“I am here because I was wrong and I am sorry. I can only speak for myself. But that’s all—”
“Uncle Edward. That’s all you need to say.”
Everyone knew she would say this. She told her mother when she endorsed the trip, her only requirement being unequivocal acceptance. The atmosphere turned light by the time Kerry came through the door after Kate buzzed her up. The girls headed home shortly thereafter, leaving Kate and Edward alone. They went to a small restaurant on Broadway, where Edward unwound and the two shared gossip.
The next days passed quickly. Kate and Edward went to Sunday Services at Kate’s Church and stayed so that Kate could introduce him to members of the congregation. Edward’s initial awkwardness at being in an Episcopal Church soon faded. Kerry and Suzanne drove down in the early afternoon and the three New Yorkers gave their visitor a tour of Kate’s neighborhood and of Riverside Park before they had an early dinner at another small place on Broadway. Edward’s treat.
He told them that he spoke to Jennie, who, he said, seemed to have softened on the news of Edward’s reception. She did like and miss both Kate and Suzanne. Edward was grateful that he would not have to endure his wife’s wrath when he returned to California.
The balance of Edward’s visit was spent on his own wanderings. On Monday, he and Kate had dinner in her apartment to get re-acquainted. On Tuesday, his last evening, Kate decided to ask Simon to join them. Simon was surprised and pleased. The conversation was eased by drinks and wine and Simon regretted that Kate’s brother was staying at her place and that, ergo, he was not. But he had to settle for a chaste kiss before getting into a car to take him to his big, empty house in Greenwich.
Before Kate left for work on Wednesday—Edward had a noon flight—the two hugged. Again Edward expressed his regret for all that had happened.
Kate said, “If I could change, you all can.” She had told her story of understanding herself and her God and overcoming the restraints that the Church in which she was raised had imposed on her. She thought of herself as even more spiritual than she had been, that the simplicity of viewing things in one way had been replaced by the simplicity of viewing things differently, a way she understood was more consistent with how Christ Himself would. The humble, charitable Christ.
She and her brother had spoken about this on their first night alone and she then hit a nerve by asking how her God could condemn her perfect daughter for what she always and truly was. Edward did not know of any gay people. Or at least he didn’t know people who he knew to be gay. Until Suzanne. And now Kerry. It affected him in ways he had not imagined. And it infuriated him. How could he have been so blind? So arrogant? His faith was supposed to provide certainty, but Kate told him that her renewed faith did that.
Whether Edward would act as a missionary to the Pughs with this message neither knew. As they said goodbye on Wednesday, though, both knew that Edward could not go back. To California, yes. But not to a faith that denied Suzanne. There had be some rough time ahead for him in the Pugh clan.
Edward walked Kate to the subway stop at 96th and Broadway. They stepped to the side for a final hug, ignored by everyone racing for the express.
“Thank you for taking good care of me. I’ll be in touch.”
“I know.”
“And say goodbye to Suzanne and Kerry.”
“And Simon?”
“And Simon.” He lowered his voice. “I’ll deny saying it, but he seems like an upgrade.”
She asked that he not mention him to anyone; she was waiting to unveil their relationship, and he agreed. She smiled. “Have a good flight. Text or call that you got home safely.”
And with that, the two exchange kisses to the cheek and Kate hurried down the stairs to catch the express.
A car took Edward to JFK for his flight. It was a good one, and he had a long talk with Jennie when he got home.
* * *
Kate, too, felt a load off her shoulders. Edward understood. Would the others? Could the others? For her part, Suzanne hoped they would. She and Kerry had dinner in Bronxville with Mary and Betty on the Friday after Edward left. Mary, having been long gone by the time her brother, William, married Kate and only seeing them once, at Thanksgiving in 2010, had zero relationship with the Pughs. And what she heard she did not like. Cut from the same cloth as her brother. Children of a lesser god, the lot of them.
Still, she understood the strain it placed on Suzanne. And, now, Kate. Mary also hoped it worked out. She was “cautiously optimistic” that it would. She was not as forgiving as her niece.
That Friday night, Kate was lonely in the City. She had seen Simon Tuesday, but that just made it worse because he got in the damn car and went to his house while she was stuck in her apartment with her brother. She was more than lonely. She was very, very horny.
She called Simon.
“I’m desperate to be with you and I hope you feel the same”—which he readily did—”and if you will let me I’ll be in Greenwich first thing”—which he said no to in favor of his picking her up first thing in the morning—”and I know we’re not kids but can we, um, help each other out over the phone?”
To Simon, of course, this was a no-brainer.
“Where are you?”