A Week at the Lake by Wendy Wax

Zoe asked. “
The
Ethan Miller who was in
Tempest in Toledo
?”
    â€œYes,” Serena said tentatively.
    â€œHe’s like the funniest person ever,” Zoe exclaimed. “For an old guy, I mean.”
    Serena sighed. “I know. He’s already forty-five. Hard to believe his sense of humor is still intact.”
    â€œClearly Ethan Miller is one very thoughtful guy,” Mackenzie said.
    â€œDon’t you wish the hot ones were nice like that?” Zoe asked. “Hot guys never have to develop a personality or a sense of humor. Because everybody’s already falling all over them.”
    Serena looked at Zoe. “How is it you figured that out so much sooner than I did?”
    Zoe shrugged. “What kind of guys did you all date? Back when you were . . . younger?” She said this last as if she couldn’t quite imagine it.
    â€œI never really had boyfriends back when I was in high school. But I fell for Adam the minute I saw him,” Mackenzie said. “I’d only been in New York maybe two weeks. Your mom and Serena always got more attention in that department than me.”
    â€œI was engaged when I first got here,” Serena said, taking a seat next to Zoe. “So I wasn’t looking or dating.”
    Zoe shook a mound of Sno-Caps into her hand. “I didn’t know you were married.”
    â€œI wasn’t. My fiancé had been offered a job up here. But at the last minute he decided to stay in Charleston.” Her jaw tightened. “To marry someone else. He went to work for her father.”
    There was a brief silence.
    â€œHis loss,” Mackenzie said, surprised by the hurt on Serena’s face all these years later. “He was forever after known as ‘The Tool.’ And other less flattering names.”
    â€œIt was quite the scandal back home,” Serena said. “Well-bred southern boys are supposed to keep their promises.”
    â€œAnd my mom? What kind of guys did my mom go out with?” Zoe said, munching on a handful of white-capped chocolate.
    â€œShe always picked the strong silent types,” Serena answered. “Partly I think because as long as they didn’t ruin it by talking too much, you could pretend they were anything you wanted them to be.”
    â€œBut she almost never went out with actors,” Mackenzie added. “She once told me that there were way too many performers in her family tree—and that was before we knew she was a Michaels.” She smiled at Zoe. “But what I remember most from that time was the three of us. The men, even Adam, were more like supporting players. But we were Josie and thePussycats, Charlie’s Angels—God knows we had the hair for it—the female incarnation of the Three Musketeers.”
    â€œBut she married Calvin,” Zoe said. “And he’s an actor. I think that’s the only thing they had in common.”
    â€œThey had you,” Serena said.
    â€œYeah.” Zoe’s tone was wistful.
    â€œDo you remember the weeks at the lake?” Serena asked.
    â€œKind of. I used to wish we could live there all the time. Because in LA we were so, you know, alone. And at the lake we had Gran when I was little and you guys. It was almost like having a family.”
    â€œShe always said you were the best thing that ever happened to her.” Mackenzie said this quietly, her thoughts drawn back to a time she tried not to think about.
    Zoe zeroed in on a teetering stack of albums on the coffee table and reached for the two on the top.
    â€œSorry for the mess,” Serena said, straightening the remaining stack before settling in beside Zoe. “I pulled some pictures from back when we first met to bring to the lake, and I never got to put them away.
    Idly, Zoe opened the first leather-covered album and began to flip through the pages. She stopped, looking up in surprise. “Was this a baby shower for me?”