Joan quickly ended the call with Emmie and checked the incoming text.
It was Nick, who preferred to text over making a phone call. He apologized that he wouldn’t be able to join her for dinner after all.
No reason. No excuse.
Once again, as she had the last four years, she spent her birthday alone.
Chapter 2
Joan stared at the computer screen as she pondered which letters to choose for Wordle. This was how she routinely started each morning. The word game helped keep her mind fresh, along with the thousand-piece jigsaw puzzle of the Eiffel Tower that she was currently working on. Impossibly small pieces were spread across the top of the kitchen table. At one time this oak table was where she served her family meals. These days it was used for multiple purposes, none of which included family or eating.
It used to be…
That was what her life had become: a series of all the things that once were but were no longer.
Joan scooted her chair away from the computer and wandered into the kitchen to pour herself another cup of coffee when she heard the front door open. For just an instant, a spark of fear shot down her spine, until she remembered the deadbolt was in place. Only someone with a key could gain entry.
“Mom?” Nick shouted, as though he expected her to be standing by the front door, awaiting his arrival.
“In here.” She came out of the kitchen, holding the coffee mug as she met him in the foyer. He stood in front of the staircase that led to the two large upstairs bedrooms. It was those bedrooms that had sold Jared on the house in this community. The master bedroom was on the main floor, away from the boys, who tended, especially in their teen years, to stay up until all hours of the night.
Her son stared at her for a minute before his dark brown eyes, so like his father’s, narrowed into a frown.
Immediately concerned, she asked, “Everything okay?”
A multitude of problems tumbled through her mind like a rockslide racing down the side of a hill. Had her son lost his job? Did he get into a car accident? Had Nick received a concerning medical diagnosis?
“Yeah, everything’s fine,” he returned, sounding distracted.
“That’s good,” she said, sighing with relief. She had enough troubles of her own and felt unable to cope with anything more. “The thing is, you usually don’t show up first thing in the morning. What’s up?” She let him follow her into the kitchen, where she automatically got him a cup of coffee. Like his father, Nick was addicted to caffeine.
“We’re getting a later start this morning, waiting on an inspection,” Nick said. He sat down at the table and stared at the puzzle, which was about three-fourths completed. He picked up a piece, examined it, and then set it in place.
It was all Joan could do not to stop him. This was her puzzle, and she preferred to work it herself. The satisfaction she gained, the sense of accomplishment, was why she diligently spent hours poring over it. She didn’t need help and, furthermore, didn’t want it.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t here for your birthday,” Nick stated matter-of-factly.
“You sent me a text.” But he hadn’t given her a reason why he’d been unable to come. She suspected he opted to spend the day with his friends and watch the Seahawks game. The pan of chicken enchiladas remained untouched in the refrigerator. Before he left, she’d make sure he took it with him, otherwise she’d end up tossing them in the garbage.
Nick shifted his gaze away from her. “Sorry, I was working.”
“On a Sunday?”
“Mom, we’re on a tight schedule with this project. If we don’t finish our part on time, then we hold up the other trades. Let me tell you, those electricians can get downright cranky if we aren’t done when they’re ready to run the wiring.”
“I hope they’re paying you overtime.”
Glancing up from the puzzle, Nick grinned boyishly. “Yup, which brings me to the reason for my visit.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, seeing that I missed dinner with you, how about I take you out to eat?”
The invite surprised her in a pleasant way. Joan couldn’t remember the last time she dined out. She ordered DoorDash on occasion, and Uber Eats, too. It seemed nonsensical to leave the house to dine alone. It used to be…There it was again, like yeast bubbling up in dough. She and Jared had had a routine date night.
At one time, she’d kept in touch with friends. A group of classmates from college had routinely gotten together for lunch three or four times a year. That hadn’t happened since the pandemic. It seemed everyone had gone their separate ways since the lockdown.
After Jared’s sudden death from a massive brain aneurysm, Joan had been bombarded with sympathy and support from family and friends. That, however, had quickly died off, and then with COVID there was almost complete silence. It’d remained that way.
“Well, what do you think?” Nick asked, breaking into her thoughts.
For one wild moment, she struggled, thinking it best, safer, to decline, but then she changed her mind. Dinner out shouldn’t intimidate her. Becoming familiar again with leaving the house was what she needed, if she was going to move forward in life. Emmie would be pleased to know Joan was making an effort.
“Ah, sure. Where would you like to go?”
“Mom,” he said, grinning. “It’s your birthday; you decide.”
“You want me to decide?” Crazy as it sounded for a woman who managed a busy office, handled everything outside of the actual dentistry, she suddenly found it difficult to make even the smallest decision.
“Yup, I’ve got money to burn,” he said, looking well pleased with himself. “Any restaurant in town.”
“What if I say I want to dine at Canlis?” The iconic Seattle restaurant often had a several-weeks waiting list. Jared and Joan had dined there on their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. It was a meal she would long treasure. The staff at Canlis had made it special.
Nick didn’t even blink. “Doubtful I could get a reservation, but I’ll try.”
Joan enjoyed teasing her son. “Do you think Il Lucano survived the lockdown?” The family-owned Italian restaurant had been one of her and Jared’s favorites. Joan had never tasted a better Eggplant Parmesan anywhere.
“I don’t know,” Nick said, and grabbed his phone from his pocket. He connected with Siri and within half a second had the information he wanted. Looking up, he smiled and nodded. “Looks like they’re in business, and so are we. I’ll call and make reservations for tomorrow night at six thirty. Sound good?”