"Oh, shes beautiful," Poppy cooed. The baby slept, and Poppy knew better than to wake her.
"First nap today." Mimi wiped her fingers under her eyes, her expression frazzled. "She must know Im anxious. She hasnt been settling well."
"Wheres Daniel?" Poppys brother-in-law was usually a help.
"He left last week for Vancouver. On set for the next three months. Wont be back at all for six weeks."
Oh my. Poppy forced a smile. She didnt want to give up three months of her six months off to help Mimi, but she would. How many times had Mimi taken care of her? How many years? How much of Mimis adolescence had she missed trying to mother Poppy? "Therese is in the hospital, Daniel is gone, and youve got these two itty-bittys to take care of on your own?"
Mimis lips pulled down, and the tears that had stopped seconds before threatened again. "I know. Im so sorry. This is meant to be your vacation and you were on your way to Hong Kong, but I just"-she covered her lips with her fingertips-"oh my G.o.d, Poppy, I think I just might be losing my mind."
"But youre not." Poppy put her arm around her big sister. "I dont know how you do it. Im here. Let me help."
Mimi nodded and a half-smile curled the edges of her lips. How long had it been since Mimi had showered or eaten or done anything for herself? Too long. It felt like since before Laura was born. Poppy grasped the handles of the stroller and pushed. Laura held onto her mothers hand as they walked out of the airport and across the street to the LAX parking garage.
Six months ago Mimi had held onto the dream of never owning a minivan and keeping her cute little zippy Mini. Not anymore. That fantasy was long gone.
"I need to go to the hospital. Can I drop you at home, put the girls to bed, and go?" Mimi pulled the door handle to open the sliding door of her minivan and started strapping the girls into the mommy-mobile. "Unless you wanted to come with me to see," Mimi paused, and a grimace pa.s.sed over her face, "Therese."
"You can call her Mom. I know youve gotten closer, especially since the baby."
Mimi shut the door and turned to Poppy. "Shes changed. Really. She ... she, the remorse-"
"Will never be enough," Poppy muttered. She attempted a half smile, but it was wan. She bit her sharp tongue. "Ill stay with the girls and put them to bed. Just drop us and go to the hospital."
Mimi squeezed Poppys arm and walked around the back of the van. Poppy opened the pa.s.senger door. Hazels wails greeted her from the back seat. Oh my, she longed for the street sounds of Hong Kong. She got into the front seat, pulled out her phone, and scrolled.
Her stomach tightened.
Text after text from Trevor. She couldnt answer him. There was nothing for her to explain. Shed decided, long ago, that love and romance ended with commitment, which then led to drudgery. Her eyes slid toward Mimi, who blew an exasperated breath from her lips and glanced into the rearview mirror. The evidence both beside her and screaming behind her bore witness to the truth in her theory. Drudgery then lead to the death of love which culminated with abandonment and heartbreak. At least, that were the memories from her own childhood.
"Hungry," Laura whined from the back seat.
Hazel screamed.
Poppy loved her two nieces, and yes, she would help her sister, but no, this wasnt the life she wanted. Tooling around Los Angeles in a minivan, unshowered and exhausted, with two small children wailing in the back seat? No. Absolutely not.
Mimi took a deep breath. "I have crackers, Laura." She turned to Poppy. "Can you reach into the bag just behind us and get out the little Tupperware container with the goldfish?"
Poppy nodded. She couldnt do what Mimi was doing. Not for eighteen years. Putting every desire of her own on hold so that she could take care of two little people? The domestic life wasnt for her, nor was commitment. She peeled the lid off of the Tupperware container and handed it to Laura. Mimi slowly pulled through the parking garage toward the exit gate. Laura stuffed goldfish after goldfish into her mouth until her cheeks puffed out like a chipmunks.
"Thirsty," Laura said through munched-up cracker.
"Heres her sippy cup." Mimi pointed to one of the cup holders in the console between the front seats as she fed the parking ticket into the machine.
Poppy lifted the sippy cup. Beneath it oozed brown and gooey mushed banana. Her nose wrinkled. Eww. Just eww.
"Why wont it take the ticket?" Frustration laced Mimis voice.
"Thirsty, thirsty, thirsty!" Laura shrieked. She sounded like an unattended inmate in an asylum.
Hazel howled.
Poppy pulled open the glove compartment, looking for something, anything she could use to wipe off the big brown banana t.u.r.d hanging from the bottom of the sippy cup. Pacifiers, hair clips, a brush ... but no napkins or wipes. Hrm. A petrified half-eaten cheese stick? What was the car meant to be? A compost bin on wheels?
"Thirsty!"
"d.a.m.n machine," Mimi muttered.
Poppys head felt on the verge of exploding. She grabbed for her bag ... nothing. No tissues, no napkins, no ...
"Here." Mimi took the cup, wiped the gloppy banana goop from the bottom onto the edge of her shirt, and pa.s.sed the sippy cup back to Laura.
Poppy stifled the gag reflex in her throat. Mimi gave her a sidelong glance, obviously noticing that she was turning a slight shade of green.
"Once you give birth, you have no shame."
The gate lifted and Mimi gunned the minivan out of the garage. Poppy leaned back in her seat. Nope. Commitment? Mommy-hood? Marriage? Definitely not for her.
Chapter 6.
The same driver who had chauffeured Mom to and from work since Dad died picked Trevor up at LAX. Instead of continuing up the 405 to the Sunset exit that would lead to his childhood home, they headed west on the 10.
Of course. Trevor relaxed into the soft leather seat of the town car. Today was a weekday. Since before Trevor graduated high school, Mom never got home before seven thirty p.m. Trevor could set his watch by Moms day. Up at five a.m., leave the house at seven a.m., come home by seven thirty, in bed by ten. The only modification had been when Trevor was still living at home. Then shed picked him up at school, come home, helped him with homework, and fixed dinner, where his father had joined them. When Trevor headed to bed for the night, his parents headed back to work in their home office. There had been very little variation.
The car pulled into the parking garage of the Up Side Burger Santa Monica headquarters. From the location and the outside appearance, the building might pa.s.s for a low-rent warehouse. It had been just that when Trevors grandfather had shrewdly bought the property, but since then the inside had changed from a warehouse with a metal desk and a rolling chair to a luxe interior done in Up Side Burgers signature colors of red and blue. Trevor got out of the car and took the elevator to the third floor. He exited the elevator and smiled at Becky, his moms executive a.s.sistant for the last twenty-five years.
"Trevor, youre back!" Becky jumped from her chair and walked from behind her desk. She hugged Trevor and a smile broadened across her face. Becky, her brother Robert, and his daughter Stephanie were like family. Really, the only thing close to family that he and Mom had left. "Your mom is so excited. Could hardly wait to get you back to Los Angeles." Becky nodded toward the closed office door. She lowered her voice. "Doubt she ever lets you leave again."
"Howre you? Hows Steph?" Steph was four years older than him and was like a big sister. Shed finished grad school before he did and immediately started working with Trevors mom at Up Side Burger once she graduated. Steph loved Up Side Burger. Always had. Stephs pa.s.sion for Up Side Burger was similar to what Trevor remembered his grandfather Harold and grandmother Estelle having. Even as a kid, Steph always wanted to go to an Up Side for her birthday. Mom joked that Steph would probably have her wedding reception at the Up Side Burger on the Santa Monica Pier.
"Shes good. Your mom has her in the finance division now."
"Really?" Trevor scrubbed his hand over his jaw. "Mom finally let her stop being a fry cook?"
"You know your mom only makes you guys do that stuff the first year," Becky said. "Besides, shes right. Good for all of us living the cushy life at corporate to know how the restaurants run. I loved those days."
"Thats a twenty-five-year-old memory for you. The time away from the fryer has numbed the pain. Plus, when you did it, you only had to be there a week. Me?" Trevor planted his hand on his chest. "Not only did I have to do a full year after grad school, I started working in the restaurants when I was fourteen."
Becky waved her hand. "Cry me a river, Trevor. Up Side Burger is a good gig. Weve always had people lining up to get jobs."
Trevor leaned toward Becky. "Whatever. Mom is a beast. She makes all the other MBAs stick it out for six months. But me and Steph? She made us each be a fry-jockey for a year." Trevor shook his head with mock disdain. "You put on a cap and flip burgers six days a week, ten hours a day, for twelve months."
Becky laughed.
In truth, some of his best memories at Up Side Burger were when hed worked at the restaurants. Hed started as a fourteen-year-old in the Valley taking out the trash, scrubbing bathrooms, and mopping floors. Not because his parents needed him to-by then theyd already moved into their Bel Air manse-but because they wanted him to learn how to work, to never be ent.i.tled, to not become like some of those silver-spooned trust funders hed just spent the last six months waiting on at Mesquale.
At the time, working as a mop boy at Up Side Burger had sucked. He was the owners kid and the founders grandkid. Everyone knew it. Hed learned more lessons riding a mop at Up Side Burger than hed learned getting his MBA at one of the top business schools in the country. Hed also sorted out what he wanted in his life. Hed learned about how hard his grandparents and parents worked. How much theyd sacrificed. Hed learned that money, no matter how much, didnt buy happiness and it didnt equal substance. Nope. Some of the best people hed met and still knew worked hourly and survived paycheck to paycheck.
Even flipping burgers was a good gig when it came to Up Side Burger. His parents and grandparents could be proud of that. They always paid above minimum wage, included healthcare benefits, and offered tuition reimburs.e.m.e.nt for employees who had worked with the company for over twelve months.
"Trevor!" His mother stood just outside her office door.
His heart warmed. No matter how much they disagreed about his future, she was family. Adele Brice was a beautiful woman. Even he knew it. d.a.m.n, he took pride in it. Tall with a sharp jaw, patrician nose, and bright blue eyes. Her hair fell in a straight bob to her shoulders. Even now, at five p.m., nearly the end of her day, her white shirt was crisp and clean. Her suit pants still held a crease and she still wore her heels. Mom was a machine. Clocking in for however many years? All while raising her own kid and taking care of her husband. He hadnt really understood just how dedicated she was until hed grown up, worked a job, and seen what it took to keep that kind of dedication about anything.
She pulled him into a hug. A tiny gasp came from her mouth. Her whole body stiffened ... wait, was she ...
"Mom? Are you crying?" He pulled back and examined her.
"No, of course not." She smiled and waved her hand in front of her face. "Why would I cry? My only son and last living relative just returned from six months in the middle of the Pacific." She reached toward a box of tissues on Beckys desk.
"Told you," Becky said and lifted both eyebrows.
"Mom, come on, I wasnt gone that long. And you came to Mesquale for an entire week while I was there."
"One week. Ive seen you one week in half a year." She shook her head and rolled her eyes toward the ceiling. "Trevor? Any mother on the planet will tell you that is completely unacceptable."
He smiled and so did she. While her words were most likely exactly how she felt, her tone was teasing.
"You all set in there?" Becky tilted her head toward Adeles office.
Adele nodded. "You take off."
"Just waiting on Steph." Becky pulled her purse from the bottom drawer of her desk and turned toward the windows that looked out into the hall. "And there she is!"
Trevor turned. Stephs face lit up and she waved to Trevor. Steph was beautiful and wonderful and Trevor had always adored her the way an almostlittle brother should.
"Trev! Youre back!" Steph pulled him into a hug. Her black hair tickled his face as she squeezed him. "Dad said youd be home this week. He said to carve out some time for a workout."
"h.e.l.l totally kick my a.s.s."
"Yes, he will," Steph laughed. Her dad had been head of security for Up Side and the Brice family for over twenty years.
"Look at you, a suit and heels? Who would have thought?"
"Come on, youve seen me in a suit before."
"Its been a while," Trevor joked. "Last time I was here you were opening the new restaurant in Valencia. You walked in here one day wearing a uniform. Not a suit."
"I remember that I actually considered leaving Up Side Burger that day. It was a tough open."
"You never told me that." Concern fluttered across Adeles face.
"Why complain?" Steph shrugged. "Complaining wasnt going to get me anywhere. Just had to dig in my heels and work a little harder. Hard work can get you through just about anything."
"Wow, sounds like shes been taking lessons from you, Adele." Becky lifted her purse over her shoulder. "You all go on and work yourselves from here to the grave, because I know you cant help it. Me? Two more years, and Im out. Okay? I got my whole retirement planned in Paris. You want, you can come with me, Adele."
Adele flashed her gaze toward Trevor. "Just have to convince this guy that its time for him to start running the place." She squeezed Trevors arm and he stiffened.
"You two go on and enjoy your dinner. Shes been working with the corporate chef on a little dish just for you." Becky winked.
"See you later, Trev," Steph said, walking with her Aunt Becky toward the elevator doors. "Dont forget, my dad expects to see you for a little Krav Maga in the next couple of days."
Trevor waved to Stephanie and Becky as they got onto the elevator. He turned toward Adele. "Letting people slack a little bit. Getting soft in your old age?" he teased.
"Maybe." Adele walked into her office. "Ill have you know that I now go home early on Wednesdays and Fridays."
"Like noon early?" Trevor walked past the couch and chairs and toward the giant conference table.
"No!" Adele waved her hand at him like hed lost his mind. "I leave at five. Thats early."
"Oh my G.o.d, Mom, youll never change."
Dinner waited for them on the conference table. Theyd done all of this what felt like a million times since hed left for college. Hed come home for a visit, the driver would pick him up, hed have dinner with Mom, go home, and she get there around seven-thirty. Sometimes they left together, though oftentimes when he got in earlier she stayed at the office to work. She was a machine. A type-A machine with a splash of OCD. Her fear and anxiety and desire to make Up Side Burger thrive had only heightened when Dad died. Suddenly Mom had been alone with her decisions, and shed dug in even deeper, stayed even longer, dedicated herself entirely to the company. He understood that shed been trying to make the company as strong as possible for when he took over because shed told him so ... frequently.
Adele sat in a chair at the head of the table and Trevor sat to her right. Four platters covered with silver lids rested on the table.
"Your birthday is nearly here." Her smile was hopeful. "Does your early return mean youre excited to start running Up Side Burger?"
His face froze. There had been arguments, harsh words, slammed doors, and hard feelings on both sides because he didnt want to run Up Side Burger. His gaze caught his mothers face. Her eyebrows lifted, her eyes expectant, an air of hopefulness surrounded her. He would not ruin their reunion, not right this moment.
"Whatve you got here?" He took the handle of the silver lid over his plate. His mothers shoulders sagged. She knew he was dodging her question, but Adele decided to play along as well.
"I had Chef Jeffrey try out a new possibility. A veggie burger."
Trevor hesitated. Up Side Burger didnt change their menu. Ever. His family stuck with what worked. Sure, they tweaked and modified the menu to make everything they sold perfect, but there hadnt been an addition to the Up Side Burger menu in twenty-six years.
"People are changing how they eat. Less meat, more plant-based foods. Youre the one who brought that to my attention." Adele shook out her linen napkin and placed it on her lap. "The kitchens have been working on this since you ..." Adele paused, it was like she could barely say the word. "Since you left," she whispered. "This is the best one theyve come up with. At least thats what our focus groups say."
"Youve been taste-testing and using a focus group?"
Adele nodded.
The very fact that his mother was this far along meant that Adele was determined to place a vegetarian option on the Up Side Burger menu. Wow. Trevor lifted the silver lid to reveal a huge burger. The bun was a traditional Up Side brioche. The patty even looked Up Side. Thick and big with grilled onions and melted cheese, his mouth watered. "Is that vegan cheese?" He slid his gaze toward his mom.
She nodded and picked at her salad with her fork. "He used almonds, I think."
"Wow." Trevor lifted the burger. The rich aroma caused his mouth to water. "This looks amazing." A smile teased the corner of Adeles mouth. She could say what she wanted about vegetarians and people eating more plant-based foods, but this burger was a peace offering. He took a bite. Rich meaty flavor cascaded through his mouth. The consistency was thick and satisfying. The cheese was gooey awesomeness.
"Mom, this is fantastic." Trevor set down the burger and looked at this mother. "Maybe the best veggie burger Ive ever had."