Deeply Personal

Chapter 18

Jessica

That night, Jessica finally got around to unpacking her Christmas decorations. Since her father wasn’t coming, her Christmas spirit was at a low ebb. She decided to call Lenny. She had enough of thinking about Paul. She’d see him in the new year for the installation on the fourth, and that would be it.

“Did you know that the Triceratops lived on the planet about sixty-eight million years ago and had as many as eight hundred teeth?” Jessica could hear the TV in the background. “Talk about a dental hygienist’s nightmare.”

“Well, hello to you too,” Jessica said, chuckling. “Hey, did you hear about the Italian chef? He pasta way.”

“Ha ha. Here. Talk to Dylan,” he said.

The heavy breathing of a four-year-old came through the phone. “Hi!”

“Hey, Dylan. How are you?”

“Hi!”

Okay. “Are you having fun?” Jessica felt terrible that she didn’t see her nephews often. This was the cost of doing business.

“What are you doing?” she asked. “You having fun?”

“I made sprinkle . . . cookies . . .” he said in his adorable child’s voice.

Before Jessica could say anything else, she heard a thud. Evidently, he had dropped the phone on the floor.

“Jessica?” Lenny said, coming back on the line.

“While I'm eating organic beans, you’re eating cookies with sprinkles? Not fair.”

“Oh, I don’t eat them. I just make them with the kids.”

“Right. Sure you do.”

“Just a minute.” Then she heard Lenny’s stern fatherly voice: “Dylan, put your brother down. No, you may not ride him. He’s not a horse! No! Don’t you dare! I know you’re pretending, but still.”

Lenny returned to the phone, sounding amazingly calm, a real pro at fatherhood. “So, anyway, what are you bringing for Christmas dinner? We’re having ham and all the fixings per usual. And Haley’s making her famous fattening desserts. Surely, you can have a small slice, right?”

“Sure. I'll bring a spinach and strawberry salad and wine.” She spoke in a dulled down tone, sighing through her words.

“What’s wrong?” He could always tell when something was bothering her.

“It won’t be the same without Dad,” she said.

“Of course it won’t be the same, but we’ll just have to make the best of it.” Lenny, the eternal optimist. “Come over at two. We’ll exchange presents and eat.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Jessica said, but her mind continued to pull at the thread of not seeing their father, and she couldn’t help but admit her biggest concern: “But what if we hardly get to see him anymore?”

“Oh, we’ll get to see him. Don’t worry. You always worry.”

When she hung up the phone, Jessica’s heart did that little skip-beat thing, once, twice, then once more. Her breath hitched and her head felt like it was filling up with air. A wave of dizziness washed over her. She lay back on the couch and a minute later, it was over with.

She put in a call to her doctor.