Going Back by Judith Arnold

Author:Judith Arnold
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: romance judith arnold womens fiction single woman friends reunion

Chapter Seven

THE ELEVATOR DOOR slid open, and Brad found himself face to face with his father.

The two of them sprang back from each other in shock. But when the elevator door started to slide shut, Robert Torrance regained his bearings quickly enough to press the “Door Open” button and escape into the sumptuously decorated lobby of the Upper East Side apartment before the elevator whisked him away again. He smiled tensely, evened his Brooks Brothers blazer across his shoulders with a slight shrug, and said, “Dining with your mother, I take it?”

Brad had arrived at his mother’s apartment from the office, where he’d wasted the better part of the afternoon pretending he cared one way or the other regarding the selection of the new IT person and trying not to be too obvious about the fact that he was waiting for word from Daphne. She was supposed to have contacted the owner of the expanded cape that morning to make an offer on Brad’s behalf—an offer that seemed insultingly low to him—and she’d promised she would call Brad with the seller’s counter-offer, assuming the guy wasn’t so offended by Brad’s bid that he refused to make one. But Brad’s cell phone had never rung. Now he was stuck fulfilling a dinner obligation to his mother, during which he would continue to be distracted by thoughts about whether or not he was going to be able to buy the damned house and make use of his return ticket to Seattle on the following Monday.

He was scarcely prepared for the ordeal of being charming with his mother all evening. To see his father emerging from the elevator left Brad at a complete loss. When he didn’t speak, his father filled the silence by mumbling, “I stopped by the apartment to pick up a few items, that’s all.”

Given his father’s empty-handedness, Brad felt safe in assuming that Robert was lying. Judging by the tousled state of the older man’s thick, silver hair and the lingering gleam in his eyes, Brad had a pretty clear idea of what his father and mother had been doing together that afternoon—and it wasn’t picking up items.

He was pleased. If his parents were willing to acknowledge their compatibility in bed, they ought to be willing to acknowledge the even more obvious truth that they belonged together. “Dad,” he said, trying to sound calm and impartial, “you don’t have to pretend you and Mom aren’t still in love. You are, and I think it’s great.”

“Did your mother tell you we’re in love?” Robert asked indignantly. “If she did, I can assure you that she was speaking for herself and not for me.”

What a pair of stubborn asses, Brad thought with wry amusement. His mother would never admit that she still loved his father, either. If only they would stand side by side in front of a mirror, they’d see the love emanating from their own eyes—and from each other’s. “Why can’t you two just sit down and work it out?” Brad asked with what he considered supreme sensibility.

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