with coastal tides. They shot it up near Nova Scotia. He said it was freezing, and that he was glad to be back in Florida,” Will said.
“I can imagine. But why is he here in Ocean Falls? What happened to Miami?”
“He sold his condo before he left for the shoot, so he decided to rent up here while he’s in postproduction. I thought I told you all of this,” Will added, looking longingly at his robot.
“No,” Fran said. “You didn’t. How long is he in town for?”
“No idea. Indefinitely, I think.”
“We should have him over.”
“That’s what I was suggesting. Invite him to the dinner party.”
“You think?”
“Sure, why not?”
“Wouldn’t he think a dinner party was boring and suburban?”
“No way. We’re hip and cool,” Will said. But that was just it, Fran thought. They were not hip and cool. They didn’t live in Brooklyn, and have tattoos, and name their children Fifi or Zola. Will was a city planner, Fran was a physical therapist, and they spent their weekends grocery shopping, mowing the lawn, and chauffeuring their two daughters to soccer and dance practices. “What about Audrey?”
“What about her?”
“If we invite her and we invite Coop, she’ll jump to the conclusion that I’m trying to set her up with him,” Fran said.
“That’s because you’re always trying to set her up.”
“No, I’m not.”
“The last time we were at the grocery store, you accosted some guy in the deli meat line—”
“I did not accost him!”
“—and asked him if he would be interested in going out with Audrey,” Will finished.
“He wasn’t a stranger. His son was on the same soccer team as Rory, back when they were little. I just couldn’t remember his name. We all called him Cute Single Dad Guy,” Fran said.
“Except now he’s married,” Will said.
“How was I supposed to know that? I haven’t seen the man in five years,” Fran said.
“He was wearing a wedding band.”
“Whatever. Anyway, Audrey needs a little push to get back out there. Ryan’s been gone for, what, seven years now?”
“Wow, has it been that long?”
“Yeah, it has. Remember? Iris was in first grade, and so was at school, but Rory was just a toddler. I had the hardest time finding a babysitter to watch her while we went to the funeral.”
“I don’t remember that,” Will said.
“I do. Anyway, she’s been alone for a long time. Long enough.”
“Maybe Audrey’s not ready for another relationship. You can’t prescribe how long a person is allowed to grieve for.”
“Yes, I can. Seven years is objectively too long. If you died, I’d give it a year, tops, before I started dating,” Fran said.
“Wow, a whole year? I’m touched,” Will said.
“What do we do about Coop and Audrey?”
“Why do we have to do anything about them? We invite them both, and if Audrey doesn’t want to come because there’s a single man there, that’s her choice. Unless … wait.” Will held up one hand. “I just had the most brilliant idea.”
“Uh-oh,” Fran said.
“No, wait for it. We tell Audrey that Coop is gay.”
Fran blinked, nonplussed. “Why would we do that?”
“Because that way Audrey won’t think she’s being set up. And it will be an excellent way to get back at Coop for telling Kelly Feinstein that I lost both testicles in a freak BB gun accident so she’d go out with him instead of me,” Will said.
“What? When did that happen?” Fran asked.
“Tenth grade. But it’s never too late for payback,” Will said.
“I don’t know,” Fran said. “Won’t Audrey be able to tell he’s not gay?”
“How would she?”
“Coop is just very …” Fran stopped. She could feel her cheeks go warm.
“Very what?”
Adjectives that could be applied to Coop began flashing through Fran’s thoughts. Hilarious. Flirtatious. Incredibly sexy.
“Heterosexual,” Fran said.
“No, trust me, she’ll never figure it out.” Will was eyeing his robot with impatience.
“Should I call Coop? Or do you want to?”
“Sure. Whatever you want,” Will said, his screwdriver again hovering in the air, ready to get to work.
Sensing that she was losing his attention, Fran went back into the house.
Coop, she thought. It had been a long time since she’d thought about him. There had been a time when she’d thought about Coop too much. And one day, back when she and Will were first married, when something had almost happened between them.
They’d been out on Coop’s boat—he always seemed to have a boat, even back then, when they were in their twenties and still had to scrounge for beer money—and it must have been summer or early fall, because Fran remembered