“How the hell did you know I was here?” Joey practically screamed at her father.

Elizabeth, Dr. Petry, and Joey were in a circle just inside the front door, recalling the old Western trope of gunfighters in a Mexican Standoff. I was frozen in place near the couch where Alastair sat, tentatively reaching out to me with his hand.

Before Dr. Petry could muster an answer, Joey shrieked, “Joanne, did you set me up?” She turned back toward her mother. “Were you in on this too? Is everyone trying to gaslight me?”

Elizabeth gently brushed Joey’s back in a calming motion. “No, Joey, we had nothing to do with this. I had no idea—”

“Joey, I found out from people at the hospital. You’d told them that you were taking your mom over to see Joanne. I swear they didn’t know I was going to drop by. I only wanted to speak to you—” His hands reached out to Joey, pleading with his eyes.

She moved to slap his hands away and reached for the doorknob. “We have nothing to talk about. Mom, let’s go. I’m not feeling well.”

“Go. Let me talk to your father. I’ll get an uber home. Go.”

“Why, mom? How can you even stand the sight of him? What can he possibly say to us that means shit after ten years? Come on.”

“It’s alright, Joey. You go ahead. I can take care of this. Your father and I need to have a brief discussion.” She kissed Joey on the cheek and gently pushed her out the door. Joey ran to her car, not looking back.

“Joey! Please! Joey!” Dr. Petry vainly shouted after her. He turned to face Elizabeth.

“I thought ten years was a long enough time to let the flames of resentment and anger die down to embers. When are you going to tell Joey the truth?”

“As far as she’s concerned, she knows the truth. Do you want to pick at the scab again? She’s been hurt enough.”

I found myself unfrozen and walked quietly up to the pair. Alastair rose from the couch and followed behind me.

“Maybe Alastair and I can take a walk around the block so you two can have a little privacy.” Alastair nodded in agreement.

“No, it’s your house. Anyway, Willard and I really have nothing more to discuss. He knows I’ve warned him about trying to ambush Joey like this.” She turned angrily to Dr. Petry. “Can’t you see she wants to put the past behind her?”

“But I’m her father, Lizzie. Time is growing short for me. I can’t leave things unresolved like this.”

“Oh, Willard, don’t try that canard with me. I’m a doctor too. You’re as healthy as a horse. Just try to stay sober. And if you want to act in Joey’s best interests, leave her alone. There’ll come a place and time when all three of us can sit down and sing kumbaya, but it’s not here and now. Please?”

“My tenure as consultant with the hospital ends in a month. I’ll be going back to Seattle. I was hoping Joey and I could reconcile while I’m here. I’ve still got two years remaining on the lease to my house in Santa Monica. I can transfer the lease to her, and I’ll make all the payments. You handle it anyway you want. I’ll go now. I’m sorry to disturb your evening, Joanne and…”

“Alastair…and no need to apologize. I can see this is a thorny family issue. I understand.”

“Good night, Lizzie.” He shrugged his shoulders and went through the doorway, walking briskly to his car.

I gave Elizabeth a quizzical look. “Lizzie?”

“I’ve been telling him for 30 years that I despise being called Lizzie. My mother named me Elizabeth Ann. She didn’t name me after an axe murderer.”

“Do you think Joey will be alright?”

“I should go and check in on her. I’ve got the uber app on my phone—”

“I can take you home, Elizabeth,” Alastair offered.

“I’ll come with you. Just let me box up some leftovers for you and Joey. I made too much and don’t want it to go to waste.”

“What about Alastair? Have you eaten yet?” Alastair was about to answer but I stepped in.

“Oh, he doesn’t really like shrimp. I’ll make him something else or order a pizza. Right, darling?” Alastair nodded. “I’ll just be a minute. Talk amongst yourselves!”

After dropping Elizabeth off at Joey’s apartment, Alastair turned to me in his midnight black Porsche Boxster and declared he was mighty hungry. They hadn’t served a meal on the plane, so nothing since lunch.

“Poor baby, I’ll make you a Hot Brown Sandwich when we get home. I bought a small fortune in groceries this afternoon, so I’ve got everything I need: smoked turkey, bacon, and white cheddar cheese for the mornay sauce. And Philippa gifted me some of the bread she loves from Tartine Bakery.”

“You really are a domestic goddess, aren’t you? As delicious as that sounds, Jo, I’ve got a hankering for the lobster pizza at Berri’s Café.”

“I couldn’t eat a single slice, I’m stuffed from dinner. But I’ll have a macchiato and nibble at the edges of your pizza.”

Berri’s Café is in the Beverly Grove section of town hammocked by Cedar-Sinai and The Grove shopping mall. It took a while to find a parking space and Alastair had to put the top back up securely. Berri’s Café stays open until 4AM so it was still the shank of the evening when we walked into the restaurant. Plenty of tables available. The late-night crowd was yet to make their appearance. We didn’t need menus and gave the waiter our order before he could even take out his server book. My macchiato arrived a few minutes before Alastair’s lobster pizza.

I placed my head in my hands and moaned. “I fucked up, didn’t I, Alastair?”

“I don’t want to say I told you so but…” He held his hands out as I screwed my face up to show annoyance. “All things considered, it didn’t go as badly as it could have. Good thing you checked all guns and knives at the door.”

“The worst thing is Joey thinks I set this up with her father—”

“Well, you did.”

“I should have listened to you and Eliot and called it off before tonight. Now, Joey won’t want to speak to me, much less tell me the rest of her life story…which is supposed to be a major part of the screenplay.”

“I don’t think you need the rest of her story. Can’t you just make it up with Philippa’s help? After all, it is supposed to be fiction, isn’t it?”

“You’re right but the details of her story give that arc of the screenplay an authentic sense of verisimilitude—”

“Who’s this Vera Similitude? Does she have a SAG card?”

“You’re no help at all.” Alastair reached across the table, around the pizza stand, and held my hand.

“I switched around my meetings and came home to offer my support. I wasn’t totally sure there wouldn’t be some sort of fireworks going off when Petry and Joey collided. And who knew Elizabeth would show up as well?”

“Forgive me, Alastair. It was sweet of you. I’m just disappointed that I miscalculated so badly.”

“Sure you don’t want a slice of this? It’s really good.”

“Oh, alright, just a small slice. No, that’s too big. Alastair!”

We lay in bed, our breathing in synchrony, eyes searching above us in a thousand-yard stare. I turned to Alastair and nuzzled his neck.

“You were very…frisky tonight.”

“You needed comforting.”

“You as much as I, it seems. Something on your mind? Troubles in TV land?”

He turned to me and languorously stroked my cheek. Our eyes locked.

“These last few months with you have been the best of my life—”

“Alastair, please, with the hyperbole. You’re a highly successful and respected Hollywood executive. You’ve won awards. You were married to a famous and beautiful movie star. I’m just a speed bump in your life.” He kissed me to stop my self-effacing homily.

“Marry me, Jo…” I was stunned.

“Alastair, you can’t be serious. Don’t get me wrong. I think you’re wonderful. I’m even…pretty sure I’m falling in love with you but—”

“So, let’s get hitched. We can go to Vegas, one of those wedding chapels.” He saw the look on my face and changed gears. “Or we can have a big wedding. Everything you ever dreamed of as a little girl growing up—”

“Alastair, I didn’t grow up a girl.”

“Yes, you did. Even if you and anyone else didn’t know it at the time. You’re the most feminine woman I’ve ever met. And I want to spend the rest of my days with you…”

“You’re serious, aren’t you?”

“Dammit, woman! I pour my guts out to you and you ask me if I’m serious?”

“I’m not ready. I’ve been hurt so much. I’m…I’m just too damn scared to make that kind of commitment. Let’s let it percolate for a while longer. Give it some more time.”

“At least move into the main house, Jo. Let’s agree to make that kind of statement about where we are as a couple.”

“Are you evicting me?” I laughed, trying to lighten the mood. I was a little scared of Alastair’s intensity at the moment.”

“No, I’m upgrading your accommodations. My bed is Alaskan King size. Plenty of elbow room. You do tend to toss about in your sleep. My ribs are witness to that.”

We shared a deep, probing kiss to seal the deal. I would move into the “big house.” My fear was, after the screenplay was finished, would I be able to simply pick up and leave, returning to Long Island? Would I want to?

I held out the sippy cup of apple juice to Clarissa’s awaiting hands. She grabbed the cup and wrapped her lips around the silicone spout, drinking happily, securely seated in her stroller. Philippa and I were sitting on a bench facing Shane’s Inspiration, an all-inclusive and accessible playground in Griffith Park designed for children of all cognitive and physical abilities.

“She’s still too young to play here but it’s a nice place to sit and take a juice break. She seems to enjoy watching the other children running around.”

"See, Clarissa is such a big girl she drinks juice in a cup!" Without releasing her lips from the cup, Clarissa looked up at me as if she understood I was praising her, her eyes gleaming.

“So, how do we proceed now if Joey possibly cuts off all contact with you?”

“I’ll see her tonight at the Lakers game. She’ll probably avoid me. Maybe I’ll sit with Alastair in GlobalNet’s luxury suite just to make sure there aren’t any nasty confrontations. Yeah, I guess I blew it. Why don’t we spend our time for the moment working out the arc that’s based on my life? Who knows? The situation with Joey could change—”

“It’s a nasty coincidence for you that Elizabeth has unexpectedly entered from stage left. It must conjure up some bad memories for you…”

“What I get for sticking my nose in other people’s business. You know the old bromide about good intentions.”

“She’s only visiting, right? That’s your saving grace.”

“I figure she’ll go back East by the end of the week. I don’t see or hear from her for almost 30 years and then she keeps popping up like…like—”

“A bogeyman?”

“Bogeywoman to be correct.”

Clarissa held out her sippy cup to me. She’d gulped down all 5 ounces heroically and expected me to “clear her table” as if I were a server.

“You look like someone who tips well.” She giggled.

The Lakers won Game 5 of the finals on Wednesday night. They would play Game 6 on the road, favored to win the championship. Alastair and I left the arena mere minutes after the final buzzer, not only to avoid running into Joey and Eliot (I’d text him later to congratulate him on sinking the winning shot) but because Alastair was booked on the 11:30PM flight to Toronto, where he had meetings that were re-scheduled in order to “rescue” me from a potential family firefight. He would be back on Sunday night. We drove to LAX in my borrowed Audi (although Alastair insisted on taking the wheel) and we made a pretty picture at the departure gate. Alastair wouldn’t let go of me. Finally, I extricated myself from his grasp, laughing at the silly goose, and wiped the lipstick off his face with my wet thumb. He waved to me like a soldier going off to war as he disappeared up the ramp to the plane.

Friday morning, Paul, Clarissa, and I were sitting in their cute garden shed behind the house, taking a break from work while Philippa was inside speaking on the phone with GlobalNet’s Chief Content Officer, Michelle Gravesend. Since Alastair was otherwise occupied in Toronto, Ms. Gravesend called Philippa to receive a progress report on our project.

Clarissa sat on my lap, squeezing the life out of the stuffed rabbit in her tiny hands. I think she’s got the concept of tough love all wrong. Paul was making a nuisance of himself, coaxing Clarissa to learn and say my name.

“Jo-Anne, Clarissa, Say Jo…Anne. Jo…Anne.”

“Paul, stop it. She can barely say Momma and Dada. Oh, and bananana.”

“Come on, Clarissa. Just say it. Jo…Anne. Jo-Anne…” Clarissa ignored Paul and continued massaging or torturing her stuffed rabbit. My phone rang and it was a number that was unfamiliar to me. I accepted the call anyway.

“Hello?”

“Joanne? This is Elizabeth. How are you? Am I interrupting your writing session?”

“Hi, Elizabeth. No, we’re just taking a break right now. Is Joey okay?”

“She’s fine. You know I had a long talk with her, and I think she’s amenable to continuing her sessions with you. But I can tell you all about it later—”

“Later? Are you extending your stay in L.A.?”

“Oh, no, Joey…I mean Joanne. Today’s my last day. I’m on a flight back to Boston tomorrow morning. I mean later as in later tonight. You didn’t forget I owe you and Alastair a dinner, did you?”

“Well, Alastair’s in Toronto as we speak. Thanks for the invitation but, really, you don’t owe us dinner. Especially since it was my stupidity that almost caused an incident—”

“Dinner for two sounds even better, Joanne. I’ve already made the reservations so be ready to be picked up at 7…with bells on. Wear something you can dance in. Something pretty. See you at 7.” She disconnected. I didn’t even get a chance to decline her invitation.

“Looks like you’ll be kicking your heels up on the dance floor tonight, whether you want to or not,” Paul said with a smirk.

“Who’s taking you out dancing? I thought Alastair was still in Toronto.” Philippa, who had just walked into the shed, looked at both of us for an answer. I handed Clarissa to her.

“That was Elizabeth. She asked me out on a date, I think.”

“You’re a very popular girl. I’m jealous.”

“Pish. Popularity is not what it’s cracked up to be.”

“Jo…Anne!” Clarissa blurted out.

“You’ve even got toddlers under your spell.”

I sized myself up in the full-length mirror on the bathroom door. I had chosen to wear a white summery dress with a blue and red floral pattern. Was it appropriate for a dining and dancing date? Was this a date? I shook my head to answer my reflection in the mirror. It was a farewell dinner with optional dancing. Elizabeth said she was leaving tomorrow morning. Going back to Boston. Going back to our separate lives. She might have been joking about buying back her old loft in Manhattan. I bet she just keeps the house in Somerville, keeps on painting and running that small press that she started, the one that publishes poetry by writers from under-represented communities.

A single knock on the front door and I picked up my clutch. My low block heels, sensible for dancing, allowed me to quickly reach the front door before a second knock.

“Ready for the ball, princess?”

“Elizabeth, you know I’m a klutz. You don’t seriously think at my advanced age I can cut a rug without injuring myself.” I closed the door and locked it. Following close behind Elizabeth, I whistled at the sight of her rental car: a cream-colored BMW 2 coupe.

“Like the car? Joey wanted me to rent a cheap compact like a Toyota or Ford Fiesta. I said I’m closing in on 60 but I ain’t dead. That girl!”

“Speaking of Joey. You did say you had more details to give me when we spoke on the phone this morning—”

“Get in.” She opened the passenger side door. “I’ll tell you over dinner.”

We were heading west on the Glendale Freeway, speeding along at 65 miles per hour, the absolute limit. Elizabeth had always liked driving fast. I considered myself a careful, safe driver. I looked nervously at her, remaining quiet, not wanting to distract her attention from the road. But she was already chattering a mile a minute.

“One of the poets I’ve published is Argentinian but grew up in Pasadena. She told me about this great Argentine restaurant that also features a live tango band on weekend evenings. It’s named, of all things, The Tlon Uq Bar & Grill—”

“I gather the proprietor is a fan of Borges.”

“I knew you’d get it, my favorite literary scholar. So, it’s on Vine & Sunset. Good thing they included GPS with this rental. It’s a bitch trying to get around L.A. without some sort of help. And Joey’s clueless too. It took us half-an-hour to find your house…even with her GPS. She’s a smart kid but she learned to drive from her grandfather. I should have taught her myself, but I was just too busy at the hospital. Sometimes I feel I failed as a mother—”

“You did the best you could, Elizabeth. Joey’s turned out okay, don’t you think?”

“Yes, she’s the best daughter a woman could ever have. Do you ever regret not having children of your own?”

Yes, yes I do. Every day of my life, Elizabeth. Except for the random cruelty of a universe that often acts as humanity’s greatest antagonist, Joey could have been our daughter. But I didn’t say any of that aloud. I merely nodded to myself and muttered an indecipherable reply.

“Sorry. I’m sometimes socially backward. It must be a sore subject with you. But you do have Eliot. Joey had him come over to her place so I could get to know him. A nice young man. An Ivy Leaguer too!”

“I don’t deserve much credit for raising him. That was all Emily. You never met Emily—”

“And you never met Willard…until Tuesday night.”

“To be honest, Elizabeth, Willard and I met a few days before. In fact, I stupidly let him convince me that having him “drop by” that night was a good idea. I’m sorry, but I had no idea how deeply alienated Joey was from him. I figured they could reconcile if given a chance to quietly pass the peace pipe. I fucked up royally.”

“I knew Willard talked you into it. Don’t worry, I came to your defense with Joey. I told her you had nothing to do with that travesty on Tuesday night. In fact, she’s going to text you later about meeting up tomorrow morning after she sees me off to the airport. Something about dying to have brunch at that Mexican place again.”

“Thank you, Elizabeth. You’re a lifesaver.”

“You’re saying I’m sweet and fruit-flavored?”

The interior of the Tlon Uq Bar & Grill was impressively cavernous with high ceilings, an expansive dance floor, and a small, raised stage for the house band. Of course, tables formed a semi-circle on the periphery of the dance floor. We were led to a table near the front and given menus to scrutinize. Argentine cuisine is all about beef, big, thick slabs of it. We decided to have the Ojo de Bife con Hueso (for Two), the classic bone-in ribeye steak, with side orders of Salsa Criolla y Chimichurri.

“The band doesn’t come out until 9, so we can eat leisurely. So, tell me, is Alastair a keeper? I sense a lot of chemistry between you two. Joey says you seem so happy when you’re together.”

“I’m still processing the whole situation. It’s like a whirlwind romance. At least on his part.”

“You’ve known him for almost 30 years. Seems to me he’s been carrying a torch for you all this time.”

“Hardly, he asked me out right after I transitioned, and I politely declined. I wasn’t ready. Then things kind of evolved into a friendship. You know how workplace friendships happen. But he got over me quickly. He became involved with Lulu Brooks, the actress. I think he was the EP on one of her TV movies for FX. There was an immediate attraction.”

“Yes, Alastair’s a handsome guy. Twenty years ago, he could’ve been on a movie screen himself.”

“And Lulu was a born female, capable of bearing his children.”

“But they didn’t have any.”

“I know. Ironic, isn’t it? Anyway, I met Emily. Funny, you’re publishing poets now and I met Emily at a poetry reading in St. Paul’s Chapel at Columbia. It was love at first sight. For both of us.”

“You told me you fell in love with me at first sight. Remember? Maybe you’ve forgotten. It has been, what, more than 35 years now.”

“I haven’t forgotten. I can still see you standing in the corner of the room with a bottle of Bartles & Jaymes in your hand, chatting with Eddie Mangano, your boyfriend at the time.”

“Soon-to-be ex-boyfriend. It was his going away party. He was dropping out of school to be a roadie and guitar tech with The Cramps. He seriously thought I’d drop out as well and go on the road with him. On my own dime, too! When you came over to us, I was in the middle of another argument with him about that.”

“No one told me you and Eddie were involved. I lived in the room next door on that floor of the dorm. Eddie invited everyone within a radius of 200 feet. You had a certain aura. I was drawn to you.”

“I was wearing tight Jordache jeans, and I was facing away from you. I think I know what drew you to me.”

I threw my hands up. “Okay, you got me. Anyway, I was really surprised you asked me to go back to your loft with you. The party was still going full blast. But I wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth.”

“You thought you were going to score, didn’t you?”

“Well, the thought occurred to me, yes it did.”

“You turned out to be a very gentle lover that night.”

“I was afraid you’d find me a little…soft. Other girls used to tell me I was too girly.”

“I prefer sensitive men. Well, until I met Willard.”

“You must have seen something in him that made you want to marry him, however it turned out twenty years later.”

“He was a year ahead of me in medical school and I thought he was brilliant. Despite all the shit we’ve been through, that’s one thing he indisputably is…a brilliant doctor. I kind of idolized him and followed him around like a puppy dog. Well, I guess I have some charms too. He proposed within six months of our meeting on campus. I accepted even before he finished asking. But, to get back to you and Alastair, have you two made any future plans? Are you going to go back to New York after the screenplay is finished?”

“Alastair proposed to me before he flew to Toronto—”

“So, I’ve lost you again, Joey,” she said under her breath, thinking I hadn’t heard her.

“I told him I’d have to think about it. Marriage at our ages, I think, is a dubious proposition. We’re set in our ways. We’ve lived alone for years now. We’re not a couple of lovestruck kids, losing our clothes at the drop of a hat…”

“There’s a lot to be said about companionship. But if you’re not really in love—”

“Oh no, Elizabeth, I’m in love alright. I miss him terribly when he’s away, like he is right now. When I was still in New York, he could only get away every other weekend. The days in between were slow torture. I do love him. As much…maybe more than I’ve ever loved anyone.”

“And here I thought I was your greatest love—”

“You were my first love, Elizabeth. But the love I had with Emily…she was very dear to me. We were so much in love. If it wasn’t for Eliot needing me as a parent, I would have been absolutely inconsolable for the longest time. And I feel deeply for Alastair. If I had been more confident in myself those first few years after transitioning, I would’ve fallen for him like a ton of bricks when he first started asking me out. He was so cute back then. Kind of shy. You wouldn’t think that, seeing him now…” I drifted off mid-sentence. I found myself brimming with emotion and I was embarrassed to show that to Elizabeth.

The house band wandered onto the stage and began tuning up. Some of the patrons were already filling the dance floor in anticipation. Elizabeth took my hand and led me into the middle of the throng.

“Do you think this is a good idea? I’m not a good dancer and I didn’t take the elective on tango at Columbia. Pray for your toes, madam.”

“It’s okay, I’ll lead. Just let the music permeate your body. And hold on for dear life!” She laughed as she pulled me into a tight clinch. The band started playing a fast number and we gyrated in a sort of spastic form of tango across the dance floor, almost crashing into another couple in our enthusiasm.

I noticed we weren’t the only same-sex couple on the dance floor. I relaxed a bit more and let the sensuous rhythms flow through my arms and legs, being twirled about and controlled by Elizabeth’s strong yet gentle touch. The years seem to melt away and I saw before me the Elizabeth who fired my passions three decades ago. The music seemed to crescendo and our movements turned to frenzy. Suddenly, the band segued into a slower paced tango, meant for lovers to lock eyes and fuse emotions.

“I told you we’d have a good time.” I nodded and smiled. “Tonight might be the last time we’ll see each other for a long time. Hopefully, it won’t be another 30 years.”

“It was nice spending some time together, both you and Joey. Boston and New York are only a four-hour drive apart. We can visit more regularly than once every 30 years.”

“I’m serious about moving to Manhattan and buying back my old loft.”

“We’ll see. You’ve put down roots in Boston. Is there anyone in New York, other than me, you still have ties to?”

“One tie is enough.” She lowered her voice and almost whispered into my ear. “If this is really farewell, for however long it might be, I owe you the truth about Joey, her father, and me.”

“I don’t need to know every detail. These are family matters. I’m a relative stranger. I should have kept my nose out of your business in the first place.”

“I was the one who filed for divorce, not Willard.”

“Of course, the situation was untenable.”

“No, I had to file before Willard did. Otherwise, he would’ve had a strong case to be awarded sole custody of Joey. And he would’ve withdrawn permission for her to undergo HRT. She was only 15 at the time.”

“I don’t understand. Why would he win sole custody?”

“I had an extra-marital affair.” I was shocked. It didn’t fit my image of her but, still, couples divorce all the time because of adultery. It doesn’t necessarily disqualify them from being good parents.

“I still don’t get it.”

“It was who I had the affair with. I suspected Joey was gender dysphoric from the age of seven or eight, but the onset of male puberty sent her emotional wellbeing into a tailspin. Against Willard’s medical opinion or, rather, prejudices, I started seeking out therapeutic pathways for Joey. Because of our connections through Tufts, we could obtain the services of the best specialist in the Boston area. That was Dr. Richard Loughlin, a triple threat. He was a pediatrician, endocrinologist, and psychologist. He and his staff took Joey’s case immediately. They were convinced she was transgender and plotted out a regimen of HRT followed by GCS when she turned 18. Willard was livid because he didn’t believe Joey was transgender. We argued loud and often about it. I’m sure Joey saw and heard too much of that.”

“You only did what any mother would do for her child. Anything less would have been criminal in my book.”

“But Dr. Laughlin and I started spending a lot of time together. At first, it was to discuss Joey’s treatment but, as time went on, it was clear there was something developing between us. Occasional lunches in Cambridge where his clinic was located turned into dinners in Allston and ultimately, we stole as much time as we could from our spouses to meet furtively in an apartment he kept in Back Bay.”

“Willard must have suspected something.”

“He found out when I slipped up and used a medical convention to cover our weekend away in a Vermont B&B. There was some departmental issue that came up and when he couldn’t connect with my cell, he tried the convention hotel’s front desk. He confronted me when I got home and threatened to divorce me, asking for sole custody of Joey. He was willing to drop the whole thing if I stopped seeing Richard and pulled Joey out of her treatment program. I told him I couldn’t do that to Joey. He could demean me as much as he wanted but I would not sacrifice my child’s existential needs to his sense of male pride. He threatened to drag Richard’s reputation through the mud as well. I was shellshocked. This was becoming a no-exit situation. I discussed this with Richard as soon as I could get in touch with him.”

“What was his reaction?”

“Richard was heroic. He said that in the court of public opinion, Willard would lose. What would people think of a father, a medical doctor no less, who would refuse to acknowledge his own child’s properly diagnosed health condition and withhold treatment for it. A child’s parents may have marital problems but to hold a child hostage to those problems?”

“In some states, that reasoning might not carry the day,”

“We’re in Massachusetts. We may be Massholes but we’re as progressive as you can get. With that ammunition, I filed for divorce before Willard could blink. He realized that if he counter sued, all hell would break loose, and he had no assurance his own career wouldn’t go up in smoke. So, we made a compact of sorts. We’d part ways, share custody of Joey, Joey would complete her treatment including the final surgery, and we’d split everything down the middle.”

“And Willard wanted Joey to finally know the truth about her parents’ break-up.”

“The truth is that Willard never believed Joey is transgender and was willing to let his own child live out her life in abject hopelessness. You, of all people, knows that would have been a death sentence for Joey. The death of her soul. 82% of transgender individuals have considered killing themselves and 40% have attempted suicide, with suicide rates highest among transgender youth. Can you imagine what would have happened to Joey?”

She dropped her head onto my shoulder and wept. The band had stopped playing for several minutes already. We were the only couple on the dance floor. Gently, I led her back to our table where I took out a pack of tissues and handed her one. She wiped her eyes and blew her nose.

“I think Willard is truly contrite now. Why not let them try to rebuild their relationship? He’s asking for forgiveness—”

“And let him paint a picture of me as an adulterous slut who had a tawdry affair with her own daughter’s doctor? He’d enjoy tearing Joey and me apart. The truth is he was a self-obsessed man who only cared about his high and mighty career and didn’t want his wife and child getting in the way.”

“I’ll refrain from making a comment on that point. What happened with Richard?”

“Richard? The affair kind of sputtered out, When Willard decided to resign from Tufts and move to Seattle, I had to take over the Emergency Pediatric Center and there just wasn’t any time to carry on the relationship. Richard reconciled with his wife. They’re still together. Frankly, I wasn’t really that into him. It was the circumstances at home more than anything else.”

“Could you take me home, Elizabeth? All that dancing just wore me out.” She signaled our waitress for the check. When she reached our table, she smiled and asked, “Aren’t you staying for the second set? It’s just another 15 minutes. Maybe some dessert?”

“No, thank you. We’re heading out now.” Elizabeth placed her Amex card in the check presenter.

“The food and the music were very good,” I cheerily said to the waitress.

“The way you two danced just now, I thought this must be a very special night for you.”

“It is.” Elizabeth looked at me and sighed. “A very special night.”

As we sped home on the Glendale Freeway, I checked my cellphone and, Elizabeth was right, Joey did send me a text asking to get together for brunch tomorrow morning at De Buena Planta. I replied and looked up to see we had already arrived at the guest house. I invited Elizabeth in for a cup of coffee.

“El Pico?”

“Of course. It was hard to find here in L.A., but they had a few cans of the Extra Fine Grind. I bought two. Alastair will drink anything, but I’ve always preferred El Pico since you introduced it to me.”

“It’s so funny, Joey. I mean Joanne. I keep slipping up. Forgive me. You think I always drank El Pico only because I used the empty cans my neighbor threw out in his trash in a mixed-media sculpture I was working on when we first met. I’m not that much of a coffee drinker anymore.”

“Well, I like it. Sit down. It’ll be a few minutes.”

With coffee mugs in our hands, we leaned back into the couch and sighed simultaneously.

“You must think badly of me now, Joanne. I did what I had to do to protect everyone involved—”

“Except Willard, of course.”

“If our marriage was anything more than a professional partnership, then I’d agree that he deserves sympathy. But I can’t countenance his utter disregard for his child’s wellbeing.”

“Okay, I’ll drop the subject.”

“Joanne, I can’t imagine never seeing you again. Can you find room in your life for me? Even if it’s just as a long-distance friend?”

“Of course. You left me, Elizabeth, I didn’t leave you. Remember?”

“I hurt you very badly. I know. We’re older now. Maybe the things that seemed so important then aren’t that important now. I never stopped loving you. Why do you think I named Joey after you?”

“You have a very odd way of showing your love.”

She moved closer to me on the couch and took my head in both her hands, closed her eyes, and sought out my lips with hers. I have to admit an electric charge surged through our connected bodies. I felt the way I felt thirty odd years ago when we would share our warmth in that cold loft on wintry Manhattan nights.

Our dresses seemed to dematerialize as we floated into the bedroom. Hungrily, we tasted each other from head to toe. It was a meal that surpassed the dinner from which we had just returned. I paid special attention to Elizabeth’s eyelids and earlobes. I always found them extremely sexy. For her part, she found new areas of my body to explore, parts I didn’t have when we last made love. And the part I had given up didn’t seem to hinder our passion.

“It’s different, Joey. But it’s still so good. All the years I threw away, baby…”

“Shush, no more talk about the past. The only thing that matters is here and now.”

“I’ve never been with a woman, Joey.”

“I’ll show you how it’s done.” I lowered my head and began my seminar on the joys of woman-to-woman love. There were frequent outbursts from the student body, but the lesson was successfully learned, as the later recitation of its salient points was flawlessly performed by my prize student.

I tied the belt of my kimono lazily as I peered out the window, watching Elizabeth drive away in the hazy darkness of midnight Los Angeles. I recalled the feathery touch of her lips on my eyelids. The image of her beautiful face as my head hung above her, my tousled hair mingling with hers just before I leaned down to kiss her glistening lips. I remember her fingers caressing my breasts as if discovering a new continent in an uncharted ocean. Most of all, I can’t forget the words she uttered to break the silence of love’s aftermath: “Marry me, Joey. Marry me this time.”