“Charlie is troubled, you’re troubled. Blake doesn’t stay for dinner with us anymore.”

“Ah, that. Well, that didn’t work out for me, Winnie, that’s all. I’m afraid I just don’t want to date Blake and there’s no way to find a happy medium. Charlie is understandably disappointed,” she said, trying to back Winnie off the trail. “I was afraid of exactly that, afraid that in seeing Blake, Charlie might have expectations. We’ll get through this. Charlie and Blake seem to remain friends at least.”

Winnie stared at her for a long moment. “You really underestimate me. My body is deteriorating but my mind is as sharp as it ever was. Remember that when you spin me a tale.”

“I have no idea what you mean,” Lin Su said.

“And there you go again...”

* * *

Somewhere in the second week of December, Peyton went into labor. There was some excitement as her ob-gyn had been concerned about the baby’s position and when labor was well under way he hadn’t yet turned. They didn’t wait long before doing a C-section and bringing a large, healthy baby boy into the world.

“I’m the last one left,” Grace complained. “They all went early and I’ll probably be two weeks late!”

Lin Su was remembering how terrified she was when Charlie was due to be born. Not of giving birth but about how she would live, how they would survive. She’d even called Marilyn twice. Please, don’t turn your back on me now! I have a son coming anytime and I don’t know how we’ll make it!

We gave you everything, Marilyn had said. We gave you a luxurious lifestyle, a fabulous education, everything a child could want. If you put him up for adoption, I might reconsider. But I won’t have you take further advantage of us.

In the midst of this traumatic month, Winnie had chosen to support a fund-raiser. It was a black-tie event in North Bend. “I bought us a table. We’ll all go together. Lin Su, I’ll need you with me. I want you to go. I want Charlie to go.”

“Ah, Winnie, I will go to make sure you have all the assistance you need, but I’ll go as your nurse, not your guest.”

“No, that’s not how it will be. I have dresses for you to look at, dresses I’ll probably never wear again. Or, if you prefer, Grace is going to shop for something in the maternity style and you can go with her to find your own cocktail dress.”

They argued back and forth for a while but the argument was won by Winnie. Not because she was so eloquent but because she badgered Lin Su into trying on one of her dresses and Lin Su fell in love. She hadn’t worn a beautiful, fancy dress since high school, since that other life.

Charlie wanted to opt out of the gala and just stay home, but Winnie wouldn’t hear of it. “You’ll want to go to this one,” she said. “Blake is the speaker. It’s a fund-raiser for the Neighborhood Club of Coos County. Troy is getting you a shirt and tie.”

“Blake?” Lin Su asked, feeling her spirits plummet. “Oh, Winnie...”

“But there’s no hard feelings between you,” Winnie said, challenging Lin Su’s story. “And of course he’s a friend of ours. And Charlie’s.”

Lin Su wasn’t fooled. Winnie was matchmaking again. She thought that if Lin Su dressed up and Blake came off well, everything would be fine and go back to the way things were.

She was trapped. But she knew she could be passive and polite and get this event behind her.

* * *

The night of the fund-raiser, Lin Su and Charlie put on their fancy clothes at Winnie’s house, and right before they were to leave, Troy helped Grace slowly up the stairs from their apartment.

“I’m sorry, Mama, but we’re not going to be able to go. I might still be here when you get home later but I’m having contractions. I’m definitely in labor but we’ve called the midwife and she said to wait until they’re a little longer and closer together. It’s just that the place for me is definitely not a gala.”

“Oh, Grace!” Winnie said. “I should stay here with you!”

“No, you should go. We’ll keep you posted on our progress. We might still be waiting for some action at midnight. On the other hand, if we’re lucky we’ll head for the hospital and let you know.”

“Makes sense,” Mikhail said. “They don’t take attendance at fancy parties. If we leave, we leave.” He gave Grace a little kiss on the cheek. “Good luck, pupsik. I hope she comes marching out quickly.”

* * *

The Neighborhood Club gala was held in the ballroom of a large hotel. There was a silent auction of items donated by individuals and businesses. Large round tables were hung with white tablecloths and festive Christmas arrangements. There was a stage and podium with a microphone and some of the Neighborhood Club board members, the director of the club and chair of the event and their spouses were to be seated at the two tables in front of that podium.

Blake was the special guest. His job was to present two awards for special achievements to teens who had been regulars at one of the clubs for a long time and had managed to perform athletically, in community service and academically even though they came from disadvantaged households. The awards would also come with partial scholarships. Then Blake would give a brief keynote before the evening’s end.

He had arrived a little early, as he always did. He liked to visit with the gala planners, volunteers, board members or dignitaries who came in support of the nonprofit. He always enjoyed a first look at auction items and would bid on at least a couple. He’d smile, shake a lot of hands, congratulate many and, if there was a God, greet treasured friends.

There would be five hundred guests tonight, a worthy crowd for a town and county this size. He’d spoken at and attended many such events that were far larger in bigger cities. There was one in Phoenix that offered a racehorse and diamond ring as part of their auction items; in New York City the grand item was a Mercedes coupe. His job tonight was to entertain, inspire and motivate.

He chatted with a great many people before he saw who he was looking for. She was not easy to spot because she was so small. Tonight she wore heels, making her almost as tall as Mikhail. Her elegant black dress with a silver wrap clung to that woman’s body he had been missing so much. He longed to reach for her and enfold her in his arms. Beside her stood Charlie, as tall as his mother and still growing, wearing a new suit. No one else would realize it but in just a couple of months he’d buffed out a little bit, his shoulders a little broader. And it looked as if someone had not only outfitted him for tonight’s event but managed to get him a haircut. He hoped that Lin Su had been the one to make sure Charlie put his best foot forward tonight.