Unlocking the front door, she turned back to lug her bag over the threshold. She felt rather than heard someone behind her. Slowly and as inconspicuously as possible, she reached into her purse for an old can of Mace that she had buried in the bottom of the main pocket. Getting her hand around it, she turned around, ready to do battle.
“Shit, Mom, you still have that Mace?” Lex said, a huge smile on his face, eyebrow raised, taking in the sight of his mother getting ready to spray him.
Jo, completely caught off guard, dropped the can and the luggage, both of which clattered to the floor. Her right hand landed on her heart, which had just about jumped out of her chest. “Alexander James!” she screeched. “What are you doing here?”
For a woman who rarely lost her composure, she presented quite the sight. Her purse askew, eyes wide, hand clutching her chest, she stared in disbelief at her son, whom she’d hardly spoken to since Mike died. She couldn’t believe Lex was standing in her foyer.
He didn’t answer her question, instead gave her a stiff, quick hug, grabbed her suitcase, bent to retrieve the Mace, and gently pushed her inside so that he could shut the door.
She watched him put everything right and waited for an explanation. When the door was shut, he walked out of the foyer toward her room with her suitcase in tow. Still flustered, she righted her purse and followed him. By the time she made it back to her room, he had finished his task and met her in the hall.
“How ’bout a glass of wine?” he asked, barely meeting her gaze.
“Something stronger, please,” she said, moving with him toward the kitchen.
“Have you eaten?” he inquired as he led her, not looking back.
“No. You?” she asked, slightly frustrated. Lex had been home twice since he left almost ten years earlier. The first was for his father’s funeral; the second was today. What was he doing here?
“No. We can order in,” he offered, still not looking at her as he made his way to the bar off the kitchen. He poured a drink for her without needing to ask what she wanted.
“That’s fine,” she said, setting her purse on the counter and heading to the breakfast bar to sit down.
Lex delivered her drink. Surprisingly, he had one in his hand. Normally, he didn’t drink during the season. She looked at him as he leaned against the counter, facing her. She took a moment to study him. He really didn’t favor either Mike or her. He definitely had his own look. When he was a child they’d often wondered who he looked like. The blond hair was easily explained as there seemed to be a blond per generation in Mike’s family. But his green eyes were a deeper green than Mike’s, as if the dark brown from her had given sustenance to Mike’s green. Used to the perpetual spirit of mischief that surrounded Lex, she experienced some surprise at his rather somber façade.
Taking a sip of her drink, she leaned forward, resting her arms on the counter and clasping her hands in front of her. “I hope you don’t take this the wrong way, but why are you here?” she said.
Lex didn’t answer right away. Rather, he studied his mother. She’d lost weight since his father’s death. But she still looked formidable, even in her grief. The grief had left an imprint on her face. She didn’t look bad, she hadn’t aged, she just looked sad. He imagined that even when she smiled, she didn’t look happy. He remained quiet, sipping his Scotch, thinking about what he wanted to say. It had been an impulsive trip, but he’d still been surprised that she was away.
“Where were you?” he asked, choosing to deflect rather than start down the road he needed to follow.
She paused, cocking her head, illustrating for him where he and Pete inherited the gesture. “Lu’s graduation,” she responded, as if he should have known she would be there.
But he couldn’t help but be surprised. “You were at Lu’s graduation?”
“Yes, of course.”
Brow furrowed, he questioned her with his expression. She ignored him. “Of course?” he said. The question evident.
“I wouldn’t miss her graduation,” she responded.
It pissed him off. Taking a sip of his drink, he stalled. They were all together again and he’d been alone, here, waiting for her to get back. For not the first time since the death of his father, he thought of how disfranchised he felt. His family had this whole other world without him. While he’d made them the outer circle of his world, sharing all of his triumphs with them, he’d been left out in the cold, alone, excluded. He’d been trying to shrug it off for the last eight months. It was time that he had some explanations.