Page 21 of It's a Widow Thing

“Have fun with your brothers tonight. I love you.”

“Love you, too, Mom.” Michael hung up and rushed downstairs. A cab was pulling up to the curb, with Brian and Daniel in the back. “Scoot over,” he said to Daniel, who was about to be stuck in the middle. Sure, it was possible to ride in the front seat with an NYC taxi driver, but it was usually awkward as hell.

“Where to?” Brian asked as the cab idled.

“I’m good with whatever you guys want,” Michael replied. “Daniel’s the one who’s about to have a baby. He should decide.”

“The baby’s not due until the middle of December. It’s not even Halloween yet. Don’t put this on me,” Daniel said.

“Guys. The meter is on. We’re not buying a car or deciding where to go to college. Pick something,” Michael said.

“Is that supposed to be a crack about me?” Daniel replied. He had a chip on his shoulder about being the one brother who hadn’t attended an Ivy League school.

“Michael, I asked you to pick because of your… you know. Heart thing.” Brian leaned forward and bugged his eyes at Michael. “Alyshia told me that you’re watching what you eat.”

Aha. Brian told Mom.“Fine. Let’s go to Cecile’s downtown. I can get a salad.” He inched forward on the seat to speak to the driver. “Do you know where that is?”

“Yeah. Got it.”

Michael sat back, not overly thrilled about that choice for dinner. It was the sort of place he’d take someone for a work lunch. But if he was going to have to atone to his mother about his health and if he was also choosing to not escape the stress of his situation with Sabrina, he supposed he did need to start making better choices when it came to eating. “Thanks, Bri, for telling Mom about my heart stuff. Really appreciate it.”

“I can’t believe you’re delusional enough to think she wasn’t going to find out. She was going to find out. She finds out everything.”

Michael leaned forward and shot his brother a pointed glance. “Still my job to tell her. Not yours, okay?”

“Fine.”

Michael tapped Daniel on the knee with his knuckle. “How are things with Erika? Is she still feeling good?”

“She’s hanging in there. Her ankles are bothering her, and she has to take a bath every night or else she says she can’t get comfortable.” Daniel was a high-level IT guy, probably the smartest of the three brothers, and definitely wound the tightest. He worried about everything.

“That sounds very, very normal to me,” Brian said. “Alyshia had the same problems when she was pregnant with Zoe.”

“I hope it’s normal.” Daniel nodded, but he didn’t seem truly convinced.

Michael hated that he had nothing substantive to offer in the way of advice. He was the oldest. Wasn’t it his job to have words of wisdom? He searched for something to say, but could only come up with a question. “Have you been going to the doctor’s appointments with her?”

“I have, but I missed the last one because I had a meeting.”

“Then maybe make sure that you can go to the next one? I know you, and you’ll feel better if you can be there to hear everything for yourself.”

“Although I really prefer to give Michael crap about everything, that’s actually good advice,” Brian said.

Michael took a shred of solace in that. “Right up here on the corner is fine,” he said to the driver, then pulled out his credit card to pay.

“I got it,” Brian said.

“Nope. My treat.” Michael wasn’t about to take no for an answer. His only financial responsibility was himself.

The three made their way inside and quickly learned that there was no available seating in the dining room. They were instead relegated to a high four-top in the bar area.

“Can I get you gentlemen a beverage while you look over the menu?” the waitress asked when she stopped by their table.

“I’ll have an old fashioned,” Brian said.

“Hmm. That could be good,” Daniel said, perusing the cocktail menu. “But I’m not sure. Michael, what are you getting?”

“Club soda with lime for me, please,” he said to the waitress.