Coop nodded eagerly and grabbed a handful of fries. Ellen put down her burger and told herself she’d done the right thing and eventually she would feel good about it. But right now her stomach hurt and she wanted to crawl into a corner and make the whole Jeremy thing go away.

nine

Dinner at a local Medford restaurant was a raucous affair. They had a long table for all thirteen of them. Ellen and Keith sat at one end. Ellen noticed Lissa was still keeping her distance from her father and had planted herself as far away from him as possible. At some point Ellen would have to talk to the teen about what was going on, but not today. Ellen didn’t feel she was in a position to give anyone advice about anything. She was feeling too emotionally frail.

As she’d suggested, Coop had texted his father. The two had gone back and forth for nearly half an hour and now her son had plans to meet Jeremy for lunch at a restaurant in Santa Monica. Ellen told herself she should be happy and excited, but she was having trouble summoning any enthusiasm for the event.

She supposed she should look at the bright side—having them meet would check off one more item on her list. She should think about that, and how Unity was going to treat her to a great spa weekend at the end of summer. Because there was no way Unity was going to do anything to get out of her rut.

She pushed away her half-eaten dinner. Thinking about Coop and his dad wasn’t doing much for her appetite. She looked around for a distraction, but Keith was talking to Aidan. Realizing no one was paying attention to her, she pulled the list out of her handbag and studied it.

“We should go out and sing karaoke,” she said loudly.

The table went silent as everyone stared at her with identical expressions of shock and horror. Even Keith.

“Don’t you have to be twenty-one?” Luka asked tentatively.

“To go into a bar,” she said, hearing her defensive tone. “But what about a bowling alley or something? Don’t they have karaoke? It would be fun.”

“Mo-om,” Coop said, his teeth clenched. “No one wants to do that.”

“Why not? It’s an experience.”

Lissa shot Coop a sympathetic look. He sank down in his seat. The other teens avoided making eye contact.

“You ready for the check?” their perky server asked Keith.

“We are.” He pulled out his wallet and handed her a credit card. “Thanks.”

“No problem.”

“We done here?” Aidan asked, already stepping away from the table.

Keith nodded.

“Then we’ll, ah, head back to our rooms.” He glanced at Ellen, then away. “Night, Ms. F.”

She couldn’t believe it. They were going to run out on her?

When they were alone, Keith looked at her. “Karaoke?”

“Why is that so surprising?”