Page 72 of Sizzle

“Okay, okay,” I say, wiping tears of mirth out of the corners of my eyes. “Sorry. Yes, that’s what we’re talking about.”

Threesomes. Menage. A triad in the making? Maybe.

Connie fans her face with a magazine, grabbing the bottle to top off our still-full glasses. She raises hers in another toast.

“Here’s to you,” she says. “I’m not kidding about the hero thing. My God. Drink up, please. Because if ever there was a time for oversharing, this is it.”

And even after this shitty, shitty day, I’m doubled over, laughing so hard the tears finally fall.

I don’t know at what point they turn to real tears, but it happens in the within a heartbeat. I’m crying now, and I can’t seem to close the floodgates.

“Oh, honey,” Connie is saying, pulling me in for a hug. “Oh, I’m sorry. You’re okay. It’ll be okay.”

She holds me like that, hugging me tight the way my own mother used to do when I was little. The memory makes me sob even harder.

I’m not even sure why I’m crying right now. I’m mad at Elliot and Alex both, not sad. I’m mad at my dad too, though I guess that makes me sad too. In the morning, I’ll chalk it all up to the wine and just leave it at that.

Eventually, my breathing slows and Connie lets me sit up when I pull back. She hands me yet another tissue—don’t ask me where that pile on the table came from, because I don’t remember using them—and rubs my back.

“Maybe time to switch to coffee,” she says.

“Don’t you dare,” I say, just to make her smile. It works.

“I’m sorry for all the—for all this.”

“Don’t even think about it. We all need a good cry now and then, even on the best of days, and somehow I don’t think today was the best of days for you.”

“You got that right.”

We sip our wine, just enjoying the easy quiet for a moment.

“I think you’re right about your dad, you know,” Connie says after a while.

“Really?” She nods.

“He’s a lot more capable than he realizes. And I think he’s afraid of what might happen if he tries.”

“You know, you’re the second person today who’s said that to me, about him being afraid. Is it that obvious? Because I sure as hell never picked up on it.” I’ve never seen my dad afraid of anything.

“It’s a parent thing,” she says, half smiling. “Or more accurately, it’s a kid thing. You see your parents one way for most of your life. And then sometimes—not always, but sometimes—you realize they’re just humans too, same as you.”

“Huh.”

“We can’t all be goddesses,” she says, elbowing me until I smile at her.

“And yet you seem to have it down to a science.”

Connie laughs. “I’ll let you meet my kids someday, then we’ll see if you can say the same.”

“I’d like that.” A long moment passes and I sigh. “I think I’m going to have to quit.”

“Girlie…”

“Elliot doesn’t need me anymore.” I shrug. “The new menu rollout is done. Everything seems to be going really well.”

“Better than well,” says Connie. “We’ve done more business the last few days thanks to your menu than any other holiday season I can remember.”

“Well, there it is. I’ve done my job. It’s going to be better for everybody if I bow out now and let him get back to running his business.”