Mallory leaned across the table and filled Keira's now empty glass with more rosé. Keira grimaced. She didn't care for the sickly sweet pink wine her mother favored, but there wasn't much she could do about it. When it came to Mallory Swanson, refusal was futile.
Bryn caught Keira's eye from across the table and smirked. She hated the pink wine just as much as Keira did. At least it provided them with a private joke they could share.
"So Keira," Mallory said, addressing her youngest daughter.
Keira broke her gaze from Bryn to regard Mallory. She could tell by the way her mother's eyes were slightly narrowed, and the way her wine glass was askew in her hands, that she was slightly tipsy. Which meant that she was about to ask something very personal, as was her way when she'd had a glass or two.
Keira braced herself. "Yes, Mother?"
"Have you heard from Cristiano?"
There it was. The gut punch.
Before Keira had a chance to even groan, Mallory flinched and flashed angry eyes at Bryn.
"Don't kick me, young lady!" she exclaimed. "If I don't ask she doesn't tell. How else am I supposed to know what's going on in my daughter's life? One minute he was Mr. Right and then he was Mr. Gone. I want to know what happened."
Petulance was another one of Mallory's tipsy habits.
Keira sighed. "It's okay. It's about time I talked about what happened." She put her wine glass down. At least if she was the one commanding the conversation she'd have an excuse not to drink any more rosé. "I haven't heard from him since I broke it off. I really thought we'd be friends. It felt like a mature separation, you know? Like we could both tell it wasn't right. But then he disappeared off the face of the earth. No communication whatsoever. I mean, am I an idiot for ever thinking you can be friends with an ex? The same thing happened with Shane."
"Oh, darling, I'm not the one to ask," Mallory replied. "You know too well how disastrous my love life has been."
If Keira had a bingo card for things her mom discussed when she was drinking, she'd probably have ticked all the boxes by now. Career. Tick. Painful broken heart. Tick. And now, the real kicker: Dad.
Keira knew the story all too well, but that didn't stop Mallory from bringing it up constantly. He was her one true love, they were young but thought it would work, he couldn't handle the responsibility of children, he'd left her destitute in a big city with two young kids. Though she'd never met her dad, Keira was absolutely certain his absence played a role in her own inability to sustain a happy relationship. And he was definitely the reason Bryn was setting up house with an old man.
Mallory waved her glass in front of her face, sloshing some pink liquid onto the table in front of her. "I will say this though. Broken hearts, like broken bones, are stronger once they're repaired."
Keira quirked an eyebrow. That was actually quite insightful coming from Mallory.
"Who are you quoting that from, Mom?" Bryn piped up. "Oprah Winfrey?"
"I don't remember who," Mallory snapped. "It might have been in a fortune cookie. It doesn't matter. The point is, you will get over this and you will learn something and you will heal and your heart will go on."
"Ooh, I know that one. That one's Celine Dion," Bryn said.
Mallory frowned at her. "Will you stop with your jokes, Bryn! I'm trying to make Keira feel better."
"You are, Mom," Keira said meaningfully, speaking for the first time in ages. "You're actually helping a ton. Bryn is too, in her own way." She smiled at her sister. Bryn had put up with a lot from Keira over the last few weeks, from her moping around all day in unwashed clothes to her short temper. Now felt like a good time to let them know about what had happened with the real estate agent earlier that day. "Actually, I have a bit of news. Good news."
"Oh?" they both asked in unison.
Keira felt suddenly shy. Renting a condo was such a big step for her, for all of them really. It would mark her transition, finally, from young adult to woman. For Mallory, it would be the end of her constant worry about her youngest getting along in the world. For Bryn, it would mean the return of her own independence, the lessening of responsibility, the lightening of the burden she'd always had to carry as the older of the two sisters.
"I've put a deposit down to rent my own apartment."
There was a moment of stunned silence. Then Bryn began to whoop. Mallory broke into a wide grin.
"Darling, have you really?" she asked.
Keira smiled shyly and nodded. "Yup."
Bryn was out of her seat suddenly. She came up around Keira and threw her arms about. "Oh THANK GOD!" she cried.
Keira laughed in her tight embrace. "Okay, okay, I know I've been a pain, but really!"
Bryn released her grip a little. "It's not that you've been a pain," she said. "It's just that Felix…well, he asked me to get a place with him. I've been dragging my feet…"
"I knew it!" Keira exclaimed.
From the other side of the table, Mallory began to cry. "My two girls, growing up so fast."
Of course, the last box on the bingo board could now be ticked. Cry!
*
Keira headed out into the cold evening, pulling her coat about her. The dinner with her mom and Bryn had been rejuvenating. She'd enjoyed it far more than she'd expected.
Bryn had headed off to Felix's for the night, so Keira would have the apartment to herself. She was tired, though, and felt like going straight to bed. She'd be back in the office tomorrow and wanted to be fresh for it. She'd been a grump for the last few weeks. Hopefully her positive attitude would carry over until tomorrow.
The subway sign appeared up ahead. As she headed toward it, Keira felt a vibration in her pocket. Her cell phone. She reached inside and took it out.
To her surprise, this time it was a text from Cristiano. Her heart seemed to stop beating as she opened it up.
Whoever this is, leave Cristiano alone. He's moved on.
Keira stared at the message, blinking in shock. It wasn't from Cristiano at all, but from someone using his phone. A new girlfriend?
Her stomach sank. All the good work that had been done that evening seemed to suddenly unravel and spool inside of her. How could he have moved on so quickly? After all those conversations they'd had about him only wanting to date women he could imagine marrying. How many were there for him to have found a new one in such a short space of time! Being marriage material in Cristiano's eyes clearly didn't mean that much after all. Had Keira been duped?
She thrust her phone back into her purse. Fuming, she hurried down the subway steps and on to the waiting train. She slumped into a seat and gazed at the blackness out the window.
Her mind raced a mile a minute, picking apart all the times they'd spent together, searching for new meaning, new clues in the moments they were together.
But the more she thought, the more her anger lessened. Instead of holding on to the worst possible scenario her mind could conjure-that Cristiano had lied to her about being careful with his heart-she managed to talk herself down to a place of reason. Sometimes the rebound relationship was the best relationship. He'd been her rebound from Shane and the time they'd spent together had been wonderful. Perhaps this new woman was just his rebound rather than his next wife. Perhaps he'd learned that from Keira, that sometimes it was okay to be with a person just because you wanted to, rather than always having some grand plan in place.
She remembered Mallory's words, about each relationship being an opportunity to learn and grow, to move onward and upward. Cristiano might indeed be going through the same thing. And Keira could feel, tangibly, that she was as well. Rather than holding on to her fury, to her bruised ego, it had only taken her the subway ride to start to let it go.
She got off the train and headed back up to street level, exiting the subway a wiser woman than she'd been when she entered. When she'd gotten on the train she was upset but as she left, she was relieved. This was the real line in the sand with her Cristiano. This was the real ending. It was time to move on, once and for all.
