your leg? Then maybe we get out of the mall and find some small boutique where we can get something really unique for your mother.”
“That’s a good idea. Where can we find something like that?” he asked.
“Isn’t there a downtown here?” I asked.
“There was when I was a kid, but I’m not sure what’s there now,” he said. “We’ll go look. It might be all touristy stuff. Oh, I know, there are shops like that in Arlington, or is it Lexington? I’m not sure. We’ll just go and look.”
“Are you all right?” I asked.
“I’ve been away from my life for too long, I can’t even think straight anymore. Oh, my God, did you hear what I just said?” he laughed.
We sat in a small lounge area and people watched for a moment.
“It’s interesting how we don’t think of our parents as people with lives outside our own existence, isn’t it?” Michael said. “Until you asked me, it never crossed my mind that my mother was a young woman when my father died, so of course she could have dated and maybe even married again. But no, that was it. And since I left home, I have no idea if she goes out. She talks about going out with people from work once in a while, very rarely actually, but she doesn’t have much of a social life, she never takes vacations, and I just never even thought about it.”
“My father is the same. Once, years ago, I asked him about it and he shut me down so fast that I never had the nerve to ask him again. He travels, mostly for work—to conferences and doing research—and he’s pretty private about the rest of his life,” I said. “I mean, he could have a lady friend, and I would have no idea. Maybe the same thing is true of your mom. You never know.”
“I guess,” he said. “I always tell her everything, so I just assumed that she would tell me if she had something going on. But maybe she wouldn’t feel comfortable. I don’t know.” He shook his body all over like a dog. “This whole conversation is freaking me out. I might have to go back to therapy if we keep talking about it. Let’s get out of here.”
We headed to the exit and found our way to Lexington, where parking was even more challenging than the acreage surrounding the mall. I closed my eyes for a second and envisioned a space opening up and voila! There it was—someone pulled out just ahead of us. We got out and entered streets filled with shoppers amidst stores decked out in holiday finery.
“Now, this is classic New England,” I said.
“Yes, Paul Revere will be coming ’round the bend any minute now, so ready your musket,” Michael said.
“If it starts to snow, that will be the icing on the cake,” I said. “Let’s make it so.”
I closed my eyes and visualized a lightly falling snow, and when I felt the cold drop of a flake on my cheek, I opened my eyes and it was happening. Michael was staring at me, open mouthed.
“What are you, some kind of witch?” he asked.
“No,” I said. “I’m just trying to tap into my inner magician.” I stopped in front of a store. “Here. Let’s check this place out.”
An hour later, we came back out into the winter carrying bags, our wallets lighter, and our spirits lifted. The proprietor of the store was delightful, helping us find just the right scarf to match Peggy’s hazel eyes and a pair of earrings made from discarded scrabble tiles, her favorite game.
“We have to make one more stop, and then we’re all set,” Michael said.
“Your wish is my command,” I said. “Lead on.”
“Oh, if only you were the right gender, those words would be so exciting to hear,” he said.
I laughed. “Don’t worry,” I said. “Someday your prince will come. You are quite a catch, after all.”
Our next stop was a tiny spa, where we plunged our feet into lavender-scented water and drank hot chocolate.
“You sure have terrible feet,” he said.
“I know,” I said. “It’s the years I spent dancing and doing gymnastics. Very hard on the feet as well as the spine.”
“Now I know why you never wear sandals. You have some ugly toes.”
“Thank you. I agree. Now, can we drop it?” I asked.
“Tell me about being a professional dancer,” he said. “What was that like?”
“It’s not very glamorous, as you can see. It’s hard work. Every day, all day, hard physical labor,” I said. “I mean, I loved it, don’t get me wrong—there’s really nothing like performing in front of a crowd. It makes all the hard stuff go away. But it’s amazing how quickly it can end. And then, you have nothing. So that kind of career is really tough. It’s short and hard and it can be brutal.”
“Are you sorry you did it?” he asked.
“Oh, no. I’d always have regrets and questions if I hadn’t done it. And at the time, I wasn’t ready to grow up. I just wanted to keep dancing. I thought that I’d die if I had to stop. So I chased that dream as far as it could take me. So no, I’m not sorry. And when it was over, I still had time to do something else with my life, so I guess I’m lucky. I could follow my dream to its conclusion, and then find another dream to pursue. Not everybody gets the chance to do that.”
“I bet your father wasn’t happy about you going off to join the circus and dance instead of getting a job after college.”
“That’s quite an understatement,” I said, laughing. “I tried out for some Broadway shows, but it was the circus that recruited me to dance for a year with their European troupe, so I sold him on the idea as my way of having the post-college grand tour without him having to pay for it. But I stayed longer than that one year, and I left the big circus and joined up with a smaller troupe. I joined a family gymnastics act, and that’s what I was doing when I fell and broke my neck.”
“Wow. How long were you out of commission?”
“I spent six months in traction and then about a year in rehab. I thought my life was over, wasn’t sure I was ever going to walk again. But here I am, ugly feet and all.”
“And so, you obviously went back to school… ”
“Yes, that’s when I decided to go to grad school, and that helped my rehab quite a bit. Once I had a new focus, I got back on track. I moved to Boston, did my doctoral research abroad, and you know the rest of the story. Hopefully I’ll be able to stay at NYU. Although all that police business last fall is probably not going to be a very positive part of my tenure application. But maybe they’ll forget it by the time the review comes around. What do you think?”
“They never forget anything, I’m afraid,” he said. “But maybe if you join some Dean’s committee and behave yourself for the next five years, they’ll overlook it.”
“Bummer.”
“Yeah.”
“Hey, are you getting polish?” I asked.
“Absolutely. I’m going for the ribbon candy red. What color do you think?” he smiled and handed me the selections card.
“Let’s take a look.”
Chapter 4
Peggy found us in front of the fireplace when she returned home that evening, deep into a hot and heavy Scrabble game. Michael jumped up to greet her and signaled me to cover up the board, but I was not quick enough.
“Michael, are you playing ‘dirty words’ again? And, with a guest? Haven’t I told you that it’s not nice to use my nice clean house for such a filthy pursuit?” She looked over his shoulder and winked at me. “You must be Cassie. It’s so nice to finally meet you in person after all these phone calls and emails,”