A Different Kind Of Forever (27 page)

“Well, good for you. Are you telling me that if you had to choose between your daughter and this man, you’d send Emily packing?”

Diane said nothing.

“How about this - how long have you dreamed about writing a play and seeing it performed?”

Diane dropped her eyes back to her desk. “Since I was, oh, probably ten.”

“So, Friday’s a fairly important night for you? Where is Michael? He does know about Friday, doesn’t he?”

“Quinn, you said yourself that Prescott is crazy. Michael is drowning over there.”

“And he can’t get away for a day?”

Diane raised her eyes and looked at Quinn steadily. “I don’t love you, Quinn.”

He made a face. “You’ve got him locked in your brain right now. Do you remember two years ago? Do you remember how you felt about me then? We were in love with each other. Granted, it may have happened quickly, but it was real. It was the most important thing that had ever happened to me.”

“It was for me too,” Diane said quickly. “You know that.”

“Yes. I did know. All I could think about was what the two of us could be together. I’m not talking about sex, although I had been going mad thinking about that. But we could have been magnificent. You knew it then, didn’t you?”

“Yes,” she said quietly. “I thought about us for a long time. I used to dream about what we would be like together.” She took in a deep breath. “Michael changed me, Quinn. I don’t know if I can go back.”

“He hasn’t been around for months,” Quinn said.

“Eight weeks tomorrow,” Diane corrected automatically. She looked apologetic. “So, I’ve been counting.”

He put his fingertips together and tapped them against his upper lip. “Can I at least court you? Properly, that is. Give me a chance, Diane, a real chance. Let me touch you now and again without all those red flags going up.”

Diane smiled tiredly. “How special you are, Quinn. Court me. What a lovely phrase.” She covered her face with her hands, and took several deep breaths. “I need a little more time, Quinn,” she said at last. She dropped her hands. “Can we wait until after Friday? Please?”

He stood up and walked around to her side of the desk and pulled her up from her chair. He took her face in his hands and kissed her, long and deeply, and she kissed him back, pushing Michael away.
 

Quinn broke the kiss and looked at her tenderly. “I will wait until Friday. But I will be with you Friday night, unless you tell me otherwise, all right?”

She nodded, and Quinn left her office. Diane stood there, trying to sort things out inside her head. She walked out of her office and down the hall to Marianne. The secretary waved her in. Marianne was looking through a fat computer printout when Diane came in, closing the door behind her.

“What’s wrong?” Marianne asked. “Emily again?”

“No. Quinn just asked me to marry him.”

Marianne pushed aside the printout and looked at Diane incredulously. “He what?”

“Yes.” Diane walked over and sat down across from her friend. “Just now. He said we were well suited.”

Marianne shook her head. “You are so entertaining this year, I cannot begin to tell you. He’s right. You’re very well suited. You two make a terrific couple. There have been more than a few people making that observation.”

“Marianne, have you heard anything about Quinn and I?”

“Quinn and me,” Marianne corrected automatically. “Really, Diane. And yes, I’ve heard all sorts of things. Are you deaf as well as blind? Did this come as a surprise to you? Don’t you notice the way the man looks at you?”

“But, but, I told him,” Diane sputtered, “I told him about Michael. He said he understood.”

“So? He understood. That’s fine. But obviously it didn’t change his feelings toward you. Let’s look at this for a minute. He divorced his wife, and from what you’ve told me, it cost him dearly, and not just money-wise. He came back here for you. He finds you mooning over another man. Fine. But did you really think he was just going to shrug his shoulders and gave up? After all that? Good God, Diane, you amaze me. Are you really this stupid about men? I’ve never dealt with them as romantic partners, and I thank my good Lord every night for that, but even I’ve figured out the way they work.”

Diane slumped down in the chair. “So, now what do I do?”

“Do you want to marry him?”

“I’m not in love with him anymore.”

“But you were once. You were crazy to be with him.”

“Yes, I remember.”

“And with Michael you’ve always had, well, reservations.”

“I know,” Diane said miserably.

“Look, Diane,” Marianne said seriously, “I only want what’s best for you. And I know Michael is all you can see right now. But Quinn is a good man. He obviously loves you. He’s asked you to marry him. Has Michael?”
 

“You know he hasn’t,” Diane said miserably. “He hasn’t said a thing in weeks. I wish I knew what was going on with him.”

“So, call him.”

“I tried. The number I had is no longer working. He hasn’t answered my e-mails. God, I am so upset about this.”

“You’ve got enough to be upset about with Emily. I’d forget about Michael, Diane, unless he makes a serious comeback.”

Diane sighed. “Quinn is coming with me Friday night.”

“Well, that will certainly be a statement.”

“Yes, I suppose it will.”

“I’m so sorry, Diane,” Marianne said gently. “Michael was glorious.”

Diane stood up. “I have the final outline done, for the grad class. I’d like you to take a look.”

“Great. How about lunch tomorrow?”

“Fine. See you then.”

Kevin’s car was parked in Diane’s driveway when she came home. It was just after four, which meant Kevin had to have taken off early from work. Diane’s heart was in her throat. That was either a good thing, or a very bad thing.

Kevin was sitting at the dining room table, working at his laptop. He looked relieved as Diane came in.

“Emily’s upstairs.” he told her. “You’ll have to ask her to come back, and I think she might say no, but keep asking. She wants to be back here, okay?”

Diane nodded and walked upstairs slowly. Emily’s door was closed. Diane knocked once, and immediately Emily opened it. Diane folded her arms across her chest and waited.

“Mom, I’m sorry.” Emily said in a small voice. “I was really upset and I didn’t mean to say those things to you about Michael. You were right. If I’m supposed to be grown-up, I’ve got to stop being so selfish and stupid about stuff. I was mad ‘cause I thought he should like me better.” Emily had been looking at the floor, twisting her hands together. She looked up at her mother. “So, I apologize.”

Diane pressed her lips in a thin line. “Sit down, honey,” she said.

Emily sat on her bed, legs crossed Indian-style. Diane stood over her, arms still folded.

“If I see Michael, again, will there be a problem?”

Emily shrugged. “No. I wouldn’t like it if you hated my boyfriend, so I’ll be fine. Really.”

“Oh, great. So you’ve just guilted me out of all objections to any future boyfriends you may have in this life and the next, is that it?”

Emily’s mouth twitched. “No, Mom.” Pause. “So you’ll be seeing him again? Megan said he was in London.”

“Yes. He’s in London. I don’t know when he’ll be back.”

“Oh.” Emily looked up shyly. “Did you go to his house?”

Diane sat down next to her on the bed. “Yes, I’ve been to his house.”

“What’s it like?”
 

“Long. Elegant. He has very sleek furniture, no knick-knacks. He lives on a lake and it’s beautiful. He has a studio, with a glassed-off sound booth, and all this ridiculously sophisticated equipment. He collects Japanese art.”

“You like Japanese art,” Emily said.

“Yes. We have lots of things in common.”

“Is he really in love with you?”

“Yes, honey, he really is.”

“Are you in love with him?”

“Yes. I am. I wasn’t sure, for a long time, if I was or not. But I do love him. Very much.”

Emily looked at her mother sideways. “Are you going to get married?”

“Honey, I don’t think I want to get married again.”

“Can we go to the Grammys?”

“What?”

“The Grammy Awards. Do you think we can go?”

Diane bit back laughter. “I don’t know, honey. Why don’t we wait on that one?”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

Diane took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I should have told you from the beginning, but I was afraid you’d have, uh, expectations, and I wasn’t sure we were going to last. I was going to wait for him to come back, invite him over, and just kind of let you get used to the idea. It was a mistake. I’m sorry. You shouldn’t have had to find out about this over the Web.” Diane gave her a hug. “Are you ready to come home? Rachel is coming in early on Friday, and we were all going to get dressed together and see the play. Stay here. You’ll be back at your fathers’ that night anyway. Stay and see the play with us.”

Emily shrugged again. “Yeah, okay, that sounds like fun”

Diane exhaled silently. “Okay, then. I’ll tell your Dad.” She went downstairs, thanking the gods. Kevin was packing his briefcase.

“She’s staying.” She hugged her ex-husband tightly. ‘Thank you so much. I don’t know what you did or said, but thank you.”

Kevin kissed her forehead affectionately. “I didn’t do anything. Really. I think she just figured it out for herself.” He shrugged into his jacket. “This guy she was talking about.” He looked at her with interest. “He’s in a rock band? I mean, I don’t care who you date, you know that. And I want you to be happy, Diane, I really do. But how old is this guy?”

“About three years younger than your wife,” Diane said dryly. Kevin had the grace to color slightly.

“Well, I hope he’s worth it. I know what these past few weeks have cost you. I’ll bring the rest of her stuff tomorrow. And I’m seeing your play on Friday. I’ll take the girls with me from there. Break a leg, or whatever.”

“Thanks again.” Diane closed the door behind him. Megan would be home from Becca’s soon. It was time to make dinner. Emily was back home. Quinn had proposed. All in all, a good day’s work.

Friday afternoon, Diane raced home to get ready for her play. Rachel was waiting for her as Diane emerged from her shower. Her daughter was wearing a long, flowing dress, obviously vintage. Diane looked at her suspiciously.
 

“I think I wore that same dress in 1986. To a fraternity dance.” Diane said slowly.

Rachel looked shocked. “You went to a fraternity dance?” she asked, horrified.

Diane shrugged. “Hey, times were different then. It was free beer. You look terrific.”

Rachel rolled her eyes. “So, what are you wearing? I hope you bought something incredible for your premier.”

Diane pulled out a black pants suit, the jacket cut to look like a man’s tuxedo, the pants wide and comfortable. Rachel examined the outfit critically.

“Are you at least wearing hot lacy underwear underneath?” she asked at last.

Diane’s shoulders slumped. “Rach, why would it matter what I was wearing underneath?”

“Mom,” she explained patiently. “You are about to become a playwright. This is big. Exciting. You need to dress as though you can take on the world. You’re going to look like a maitre’d at a lesbian nightclub in this outfit. You should at least have exciting underwear. And spiky, sexy shoes. Besides,” she asked casually, “isn’t Michael going to be here?”

Diane shook out the pants carefully without looking at her. “I haven’t heard from Michael in weeks.”

“Oh. I’m sorry.”

“Me too. Actually, I was thinking about socks and sneakers, but I think maybe just plain black flats. I am going to be an absolute wreck tonight, I know it. The least I can do is be comfortable.”

Rachel was shaking her head. “Mom, how boring. Wait, what about your hair? I brought my chopsticks. We can put your hair into a French twist. You’ll look amazing.” Rachel started combing out her mother’s hair, pulling it tight.

“Listen, Rachel,” Diane said, “About tonight. You’ll be sitting with your dad, right?”

“Yeah.” Rachel twisted up Diane’s hair and stuck in one of the chopsticks. They were standing in front of her dresser. Diane met her daughter’s eyes in the mirror.

“What’s going on, Mom?”

“Well, Quinn Harris is kind of my date.”

Rachel worked another chopstick through Diane’s hair, then put in some hair pins. She pulled a few strands of hair around her mother’s face. When she was done, she kissed her cheek. “You look beautiful, Mom. I just want you to be happy, okay? Quinn is a neat guy, really. I like him a lot. If he’s here for you, that’s what really counts, you know?”

Diane nodded. She felt strong, glamorous. She got dressed and went out into the living room, where Emily and Megan applauded as Diane spun around, balancing on the tips of her shoes. There were roses in the living room, a massive bouquet from Quinn. She picked one, snapped the stem, and pinned it carefully to her satin lapel, then they all piled into the Subaru and drove off to Merriweather.

The curtain went up at 7:30. By ten after eight, Diane knew they were a success. The crowd laughed in all the right places, listened carefully when the dialog was serious, and half a dozen times had burst into applause. By the intermission, she was on cloud nine.

Quinn was right there, his arm tight around her waist, pushing her through the crowd in the lobby. He left her side only to bring them champagne from the tiny bar. He was incredibly proud of her, and of her obvious triumph. Sam French was ecstatic. He came running from backstage to kiss Diane repeatedly on both cheeks.

“What do you think, Quinn?” Sam asked, “Are we going places, or what?”

Quinn smiled and drew Diane closer. “There are some people here who are going to want to talk to you both,” he said. “Sam Levinson from the New School has already given me the high sign. Make sure you see him after the curtain.”

Sam flittered away, and Diane leaned against Quinn. Her daughters were coming toward her, happy and excited.

“Mom, this is so cool,” Megan said.

“Yes, it is. How do you like it so far?”

Rachel was beaming. “It’s funny, Mom. The people here are loving it. Congratulations.”