“The problem is finding the right guy,” Caroline said wistfully.
Mia cringed, regretful of her careless words. No, Caroline didn’t have any problems in the guy department as far as attracting them. But the last man she’d attracted had been bad news.
She held up her wineglass in an effort to smooth over her faux pas and said, “I’ll drink to that.”
• • •
Gabe’s office phone rang, but he let it ring and continued typing the memo he was working on. It was after hours. No one should be calling his office.
The room went silent, and then just a few seconds later, his cell phone rang. A quick glance at the incoming contact and he briefly contemplated letting it go to voice mail. With a sigh, he picked up his phone to hit Receive. He couldn’t ignore his mother even if he already knew why she was calling.
“Hello,” he said.
“Gabe. There you are. I thought you might still be at the office. You work such long hours these days. Aren’t you ever going to take a vacation?”
He had to admit the idea had merit. Even more appealing was the idea of taking Mia with him. Several days away from the world in order to initiate her into his world? Definitely something to consider.
“Hello, Mom. How are you?”
It was a question he’d learned better than to ask, and yet he always did. The problem with asking his mother how she was doing was that she never took the polite way out and said fine like most people did, regardless of whether they were really fine or not.
“I can’t believe what he’s doing,” she said in clear agitation. “He’s making a fool of himself and of me.”
Gabe sighed. After nearly forty years of marriage, his father had moved out, served his mother with divorce papers and seemed determined to run through as many newer, younger models as quickly as possible. His mother wasn’t taking it well, as could be expected. And unfortunately, Gabe was her sounding board.
He loved his father, but he was being a huge dick. Gabe didn’t understand it. How could you be with someone for that many years and then wake up one morning and decide to walk away?
He wasn’t certain that he would have gotten to the point of asking Lisa for a divorce. She’d been the one to leave him. It may not have been the right thing to do, remain in a relationship where it was obvious there was no love or true affection any longer, but he would have spared her the pain and humiliation of a divorce. She, however, didn’t feel the same about sparing him. And he didn’t hold the divorce against her. Maybe he should have done something before allowing it to get to the point it had. But he hadn’t realized that Lisa was so desperately unhappy. What he held against her was the way she went about divorcing him.
“It’s disgraceful, Gabe. Did you see the papers this morning? He had a woman on each arm! Now what would he do with two women?”
No way Gabe was answering that question. He shuddered even imagining his father…No, he wasn’t even going there.
“Mom, stop reading the society pages,” Gabe said patiently. “You know it’s just going to upset you.”
“He’s doing it on purpose to punish me,” she railed.
“Why would he punish you? What could you have possibly done to him?”
“He’s showing me that while I’m sitting at home grieving over the death of my marriage, he’s out having the time of his life. He’s telling me with more than words that he’s moved on and that I no longer have any place in his heart.”
“I’m sorry, Mom,” Gabe said gently. “I know this hurts you. I wish you would get out and do something. You have friends. You have plenty of pet causes that you donate to and volunteer your time. You’re still young and gorgeous. Any man would be fortunate to catch your eye.”
“I’m not ready to move on,” she said stiffly. “It would be disrespectful to pick up with a man so soon after the divorce. Just because your father is acting like a classless jerk doesn’t mean that I won’t act with a little decorum.”
“You need to worry less about what everyone else thinks and focus on what makes you happy,” Gabe said bluntly.
There was a long silence and then his mother sighed. He hated her being so unhappy. It hurt him to see her in such pain. He tried to stay out of his parents’ affairs, but lately it had been next to impossible. His mom called him every other day to bitch about what his dad was doing, while his dad was busy trying to shove his latest girlfriend down Gabe’s throat. The problem was that he was with a different woman every time Gabe saw him, and his father was too focused on trying to bridge a gap in their relationship caused by the very thing he was trying to force on Gabe. Acceptance. He wanted Gabe’s forgiveness and acceptance. And while Gabe could forgive his father—he could hardly hold his decisions against him, it was his life and his happiness—he couldn’t accept another woman in the role his mother had performed for most of Gabe’s life.
“I’m sorry, Gabe,” his mom said quietly. “I know you must hate it when I call. All I do is complain about your father. I shouldn’t do that. Whatever he’s done, he’s still your father and I know he loves you.”
“Let’s have dinner over the weekend,” Gabe said in an attempt to lift her spirits. “I’ll take you to Tribeca Grill.”
“I’m sure you’re busy.”
“I’m never too busy for you,” he said. “I’ll always make time to have dinner with my mother. Now what do you say?”
He could almost hear the smile in her voice.
“I’d like that. It’s been a while since I’ve been out.”
“Good. I’ll drive out and pick you up.”
“Oh, you don’t have to do that!” she exclaimed. “I can take a car into the city.”
“I said I’ll come get you,” he persisted. “We can talk on the drive back. I’ll have my driver take you home after we eat.”
“I’m looking forward to it,” she said, genuine excitement in her voice.
It had been a good while since he’d heard her be excited about anything. In that moment he was glad he’d made the effort to get her out of her self-imposed exile. She needed to get out and face the world and discover that it hadn’t ended just because her marriage was over. He’d given her time to grieve and to hide away in the house his father had moved out of. But enough was enough. Hell, maybe he could even talk her into selling the house in Westchester and moving into the city. There was little point in her keeping it now. It held too many painful memories for her. She needed a fresh start.
He knew all about fresh starts. After his divorce, he’d gone through a period much like his mother had where he’d just wanted to be left alone. He understood it, but he also knew the sooner she got out and started living, the sooner she’d be able to move on.