“No, it wouldn't,” Andy said, looking at him, and acting as though Stephanie had already vanished. “Why do we have to take her?”
Stephanie fumed, but Brad answered. “Because I like her. She's my friend. You like to take your friends places too. It's more fun that way.”
“Why can't I bring Mom?” Mainly because that wouldn't be fun at the moment. But Brad didn't say that.
“You know how difficult that is right now. You didn't like it when we fought. And Stephanie and I don't fight. We're good friends, and we have lots of fun. We could go to movies, and baseball games, and the beach, and do all kinds of things.”
Andy looked her over contemptuously. “I'll bet she doesn't know anything about baseball.”
“Then we'll teach her,” Brad said calmly, looking at both of them. They looked equally miserable, angry, and unhappy. He was forcing things, and it was not going well, and he knew it. Maybe it would be easier to just leave it for a while, and go out with him alone again. But sooner or later he would have to get used to her. They had been talking about marriage again, and Stephanie was determined that he either make a commitment to her, or end the relationship. After more than ten months, and seeing him through the end of his marriage to Page, she felt as though she'd been patient enough. And now she wanted to know if Brad was going to come up with the goods. If not, she wanted to stop seeing him, and explore other avenues, none of which pleased Brad, after all he'd been through, he didn't want to lose her. She was almost a security blanket for him now, she was his buffer against the loneliness he felt without Page, or Allyson, or Andy. And he loved her too, but their affair had not been the easiest of late, with all the trauma he'd been through, and now Andy wasn't making things easier for them. Life was definitely not simple.
“I want you two to give this a chance.” He looked at both of them. “For my sake. I love you both. And I want you to be friends. Deal? Will you try?” he asked them both, as though they were the same age, and from the petulant look on Stephanie's face, he could almost believe she was the same age as Andy.
“Okay,” said Andy grudgingly, glancing over at her with a look of hatred.
“You'd better behave yourself,” she snapped at him, and Brad almost groaned as he paid the check and gave Andy the candies that had come with it.
“Stop it, you two!”
It was a hellish afternoon. They went down to the Marina green, and walked along the beach in almost total silence. Stephanie said she was cold and wanted to go home. Andy said absolutely nothing, and only answered when his father spoke to him. He said nothing to Stephanie at all, until he was forced to say good-bye to her, when they dropped her off at her apartment. They stopped at Brad's briefly on the way home, and when he went to the bathroom, Andy noticed some of her things on the sink, and a pink terrycloth bathrobe on the back of the bathroom door, which only depressed him further.
“You really weren't nice to her,” Brad said gently on the way home. “That's not fair. She means a lot to me, and she really wants to like you.”
“No, she doesn't. She was mean to me right from the beginning. She hates me. I know it.”
“She does not hate you. She's not used to kids, and you probably scare her a little bit. Give her a chance.” Brad was almost begging. It had been a hideous afternoon, and he knew he was going to get an earful from Stephanie as soon as he got back to the city.
“Allie's going to hate her too,” Andy said confidently, and the words tore at Brad's heart. He was no longer sure that Allie would ever love or hate anyone again. In spite of her recent movements, there had been no real improvement.
“I don't think Allie would hate her,” Brad said more to make conversation with him.
“And so would Mom. Besides, she's too skinny and she's stupid.”
“She is not stupid.” Brad found himself defending her. “She went to Stanford, she has a good job, and she's a very bright girl. You really don't know her.”
“So what, she's dumb, and I hate her.” They had come full circle, and Brad tried to distract him by talking about other things on the way home, but Andy seemed not to want to talk. He just sat quietly and stared out the window.
Brad dropped him off at the house, and waved at Page as he drove off. He was tempted to stop and talk, but decided that would just be too difficult. He wasn't in the mood, and he was anxious to get back to Stephanie and reassure her. He knew how upset she would be about how rude Andy had been, she was childish about things like that sometimes, and he knew he'd have to make it up to her. He just hoped that eventually they'd get used to each other. If not, things were going to be very rough for him in the meantime.