Mary, Mary

Chapter 75

“MR. TRUSCOTT CALLED for you. He said he'd like an interview. Said it was important. That he'll come to the house if you like. He wondered if you received his notes about the women on death row”

I frowned and shook my head. “Ignore Truscott. Anything else happen while I was away?”

“Did Damon tell you he and his friend broke up?” Nana asked me quietly “Did you even know he had a girlfriend?”

We were sitting in the kitchen that Saturday afternoon on my first day back. I looked over toward the living room to make sure we were still alone.

“Is that the girl he's been talking to so much on the phone?” I asked.

“Well, not anymore,” she said. “Just as well, I'm sure. He's too young for any of that.”

She got up humming “Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho” and turned her attention to a pot of chili she had going on the stove.

I was distracted by the chili itself, and the fact that she had used ground turkey instead of her usual beef or pork. Maybe Kayla Coles had worked some magic and finally gotten Nana to do something new to take care of herself. Good for Kayla.

“When did Damon tell you he had a girlfriend?” I asked, unable to completely drop the subject. I was more curious about it than I was reluctant to show how out of the loop I had become with my older son.

“He didn't tell me; it just sort of presented itself,” Nana said. “It's not something teenagers talk about directly Cornelia's been to the house a couple of times. To do homework. She's very nice. Her mother and father are lawyers, but I didn't hold that against her.“ She laughed at her little joke. ”Well, maybe I held it against her just a little.”

Cornelia? Nana the expert, and Alex the outsider. All my good intentions and the promise I'd made myself to do things differently had been swallowed up by whatever it was that always always - seemed to drag me back to theJob.

Missed out on Damonsfirst breakup. Can't get that one back. Cornelia, we hardly knew ya.

It was good to be home anyway. The kitchen was soon overflowing with the smells of Nana's cooking, exponentially so, as I was being received back with a party for friends and family Besides the chili, there was Nana's famous corn bread, two kinds of garlicky greens, seasoned steaks, and a batch of caramel bread pudding that was a rare show-off treat. Apparently, Dr. Coles hadn't completely gotten through to her about the taking-it-easy part.

I tried to help without getting in the way, while Nana checked her watch and just about flew around the kitchen. I would have been more excited if I felt I deserved a party. Not only was I out of the running for father of the year, but my return trip to L.A. was already booked.