Suddenly Single. Millie Criswell

worked.

      Lisa was up on her Aerosmith and Bono, but didn’t know a thing about Bach or Beethoven.

      Crossing herself again for good measure, Josephine pondered her daughter’s comments, and then tried to reason with her. “I didn’t get along good with your father’s mother, either, before she died. God rest Carmela’s miserable soul. She was a nasty old woman, your grandmother. In fact, Carmela Morelli was so nasty that she made my mother, who’s no picnic, look like a saint.”

      “I heard that!” Grandma Abrizzi shouted from the living room, making Lisa smile.

      The elderly woman, who lived with Lisa’s parents, was a feisty old gal who said what she thought, shooting straight from the hip and rarely taking any prisoners.

      Lisa liked to think she was a lot like her.

      “But you didn’t marry Alex’s mother,” Josephine continued. “You married Alex. And I assume, since you went to so much trouble to marry him quickly and outside the sanctity of the church—” she kissed the gold cross hanging around her neck “—that you love this husband of yours.”

      Not about to give her mother any ammunition that the wily woman could use against her, Lisa hedged. “I don’t know. All I know is that our marriage was a mistake. As soon as I can afford to hire a lawyer, I’m going to file for divorce.”

      “That would be a sin, for more than one reason.”

      “Would you have me live my life and be unhappy? Is that what you want for me?”

      “I want all my children to be happy. I want what is best for you, Lisa. You know that. But in my heart I don’t believe that divorcing Alex Mackenzie is going to make you happy. In fact, I think it will make you very unhappy and you will come to regret it.”

      Lisa felt betrayed by what she deemed her mother’s lack of support and understanding. “There’s no point in discussing this further, Mom. We are not going to agree.”

      No surprise there! They rarely agreed on anything.

      Sighing deeply, Josephine shook her head at her daughter’s stubbornness. “So where are you going to get the money to rent an apartment?”

      “I intend to find a job to support myself. I’ve already decided that I don’t want any of Alexander’s money.”

      “Have you spoken to Leo about letting you live with him a while longer? You know you can always come home, if he says no.”

      “I know, Mom, and I appreciate that.” Not!

      “I’m going to talk to Leo this evening when he gets home from work. I’m sure he’ll expect me to be gone. He sort of hinted at that this morning. But Francie’s going to put in a good word for me today, so maybe he’ll be more agreeable by tonight.”

      “For all of Leo’s sins in the eyes of God, he has a good heart.”

      “Yeah. Let’s just hope his generosity and goodness extends to me.”

      “Living with a gay man is going to be awkward, no? What about his…” Josephine searched for the right word. “Friends?”

      Lisa shrugged. “That doesn’t bother me in the least. To each his own, I say.”

      “You young people have strange ideas. I don’t understand your way of thinking.”

      Now that was one statement of Josephine Morelli’s that she could agree with wholeheartedly.

      3

      “I REALLY APPRECIATE your letting me move in with you temporarily, Leo,” Lisa said, a week after her arrival. “You’re a real lifesaver. My own personal fairy godmother.”

      “Well, that sort of fits, doesn’t it?” he replied with a wink. The ability to laugh at himself was one of Leo’s greatest gifts.

      Lisa dropped the last carton of her belongings onto the living-room floor with a thud, amidst her teddy-bear and Barbie-doll collection, making Leo grit his teeth.

      “As long as you understand that it’s only temporary, Lisa.” The fussy man stared in obvious disgust at the mess she’d already created. “I won’t pretend, sweetie, that this was my idea. I invited you to stay here as a favor to Francie, who has assured me that you will be neat as a pin and looking for employment very soon.”

      Lisa crossed her fingers behind her back. The concept of “neat” wasn’t actually part of her vocabulary, so that would take a bit of work on her part. “Absolutely. Neat is my middle name. And I’m heading to the unemployment office first thing in the morning. As soon as I can get my hands on a computer—” Leo looked horrified that she might attempt to use his “—I’m going to post my résumé on one of those job-search sites on the Internet.” Of course, she needed to make a résumé first, but there was no need to mention that. Poor Leo seemed traumatized enough as it was.

      “Sounds good. I’m sure we’ll get along just great. Do you like to dine out?”

      Lisa was surprised by the question. “Of course. Who doesn’t? Why do you ask?”

      “I have a thing about dining out. I love it. And I hate eating alone. Francie used to accompany me. I hope you will, too.”

      “If you’re paying, I’m dining, Leo.” Lisa felt as if she’d just died and gone to heaven. Someone actually wanted to pay for her meals; that was more than fine with her. And Leo probably ate at all the best restaurants, which made his request even better.

      “And when I don’t dine out, I usually order in. I’m not very proficient in the kitchen,” he added.

      “Don’t worry about that. I love to cook. Baking is my specialty.” And she was damn good at it, too. Lisa didn’t do many things well, but few people could best her when it came to baking. She’d actually thought about taking some classes and trying to bake professionally but, like with most things, Lisa was better at dreaming than doing.

      As much as she loved her parents, John and Josephine Morelli had never encouraged either of their daughters to become academic achievers and turn the world on its ear.

      For Josephine, getting married and having babies was the greatest accomplishment a woman could strive for, and that’s what she was still encouraging her daughters to do.

      Fortunately, Francie had always been a go-getter and had made something of herself: she was a bona fide interior designer now.

      Lisa had lived up to her parents’ expectations of her, which were low to nonexistent, so in that regard she had accomplished something.

      Leo’s eyes lit up. “Do you know how to make chocolate-chip cookies?”

      She grinned from ear to ear. “My chocolate-chip cookies are better than orgasms. You will think Nirvana after the first bite.”

      “This I gotta see. Make me a list. I’ll run down to the market and buy everything you need to make the cookies. What else do you know how to bake?”

      Having just discovered Leo’s Achilles’ heel, Lisa smiled confidently, planning to make the most of it.

      LISA LEARNED the following morning that finding a job was not nearly as easy as filling Leo’s insatiable craving for sweets.

      The red-faced, little pip-squeak behind the counter at the unemployment office had handed Lisa a form, told her to fill it out and return it to him, then wait to be called for an interview.

      That had been forty-five minutes ago!

      At the rate she was going, she’d be too old and senile to work and would instead be able to qualify for social-security benefits.

      Not that she had anything better to do with her time—unless you counted watching Wheel of Fortune reruns on Leo’s big-screen TV—but she hated being made to feel like a second-class citizen.