Adult Assembly Required, page 15
Bob slowed down for a light. “My parents aren’t thrilled with my life choices, either, but that’s cool.” He made a turn, and added, “I stopped caring about that a long time ago.”
Laura said, “Me too, but my parents don’t seem to care about my opinion of their opinion. They’ll probably be giving it to me twenty years from now.” She took a deep breath and realized her tension was nearly gone. “Honestly, my mother is mystified . . .” She shook her head, then changed the subject again. “Do you know what we’re doing today?”
Bob nodded. “Today we’re taking out a little patch of crappy lawn—Edward’s description, not mine—and replacing it with a couple of raised beds filled with native plants and flowers for the butterflies and birds to enjoy.”
“Does he do that for all his students?”
Bob shook his head. “Just any that let him.”
They drove quietly for a while, and Laura gazed at the people they passed. Los Angeles was much less dense, people-wise, than Manhattan, but there was a similar energy. And apparently a similar level of passion for sports: Everywhere she saw Dodgers shirts. Or Rams. Or Lakers. She was about to ask Bob about it when he spoke again.
“You’re also going to meet Lili, Edward’s fiancée, because I think he said she was coming.” He smiled broadly. “And you’ll meet her kids, who are a total trip.” He reconsidered. “Well, the younger one is a trip. The older one is pretty normal.” He turned and started looking for house numbers. “Ah, there it is.” He pulled over and parked.
The house in question was a small, one-story building on a side street, clearly much loved. The paint was fresh, the curtains bright, the front path decorated with chalk flowers. A little girl was sitting outside, chalking away.
I made it, thought Laura. I made it all the way and he didn’t know how scared I was.
Bob and Laura got out of the truck, and the child looked up and hailed them.
“Bob! Noble friend! Trusty sidekick!” She stood up, an elementary-age kid wearing leggings with rainbows and a T-shirt with a sloth on it. Her shiny hair was cut in a bob, and her face was filled with delight. She ran over and threw herself on Bob.
“Queen Clare,” said Bob, lifting her up and swinging her around. “How are things in the kingdom?”
“Fine,” she replied, looking at Laura. “Who’s this?”
“This is Laura,” said Bob. “She’s a new friend.”
Clare reached out and shook hands with Laura, her little grip firm. “Are you a gardener, too?”
“No,” said Laura, “I’m studying to be a physical therapist.”
Clare was interested. “What’s that?”
“She’ll help people who’ve been injured or sick or whatever,” said Bob, going back to grab tools from the back of the truck, “teaching them to walk, things like that.”
Clare’s eyes brightened hopefully. “Could you teach them to fly?”
Laura shook her head. “No,” she said, but then thought about it for a second and added, “unless they could fly before, I guess.”
“And if they could?” Clare was completely ready to pursue this line of conversation, viewing reality as, frankly, a creative impediment.
Laura shrugged. “Then, yeah, if they could explain how they did it before, I could probably help them do it again.” Laura wondered how she’d found herself saying this, but Clare seemed to take it in stride.
“That’s cool,” she said, filing away the information, “but today you’re going to help Bob?”
Laura nodded. “Gardening, not flying.”
“Right,” said Clare, sitting back down to continue her chalking. “Because he can’t fly anyway.” She seemed to think his feelings might be hurt by this extremely factual statement, and quickly added, “But he’s good at other things.” She waited a hair too long to add, “Probably.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” said Bob, pausing on his way into the house. “Is everyone here already?”
Clare shook her head and lowered her voice. “The people are nice, but the garden is too small for me to do anything except get in the way, my mom said. So she gave me chalk.” She looked up at them. “What shall I draw now?”
“A cat,” said Laura.
“You’re like my mom,” said Clare complainingly. “She always says draw a cat.”
Laura shrugged. “They’re cute, they’re easy to draw.”
“Do you know a cat’s whiskers help them not get stuck in things?” Clare started drawing a cat. “That’s what my friend Nina told me. She knows lots of things.”
“Nina from the bookstore?” Laura asked.
“Yes,” nodded Clare. “She’s going out with my uncle’s brother, you know.”
“I don’t think Laura’s interested in Nina’s love life, Clare,” said Bob.
Clare frowned at him. “Everyone’s interested in other people, Bob.”
Bob rolled his eyes at Laura. “Coming in?”
Laura hesitated. “Why don’t you go see what the plan is, I’ll wait here.”
After he’d gone, Clare looked up at her. “Is Bob your boyfriend?”
Laura shook her head. “We live at the same house. With Polly, from the bookstore.”
“I know Polly,” said Clare, faintly scornfully. “My sister goes to a book club at the store, you know.” She added ears to her cat, then drew a flower behind one of them.
“I heard,” said Laura. “Everybody seems to know everybody.”
Clare sat back on the path and looked at her. “Bob used to be my aunty’s boyfriend, you know.”
“No, I didn’t know.”
“Yes,” said Clare. “She called him Impossibly Handsome Bob.”
“Oh, is that where that comes from?”
Clare nodded. “Yes. Then she got married and now he doesn’t have a girlfriend.” She smiled at Laura. “Maybe you can be his girlfriend. He’s very strong, you know, he can lift me up over his head.” She wrinkled her nose. “I don’t get why he’s impossibly handsome, he looks regular to me.”
Regular Bob appeared from the house. “We’re around the back,” he said to Laura. “Feel free to join us if you like.”
Clare looked at him. “Maybe she’d rather draw with me. I’m very good company, my mom said so.”
Bob laughed. “Your mom is very wise. Laura can do what she wants, she’s a free woman.”
“For the time being,” said Clare very archly, narrowing her eyes.
Bob raised his eyebrows at her. “You’re a strange child, Clare.”
Clare sighed, and relaxed her face. “Yeah, my mom says that, too.”
TWENTY-ONE
As Clare said, the backyard was pretty small. A tall, broad man with an accent, whom Bob introduced as Edward, was directing activities. There were a couple of people working on removing sod from the small lawn, while another pair was assembling a raised garden bed. Laura looked at Bob and smiled.
“How can I help?”
Bob had been put in charge of the lawn and was using a sharp edging tool to divide the lawn into narrower strips so they could be lifted up with wide, flat shovels. Laura couldn’t help noticing he was doing an excellent and efficient job of transferring weight while maintaining his core and protecting his lower back, and then she admitted to herself that she was simply ogling, and in pretending it was academic, she wasn’t even fooling herself. A very pregnant woman standing nearby overheard the question and answered for Bob.
“You can help me, if you like.” She came closer and stuck out her hand. “I’m Lili, you probably met my daughter Clare outside.”
Laura nodded and smiled. “I’m Laura, it’s nice to meet you. Your daughter is adorable.”
Lili smiled and turned up her palms. “She’s her own little bird, that’s for sure.”
“Bob said you had another daughter, an older one. Is she here?”
Lili shook her head. “No, Annabel’s at a play rehearsal. I’m no use for digging right now, and the planting won’t happen until the raised bed is done. However, I noticed some little corner beds . . .” She pointed and Laura saw what she meant: two little flower beds, or rather potential flower beds. They were currently growing old leaves and candy wrappers. “I was going to suggest I work on those, but I need to check that it’s OK.”
“I’m in,” said Laura, following her over to where Edward was standing with a middle-aged couple who were clearly the owners of the garden.
“Hey there,” said Lili, smiling at everyone. Laura saw the tall man turn and see Lili, and watched in half envy, half admiration as his face transformed at the sight of her. He reached out his hand and cupped Lili’s shoulder, gently drawing her closer.
“Hello there,” he said, his voice soft. “Jon, Sandy, this is Lili, my fiancée.”
The couple smiled and nodded, and Lili said, “I was wondering if Laura and I could do a little rehab on those flower beds?” She pointed, but Sandy and Jon looked confused.
“Those corners?” Jon looked surprised. “They’re not really flower beds, are they?”
“They easily could be,” said Lili. “I promise.” She looked at Edward. “Did we bring anything that would work there?”
Edward rubbed his head. “No, but you can ask Bob if he has anything, it’s possible.”
“He has some little flowers in trays, I saw them in the truck,” volunteered Laura. “I don’t know what they are or anything.”
“Bob”—Lili raised her voice—“do you have any flowers?”
Bob stopped digging and stood there with his T-shirt clinging to him. He wiped his forehead with his arm and thought about it.
“I think I have one flat of color, but if you’re talking about those corner beds, they won’t do. Rose campion”—he looked at Edward—“needs full sun. You want something like Brunnera, or maybe Dicentra. Trillium, maybe?”
Edward frowned, and turned to Jon and Sandy. “How do you feel about ferns? Or leaves in general?”
Both Jon and Sandy looked confused. “Uh,” said Sandy, “I’m pro-ferns, I guess.”
“Honestly,” said Jon, “never given ferns a single thought.”
Edward nodded, taking the insult to ferns on the chin. “These main beds will be filled with flowering plants to encourage pollinators like hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies, but ferns also provide a place to hide for ground-feeding birds or other foraging creatures. Those two corners are in full shade, so ferns or hostas will be more suitable.” He turned to Bob, who looked more interested in debating planting choices than digging in the hot sun. “Hostas, Bob?”
“Great, if these ladies can create some kind of soil for them.” He smiled at Laura. “It’s all about the soil, as Edward will tell you.”
“Don’t get him started on soil,” said Lili to Laura. “He’ll never stop.” She took a breath, having reached that point in pregnancy where the baby was taking over internal real estate to the detriment of lung capacity, and said, “Laura and I will go to the garden center and get a few plants.” She looked at Laura. “If that’s alright with you?”
Laura looked at Bob, who smiled at her. She really didn’t want to get in another car, but there was no way she was going to let this thing get out of control. She would push herself and get over it. “Sounds good to me, let’s go.”
Edward fished in his pockets and threw some keys to Lili. “Be careful, schatje.”
Lili smiled at him and turned to go. Laura looked once more at Bob, who was still standing there looking at her.
“Yeah, schatje,” he said, “be careful.” There was something affectionate and touching in his face as he looked at her, and Lili and Edward shot each other a quick look. They were both very fond of Bob.
“Don’t worry, Bob,” said Lili. “I’ll look after her.”
* * *
• • •
Edward’s car was a long station wagon, and once they were inside, Laura realized the back seats were already folded down to make room for a wide variety of tools, bags of seed, textbooks, and papers.
“Your fiancé is a teacher?” Laura asked as they settled in. Lili had invited Clare to join them, but she’d been engrossed in her drawing and demurred.
“Yes, at Pierce.” Lili lowered the window and addressed Clare. “Are you sure you don’t want to come?”
Clare looked up at her. “Mom, we go to the garden center all the time . . . wait . . . is it the one with the good candy?”
“No, that one’s closer to our house.”
“Then no, thanks.” She went back to drawing, muttering, “If it doesn’t have sugar dots on paper, I’m not interested.”
Lili looked dubious. “Well, if you need anything, Edward’s in the back.”
Clare waved her hand dismissively. “Have fun, Mom.” Looking up, she added, “And Laura.” She looked at her mom. “Laura’s interested in Bob, you can tell her all about him.”
Laura went bright red. “That’s not true.” Her embarrassment pushed her anxiety away briefly.
“And she teaches people to fly.”
“Also not true,” said Laura quickly.
Lili laughed, and closed the window. “Laura, if I took Clare literally, I’d have been lost years ago.” They pulled away from the curb, and Lili turned to Laura. “Honestly, though, are you and Bob . . . ?”
“Only friends, and recently that,” said Laura. “We live in the same house, that’s all.” Lili nipped into traffic, and Laura’s hand tightened on the door handle.
Lili’s face brightened. “Oh, are you in the house with Polly?” She looked over at Laura and grinned.
“Yes!” Laura tried to smile, waiting for Lili to look back at the road. “You know Polly, of course, Clare said so.”
“The bookstore is pretty essential to the neighborhood, and Polly’s pretty essential to the bookstore. Everyone knows Polly.” Lili navigated the streets deftly, but drove fast and changed lanes in a darting, non-indicating fashion. Laura tried to ignore it and focus on Lili’s face. She was quite a bit older than Laura and slightly round-faced with pregnancy, but there was something warm and youthful about her that Laura found appealing. Lili’s long, dark hair was piled on top of her head and secured with one of those grabby clip things, but several large chunks were coming undone at the back, and there was a general messiness about her that was disarming.
“How long have you been at the house?” Lili asked, trying to get comfortable behind the wheel, wriggling a bit and sighing frequently. Pregnancy never looked supercomfortable to Laura; it looked adorable on the covers of magazines and in movies, but up close it seemed like several servings of pain in the ass.
“Not long.” Laura explained about the accident, about moving to Los Angeles, about the fire, about grad school. She thought she breezed through all of it with equal emphasis, but Lili shot her a look and said, with startling bluntness, “My husband died in a car accident. I was a wreck for months afterward, couldn’t even sit in a car without freaking out a bit. Have you found it hard?”
Laura’s mouth dropped open. How was this woman saying all this to a total stranger? She felt the blood rushing to her face.
“It’s been . . .” She couldn’t continue, her voice cracking. Jesus, what is wrong with me?
Lili clearly wasn’t thrown by this conversation and had more pressing concerns. She said, “I’m sorry, but I really need to pee. Can we stop at this Starbucks?”
Laura nodded. “Sure.” She had her voice back, even if she still wasn’t certain how to answer Lili’s question. How do you say, Yeah, it’s been really hard, and—funny you should ask—I’m starting to think I’m losing my mind, thanks for asking?
“Thanks.” Lili pulled into a parking spot outside the coffee place and unbuckled her seat belt with relief. “I’d forgotten how much you pee when you’re pregnant. It’s not a plus.”
“When’s the baby due?”
“September.” Lili was already out of the car and hopping a little from foot to foot. “Which is about six years from tomorrow.”
“Are your kids excited?” Laura got out of the car and followed Lili through the swinging doors.
“Sure,” said Lili, putting on a sudden burst of speed. “Can you get me an iced coffee with lots of room for cream?” She rushed up to the counter for the bathroom key and swiftly made her way across the room, navigating the crowd of overcaffeinated people in a mad, slalom-esque dash. The sales assistant looked at Laura. “I guess she really needs to go, huh?”
Laura grinned, and ordered their drinks.
* * *
• • •
Having successfully acquired ferns at the nursery, Laura and Lili returned to the house and found Clare and Bob playing hopscotch on the pathway.
Lili grinned and turned to Laura. “Clare has had a soft spot for Bob ever since he let her drive a tractor in our gardening class. That’s where I met Edward.” She watched her daughter openly cheating and Bob pretending not to see it. “Bob’s a really good guy, you know.” She turned to Laura. “It’s not his fault he looks like that.”
Laura laughed. “I know, it’s a bit distracting.”
“It is. But try not to judge a book by its cover.”
“OK.”
Lili hesitated. “Or by its tendency to blush and stammer.”
Laura smiled. “OK.”
“Or by its fondness for talking about plants.”
Laura’s smile widened. “Are we still talking about a book?”
Lili opened her door. “Yes, of course. Crap, I need to pee again—can I leave you to unload the car?”
Bob was already coming over to help, and Laura smiled at him. “Of course,” she said. “I’ll see you in the back.”
Edward had been right, the ferns and hostas looked beautiful in the corners. Lili regaled Laura with bizarre stories about her kids, her dog, her work, while Laura did most of the digging. Bending over wasn’t easy for Lili, so she mostly sat on the ground against the wall and chatted while Laura dug, loosened the ferns from their pots, and placed them in the spots Lili pointed to. Time passed easily, and Laura relaxed. She’d been worried Lili was going to pursue a line of questioning about the accident, but Lili seemed to have moved on. Or maybe she was just an astute judge of people and could tell Laura didn’t want to talk about it. Not being that astute a judge of people herself, Laura wasn’t sure.
