Chapter 22

Maxine waited at a smaller table at The Planet for Bette to arrive. After the disastrous dinner at her beach house, she thought that a more neutral place might better serve her purpose of fostering a relationship with her daughter.

She checked her watch again, Bette was 7 minutes late, and while normally that wasn’t such a big deal, Maxine felt she had a 50/50 shot of Bette actually showing up which made Bette’s tardiness concerning.

Bette frantically walked in, placing her hand on the counter and ordering her coffee while her eyes searched the tables. She immediately found Maxine, directed the staff to bring her coffee over to the table, and began her journey through the restaurant.

“You came,” Maxine stood to greet Bette, gesturing for her to sit across from her. “I can’t thank you enough.”

“Thank Tina,” Bette said casually smiling at the young woman that brought her mug of coffee to the table. “The truth of the matter is I wouldn’t be here had she not convinced me to be. Sorry I was late; the traffic is horrible at this time of the day.”

“I’d love to thank Tina, but you won’t let me talk to her.”

“That’s not up for negotiation Maxine,” Bette felt it best to continue to emphasize her healthy boundaries. “What can I do for you today?”

“I was hoping after last week’s terrible dinner that we could try again. That night you mentioned meeting here as a neutral location, so here we are. I invited you here to just talk Bette, I have no expectation of how this will go.”

“Ok,” Bette took a deep breath to reign in her annoyance, “what do you want to talk about?”

“I’d like to get to know you, if you’ll let me.”

“And the big question of that night was how could we do that when I won’t discuss Tina and Angie with you, and that hasn’t changed.”

“Neutral ground,” Maxine slid a picture in front of Bette of a painting that she had been working on the previous week. “I made some progress on this piece.”

Bette’s eyes skimmed over the glossy photo, taking in the detail of colors and fluidity of the water in the painting. Maxine watched Bette’s facial features soften, her eyes careful catalog each detail, and she knew in her heart that Bette loved the piece.

Chapter 21

Alice sat crossed-legged on the ground playing Legos with Angelica while Tina poured Shane, Alice and herself another glass of wine.

“Not that I’m complaining,” Alice began as she sipped on the white beverage before putting the glass on the coffee table, “but remind me why you invited Shane and I here again for dinner?”

“Because I had to cook the chicken before it went bad and Bette wasn’t going to be here to help eat it since she’s having dinner with Kit and Maxine.”

“You couldn’t just cook it and reheat it? Or is Porter still a left-over hater?”

“Well I, for one, am eternally grateful anytime you want to cook for me including left-overs. It smells amazing Tina.” Shane stretched her legs in front of her as she leaned back into the couch.

“It’s so odd to me now to put a face to the name when Bette used to talk about Maxine cooking. She said once that she hated left-overs because it’s all Maxine would ever serve. Yet the original fresh dish was never to be found.”

Alice laughed as she pushed her Lego car toward Shane’s feet and it rolled across the wood floor.

“My god the talent I have…” Alice pretended to be hurt when Shane pushed the car back to her with her leather boot.

“Well hopefully Maxine’s cooking her a better meal tonight and not ruining the only chance she has to make amends with her daughter. We all know that Mrs. Doubtfire lit her boobs on fire.”

“She cooked for Angie and I before this entire thing blew up and I can assure you that she’s an amazing cook. I am sure that Bette will be just fine from that standpoint, it’s the emotionally stress that has me worried.”

“Why weren’t you invited?” Shane asked.

“I’m sure both Angie and I would have been welcomed,” Tina said leaning back on the couch beside Shane. “Bette came home from The Planet after talking to both Kit and Maxine ranting about ‘changing the narrative’ and ‘being in control’ which meant no Angie and Tina until Bette decides.”

“Are you ok with that? Her taking your decision about M-A-X-I-E away from you?” Alice asked as she started another masterpiece of Legos with Angie.

Chapter 20

Bette slid past the crowd gathered at The Planet waiting on their morning rush of caffeine. She had woken up periodically through the night, not only worried about Maxine, but the impact Maxine’s presence could have on her and Kit.

She claimed a small table in the corner, watching Kit help the counter staff manage the crowd as she thought about her late-night conversation with Tina.

“I can actually hear your mind spinning,” Tina said rolling over and taking Bette into her arms. “You’re tossing and turning.”

“I’m sorry, I contemplated going to sleep on the couch and then realized I just didn’t want to be alone right now.”

“Never apologize for that.” Tina laid her head on Bette’s chest and began to drift back to sleep, calmed by the rhythmic beating of Bette’s heart. “Practice yoga breathing.”

Bette began aimlessly drawing patterns on Tina’s bare back as she felt Tina begin to relax once more in her arms.

“Ok, if you aren’t going to try to go back to sleep, do you want to talk about it?”

“We’ve been over it countless times, T.”

“And yet here we are at…” Tina glanced at the clock before continuing, “almost 3:00 in the morning still awake. Maybe we need to talk more.”

Bette threaded one of her legs between Tina’s and settled back down as she closed her eyes.

“You’d think it was because my mom came back from the dead but honestly I keep thinking about Kit.”

“What about her?” Tina’s voice was barely audible.

“That Maxine’s been in our lives less than a month and it’s already driven a wedge between my sister and I.”

“Because you let it,” Tina pointed out. “If you don’t want to be estranged from Kit, especially with how close you two have become, then fight for it.”

“How do I do that?”

“Just talk to her. She’s certainly the easier of the two.”

“And Maxine?”

“Only you can answer if you want to give her a chance,” Tina mumbled before drifting back to sleep easily while Bette lay awake pondering the pros and cons of letting Maxine back into her life.