She twisted a simple metal ring around her index finger, taking it from knuckle to nail and back again.
“Dean and I are probably going to get married this summer.”
A lump crawled into his throat, and he gulped it back down. “Really?”
“Yeah. Probably nothing big. Don’t worry. We were going to go down to city hall and then maybe have a small party for you and his parents and a few friends. What do you think?”
“I like Dean.”
“So do I.”
“You guys are young.”
“You and Mom were about the same age.”
“We were.”
“You two seemed to do all right.”
Tony exhaled his agreement. “Marriage is hard. It’s a lot of compromise, especially if you want to have a real career.” He reached out and touched the cotton material of some flimsy top. “But there’s really no equation for it. And you know what, if it doesn’t work out, you can always get divorced.”
She laughed. “You give the best fatherly advice. That should be the next book.”
He put his arm around her and hugged her to his chest. “You just tell me where to show up. I’ll have your back come marriage, divorce, or murder trial.”
That night at dinner, they celebrated. Catherine and Holly went at another bottle of wine. Holly told her sister that she’d have to make time that summer to be her maid of honor.
“I’m not sure if the summer will work,” said Catherine.
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know. I might travel.”
“Travel?” said Tony.
“I have some friends going to Europe in May, and I was thinking of going.”
“On whose dime?” said Holly.
“I’m working more now. I have money.”
“From the bar?” Holly’s tone was not without acid.
“Yes, from the bar.”
“So you weren’t planning on going back to school then.”
He could see Catherine retreating into her armor, gearing up to take on her sister. “The point of taking time off is to take time off.”
“Going to Europe to find yourself,” said Holly. “Real original, Cat.”
“Jesus Christ, could you be more condescending?”
“All right, guys,” said Tony.
“You have pretty much zero idea of anything going on outside the walls of Catherine, don’t you?”
“It’s just that beyond these walls all I see is a humorless bitch.”
“Hey,” said Tony in full Dad Voice. Then he brought out a word he’d used when they fought as little girls. “Détente, guys. All right? We’re moving into détente.”
They both sat back in their seats, glowering, until they’d had enough wine that they’d forgotten the argument.
On the last night of their visit, Tony made a fire, and they stayed up until midnight talking. He wanted it to last longer, but his normal bedtime was around ten, and he couldn’t stay awake. He kissed them each good night, and when he slipped under the covers, exhausted, he realized he could still hear their voices drifting through a grate in his bedroom wall. When he moved back to New Haven, he’d found a cozy one-story on the west side, three bedrooms, one of which he used as an office and the other as a guest room for when the girls visited. But he’d never left them like this, alone in the living room after he went to bed. He could hear everything they were saying.
“Will you take his last name?” Catherine asked. “Yu? Holly Yu? I dunno.”
“No way. I told him I’m not doing that patriarchal bullshit. His parents were not thrilled with me. Now I’m in the phase of winning them over.”
“He’s cute. He’s got kind of an Asian James Dean thing. I only met him that one time.”
“His dad likes me, but his mom—not only does she have the whole complex of ‘This is my baby, and you are not good enough for him,’ but I think I might be the first Black girl she’s ever had in her house.”
“Will you stay in New York?”
“Oh, I think we’re lifers. I actually don’t know how people survive in places where you can’t buy pantyhose or antacid at any time of night.”
Tony’s exhaustion stalled. He lay with his eyes closed and hands folded on his stomach, listening.
“What about you, Miss Traveler? Will you go back to LA after Europe?”
“I don’t know if I’m serious about that. That guy I told you about? Xander—”
“Awful name.” Holly retched. “Awful, awful name.”
“He’s got this plan to live in Europe working on these farms where people give you room and board. Just not sure how much I want to pull up rutabagas.”
“You’re together?”
“We’re hooking up, but I don’t think it’s serious.”
“Sounds like a d-bag, Cat.”
“You don’t know him.”
“I know the Xanders. Remember Antwan? He was a Xander. Caught him when he left his cell phone unlocked, and I was like, ‘Oh, you’re talking to ten different bitches right now? Cool. See ya.’ ”
“This is what I’m talking about. You don’t know my friends, and you don’t know him. Can you just reserve judgment for ten seconds at any point in your life?”
Holly was quiet for a moment.
“Sorry,” she finally said. “But you stress Dad out, and then it like shoots down the invisible umbilical cord that tethers all children to their parents forever, and it stresses me out.”
“It’s like with Uncle Corey. You can’t just let him have his opinion, you have to come crashing in with all your Hollyosity and then pretty soon we’re all just losing our shit and Thanksgiving’s a pain in the ass.”
“Uncle Corey is a savage.”
“Yeah, but I’m saying you—and Dad too—you guys need to learn to exercise some fucking patience. I’m not dropping out; I’m taking a semester off to catch my breath.”
“Dad said your grades are weak.”
“Yeah, he doesn’t know the half of it. I failed a class last semester and had two Ds on top.”
“Catherine P., for Elsa’s sake.”
Then without warning they both started laughing loudly.
“What was that?” Catherine asked through hitching breaths.
“I don’t know! Just came out. I want another Frozen sequel! An F and two Ds? You’re the daughter of two PhDs!”
“I know, I’m a total degenerate. School’s just not my thing. Maybe I’ll be an actress.”
“Oh, good. That’ll make Dad’s head explode.”
“I’m serious. I think it’s something I could do. I took theater, and it’s the only thing I’ve really been interested in.”
“Here, finish this.” And they were both quiet for a moment as Holly poured out the rest of the wine. “You obviously get that he wants you to move out here,” she said.
“I don’t know how you deal with him being this close.”
“It’s good. We get to spend time together.”
“He’s a hoverer.”
“He’s a dad.”
“When he moved, and I decided to stay with Miriam’s family and finish high school in La Jolla, I thought he was going to lose his shit.”
“Oh, he briefly lost his shit.”
“If I moved out here, I’d probably go insane.”
“It’s an option.”
“Do you remember when I got in the accident in high school?”
“Hard to forget.”
“Even when the car rolled it wasn’t like I was afraid. You know? I knew everything would be fine. But I could already picture the look on Dad’s face. All the disappointment and that snarl he has. You’d already left for school, but I just couldn’t deal with his hovering. I wanted to be on my own.”
“You should give him credit. People have way worse dads than Dad.”
“Oh, believe me, I know. Xander’s dad’s in jail for selling methamphetamines.”
“Wow, you should definitely marry this guy.”
They both cracked up, and when it died down, there was a pause.
Then Catherine: “So are you looking forward to getting deflowered on your wedding night?”