Blood Orange by Drusilla Campbell

Author:Drusilla Campbell [Campbell, Drusilla]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2008-06-29T07:28:00+00:00

Lexy had appointments scheduled until midafternoon. At three a couple brimming with good looks and hope came in for premarital counseling. Lexy said to them what she had wanted to tell Dana. God, knowing that his children would be lonely without partners, blessed and encouraged all loving unions: friendship, parents and children, lover and lover, husband and wife.

She told the couple, “The thing you must never forget is that a marriage is a fragile organism, and it takes more than love to keep it alive. It requires forgiveness and trust and forbearance. Lots of forbearance.”

She wished she’d said that to Dana.

The monthly meeting of St. Tom’s vestry was held in the undercroft and was always a potluck to which Lexy was expected to contribute only her smiling, upbeat self. When everyone was seated and their plastic plates were heavy with Konnie’s Mexican casserole and Beth’s green salad, Lexy blessed the food, the vestry, and the work it did, and the meeting began. There were the usual matters of money and mission to discuss. Someone asked Lexy if she could schedule noontime Masses during Advent, and she said she would, though she had no idea how she’d manage. Beth reported on plans for the upcoming Day of the Dead, All Saints’ Day celebration. The building committee reported on the estimated cost of wheelchair ramps. By the time Lexy returned to her office it was after nine, but she worked on a grant proposal until almost eleven, when the figures on the spreadsheet became a blur. She made herself a cup of drip coffee and dialed Micah’s number, barely hoping he would pick up. When he did, she was momentarily tongue-tied.

“You answered. Hi. It’s me.”

“Yo, Me. It’s eleven o’clock at night. Why aren’t you in bed with someone? “

He laughed, and she guessed that he was stoned. Micah was not a laugher by nature.

“How are you?” she asked.

“How are you?”

“Oh. Working. Same old.”

“You need to get a life.”

“That’s what Dana says.”

“How is Dana?”

“I think she’s hit one of those bumpy spots.”

He laughed again, and she wondered why.

“You sure you’re okay?” she asked as she wondered Are you stoned? Depressed? You sound depressed. Or: Are you taking your meds? You must take your medicine, Micah.

I’m not depressed. Of course I’m taking them. Or: They make me sleepy. Or: I’m too young to abandon my libido.

“I thought maybe the black dog had you,” she added.

“Actually I’m feeling pretty good,” he said.

“How ‘bout I come over tomorrow after work, take you to dinner? Sound good?”

“Thing is, I won’t be here. I’ve got this gallery in LA interested in my Florentine scenes. I want to see you, but-“

“Cra ” p•

“Reverend Mother!”

“You want me to believe you?”

“Hey, you’re not the only busy person in this family.”

“You’re selling?”

“How many times do I have to tell you, Alexandra, it’s not about selling.” He added with mocking pretentiousness, “It’s about the art, darling.”

“I can’t help it if I’m my mother’s daughter.”

“Omigod, wash your mouth out with soap.”

Lexy’s grip on the phone relaxed.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.