The phone clattered onto what Marcus figured was a table.
“Mike, no—I—” Damn.
“I’m here, Marcus.” Evelyn’s calm voice slid through the phone lines and settled around him like a warm blanket. “What’s so important?”
“I—uh—I have a problem.”
“That’s obvious. Talk to me.”
“Cecelia caught me in bed with Amanda.”
“Cecelia the daughter—saw you and Amanda the mother?”
“You got it.”
“Did she catch the two of you—you know—”
“No, thank God. I was just—there. But the way she looked at me—if I could have, I would have crawled under the bed.”
Evelyn chuckled. “Oh, dear.”
“Cecelia’s best friend’s mom told her that sex is wrong because we’re not married, in spite of what Amanda told her. And then I really blew it.”
“How did you do that, other than your timing was off?”
“Well, after it happened, Amanda said she tried to explain it to her—why I slept over—but then the next day, when I was reading stories with her, Cecelia point-blank asked if I loved Amanda and didn’t I want to marry her. I should have told her I did, but I was so shocked that she asked me.”
“And?”
“And then Cece started crying, and I left.”
“Hmm.”
Silence reigned for an overlong minute.
“Is that all you’re going to say, Evie?”
“Give me a minute.” She seemed to be scratching her nail against the phone before asking, “How does Amanda feel about all this? Does she agree with Cecelia … that you’re a cad or whatever word kids use these days?”
“I don’t think so. But when I went over to her office and brought it up, Cece came in and got upset again. Amanda made her apologize, but I could tell she didn’t mean it.” He sighed. “The kid hates me.”
“Hmm.” After another minute, “Hmm.”
“Tell me what to do. I’m desperate.”
“What do you want me to say, Marc? You’ve made a real mess of things.”
“Tell me about it,” he replied quietly, looking out at the darkening dusk.
“That girl is very protective of her mother. I take it you think you still have a chance with Amanda?”
“I want to think so, but maybe I’m wrong about that. I mean, every time I’ve brought up living together—earlier this year and more recently, Amanda flatly refused—because of Cecelia. I even sort of tip-toed around the subject of marriage. The last time, she told me it was bad luck to even say the word. And, I didn’t want to scare her off, so I didn’t raise the issue again. I was hoping maybe we could go away for a long weekend one of these days, I could pop the question and she would say yes. But then Cecelia up and asked me to my face, and I panicked—because of Amanda’s reaction. I didn’t know what to say to Cece …” He sighed.
“When is that writer’s workshop?”
“We’re here now.”
“Can’t you talk to Amanda while you’re out there in the woods?”
“I will, but—I don’t want to think—I—I don’t know what she’s going to say, except that maybe if Cecelia doesn’t like me anymore, it’s over between us.”
“Because they’re a package deal.”
“I guess you could call it that. So, how can I get Cecelia to talk to me? If I could just talk to her, maybe I could convince her I’m not such a bad guy.”
“What you are isn’t really the issue, little brother. It’s, do you love her mother? That’s what you have to tell her.” She paused. “Well, do you?”
“What? Uh, yes—but if Amanda won’t say yes, what am I going to do?”
“Maybe if you just tell Cecelia that you love her mother, that will solve your problem. Kids can be pretty literal in their thinking. If she’s got love and sex mixed up together as necessaries, why don’t you just say what she wants to hear?Or are those the words you can’t spit out?”
“I was so shocked—”
“Don’t give me excuses, Marc.” She raised her voice again.“I don’t know what it is with men! You’re just like Mike. My mother had to kick his butt before he asked me to marry him.Don’t tell me you don’t know the words, for God’s sake! You’re a journalist—you live by words!”
He felt like he was twelve years old and his hand was still in the cookie jar his mother had said not to touch again. “I hear you.”
“Then don’t allow this little setback to stop you from letting that child know how you feel.”