I Sat on My Stepfather's Lap All Match, and Mom Was Filming novel · Chapter 12 of 24
Chapter 12: Fifty Guests
Dale shook everyone's hand, and his palm was dry and cool.
"Gabriel," he said. "I've admired your career for years."
"Thank you," Gabriel said.
He did not smile, but he shook the hand.
Dale turned to me and held mine a moment too long.
"And this is the famous Lainey."
"I don't know how famous I am."
"Rosalyn talks about you constantly. She says you're the one who holds the family together."
My mother laughed from beside him, and her hand touched his sleeve.
I felt Nico step half a pace closer behind my shoulder.
We sat through the second half of the match in the den.
My mother took the armchair, and Dale perched on its arm.
Every few minutes she looked at Gabriel, then at me, then at her phone.
She was waiting, and I knew now what for.
When the whistle blew, Dale clapped Gabriel on the shoulder and said, "Great game. Rosalyn, I should let you rest. I'll be in touch about the office."
"Stay for a drink," she said.
"Another time."
At the door, he turned back to Gabriel.
"I hope you know she's an extraordinary woman. I'd hate to see anything come between a family like this."
"So would I," Gabriel said evenly.
Dale smiled and left.
My mother kissed us all goodnight and carried her suitcase upstairs.
Nico said he would call in the morning, and he left too.
At the door he leaned close to my ear.
"Her phone," he whispered. "Ten minutes alone with it, and I copy everything."
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