like a beanpole and was almost a foot taller than Ava and Lauren, who took after their petite mother, but today he suddenly seemed smaller to Ava, a little hunched over and shrunken around the neck and shoulders.

Ava thought maybe she should hug him, but they had never hugged much. He wasn’t that kind of father. So she twisted her fingers together and just said, “I hate that she’s sick.”

“She’ll be fine,” he said brusquely. “That’s what matters. Get the orange juice out of the fridge, will you?”

They carried the food out to the dining room, where Jimmy instantly transformed into what teenage Lauren used to call “Social Daddy!” (and occasionally “SD” for short), smiling and clapping Russell on his shoulder and heartily welcoming him to his house. It amazed Ava how her father could turn it on like that, could suddenly become this cheerful, outgoing guy who charmed everyone he met. He wasn’t like that when he was alone with the family: then he was moody, prone to quiet depressions and unpredictable irritability—and equally unpredictable bursts of kindness and generosity. Her mother, though, was pretty much always the same whoever was around.

“Those are some muscles you’ve got there,” Jimmy said to Russell as they all sat down. “You work out?”

“He has a trainer,” Ava said. “The kind who comes to your house.”

“It’s no big deal,” Russell said quickly. “I’d go to the gym if I had time, but it’s more efficient to have her just come to me—”

“It’s an efficiency thing,” Ava agreed. “Really, it’s not self-indulgent at all.”

“Hey, hey,” he said. “Give a guy a break.”

Nancy said, “I think it’s great. If I had the time and money, I would have a personal trainer. And a masseuse.”

“Do
you
have a masseuse?” Ava asked Russell.

“I don’t keep one in my house, if that’s what you mean.” He picked up a knife and spread the cream cheese a little more evenly on his bagel. “But if the opportunity offers itself, sure, I’ll have a massage.”

“Who wouldn’t?” Nancy said.

“You want one, Mom?” Ava said with sudden inspiration. “I hadn’t even thought about that. It might really relax you, help you sleep. We could arrange for someone to come here. My treat.”

“You want me to call the woman I use?” Russell asked. He leaned back a bit and pulled his cell phone out of his hip pocket. “I’ve got her number right here.”

“I don’t know.” Nancy looked uncertainly at Jimmy, who was putting lox on his bagel and didn’t seem to notice.

“So you
do
have a masseuse!” Ava said to Russell. “And you keep her number in your cell phone? Is that in case of a sudden muscle spasm emergency?”

“I put every number I get in my cell phone,” he said. “Lauren’s number is in here. My travel agent is in here. The crazy guy I met at Starbucks who told me he’s starting an Internet company—his number is in here, although I admit I meant to delete that one as soon as I escaped from him, but I forgot.” He pointed at Ava accusingly. “
Your
number would be in here if you were ever to give it to me.” He turned to Nancy. “So what time is good for you? You want to do it today? I could see if Summer Rain has any spots open this afternoon.”

“‘Summer Rain’?” Lauren repeated, her eyebrows soaring up.

“Hippie parents.”

“It feels way too indulgent,” Nancy said, still looking at Jimmy, who just took a bite of his bagel. “I don’t know if I should do it.”

“I mean it, Mom—I want it to be my treat,” Ava said.

“Mine too,” Lauren said.

“Oh, are you chipping in?” Ava said. “And the money for your part will be coming from—?”

“Shut up. I have enough for this—how much could it be? Seventy, eighty bucks? Split in half?”

“Um,” Russell said. “She’s a little more than that. A little more than twice that actually. But she gives you way over an hour and comes to your house, and she’s really good. If you just give me a time frame—”

“I shouldn’t,” Nancy said. “It’s too expensive. It’s a lovely thought, but—”

“I want you to do it, Mom,” Ava said. “Make the call, Russell.”

“Yes, but
what time
?” he said.

“Jimmy—?” Nancy said.

Jimmy looked up from his bagel. “Do it,” he said. “You deserve something relaxing like that with all you’re going through. And I can afford it—the girls don’t need to treat you.” Ava started to protest, but he shook his head at her and she closed her mouth. “Any time after four this afternoon,” he said to Russell. Then, to Nancy again, “That’ll give you time to take a nap after brunch.”

“All right,” Russell said. “I’m making the call.” He pressed a couple of buttons on his phone, then got up and went into the next room to talk. He returned in a minute, snapping the phone shut. “Done,” he said. “She’ll be here at five.”

“Wonderful,” Nancy said, beaming. “Thank you.”

Russell slid his phone back into his pants pocket and sat down. “You’ll love Summer,” he said. “She’s incredible.”

“I know why he likes Summer,” Lauren said.

“Why?” asked Ava.

“Because Summer is
hot
!” Lauren said with glee, and the others groaned in chorus.

On the drive back to the apartment, Lauren said, “See? Russell’s a good guy.”

“He’s okay,” Ava said quietly.

“The more time we spend with him, the more I like him. That’s a good sign. I think if you and he spent some quality time alone together—”

“I’m not his type.”

“Did you notice he didn’t even mention Corinne? I think she’s out of the picture.”

“Why don’t
you
go out with him?” Ava said. “You guys are perfect for each other.”

“I’m only interested in him for you,” Lauren said.

“It’s not going to happen,” Ava said. “I’m not flashy enough for him. And I’m not sure I want it to,” she added quickly.

Lauren was silent for a moment. Then she said, more to herself than to Ava, “I just need to get you guys to spend some time alone together.”

“You don’t need to
do
anything,” Ava said. “Unless you want to date him yourself.”

Lauren was studying Ava’s face. “Would you let me do your hair and makeup the next time we see him? And pick out something for you to wear? I could make you look so great—”

“First of all,” Ava said, “I think I look fine the way I am. Second of all, I don’t want a guy who cares about how I dress and do my hair.”

“What’s wrong with you?” Lauren said. “I’ve never even seen you go shopping for clothes just for fun. Or fool around with different hairdos. Or put on makeup. Or buy shoes that look pretty but hurt your feet and it’s worth it because it just
is
. Or—”

“Clothing should keep you clean and covered and presentable,” Ava said. “All the rest is just fluff and expense and bother.”

“And walls should keep the rain out,” Lauren said. “All that art stuff people put on them is just fluff and expense and bother.”

“That’s different,” Ava said.

“It’s not.”

Ava felt sure she was right, but not at all sure of the argument she could make to prove it, so she switched to a different point. “I’m not going to change myself to get a guy. I want to be appreciated for who I am.”

“Yeah?” Lauren said. “Why don’t you just grow a mustache and stop shaving your legs while you’re at it? Any guy who falls in love with you then will be
really
great. Or blind.” She snickered.