Best Behavior Read online

  A modern-day family gathers for a weekend to remember in a novel rich in both humor and heart...

  Meredith Parker has made the journey to Bolton, her twins’ college, dozens of times. This weekend, though, is different. Dawn and Cody are about to graduate and move away to separate corners of the country. Meredith is proud of her kids, and she’s proud of herself for helping them get this far. She just never expected the tidal wave of emotions sweeping over her—or the tangled family dynamics complicating everything.

  Meredith doesn’t miss her cheating ex, Roger, one bit, but sitting across from his very young, very gorgeous second wife threatens to unravel the graceful facade she’s trying so hard to maintain. Joel, Meredith’s husband, can see she’s feeling the first pangs of empty-nest syndrome and wants to soften the blow—but he’s distracted by a familiar face. Meanwhile, Cody and Dawn are sitting on their own secrets, and Roger’s new wife, Lily, wonders if she really wants to be a part of this wild, mixed-up family.

  As tensions simmer with each passing appetizer tray, Meredith’s vision of the perfect weekend goes up in flames. But before the party’s over, as best behavior gives way to brutal honesty, there’ll be a chance for this new blended family to truly come together—in all its messy and glorious imperfection.

  Praise for the novels of Wendy Francis

  “Wendy Francis captures all the joy and pain of being an (almost) empty-nester in her latest novel. Picture a college graduation weekend on a lovely New England campus. Now mix in some booze, an ex or two, the in-laws, a trophy wife, and loads of secrets/scandals. Soon enough, no one is behaving at their best. A terrific summer read.”

  —Amy Poeppel, author of Small Admissions, on Best Behavior

  “A delightful, smartly paced read… Francis writes with grace, depth and humor about complex family dynamics and the joy and heartache of watching young adults spread their wings and fly from the nest.”

  —Meg Mitchell Moore, author of The Islanders, on Best Behavior

  “Wendy Francis’s book thrilled me like a ride in a race car along the coast with the top down. It is everything a summer read should be.”

  —Elin Hilderbrand, New York Times bestselling author of

  Summer of ’69, on The Summer of Good Intentions

  “Francis illustrates with charm and insight the drama and love of friendship and sisterhood, realistically portrayed through relatable and likable characters. A great summer read for fans of Jennifer Weiner and Emily Giffin.”

  —Library Journal on The Summer Sail

  “The Summer of Good Intentions is a tender and vivid portrait of a family by the sea, of three unforgettable sisters and the tidal pull of their love and secrets. Wendy Francis is a wonderful writer. She made me feel the salt air.”

  —Luanne Rice, New York Times bestselling author

  “The setting of this enjoyable novel is enticing, and the tone is breezy. A sure bet for your summer beach-reads list. Recommend this one to fans of Elin Hilderbrand and Anne Rivers Siddons.”

  —Booklist on The Summer Sail

  “Filled with the sweet briny air of Cape Cod, this extraordinary tale shows that, together, we can weather all the seasons of life.”

  —Patti Callahan Henry, New York Times bestselling author, on The Summer of Good Intentions

  A former book editor, Wendy Francis is the author of four novels and has written for Good Housekeeping, The Washington Post and WBUR’s Cognoscenti, among others. A proud stepmom of two grown-up children, she lives outside Boston with her husband and eleven-year-old son.

  WendyFrancisAuthor.com

  Also by Wendy Francis

  Three Good Things

  The Summer of Good Intentions

  The Summer Sail

  Best Behavior

  Wendy Francis

  For Eva Kay

  “Graduation day is tough for adults. They go to the ceremony as parents. They come home as contemporaries. After twenty-two years of child-raising, they are unemployed.”

  —Erma Bombeck

  Contents

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  BEST BEHAVIOR - READER’S GUIDE

  QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

  A CONVERSATION WITH THE AUTHOR

  ONE

  On Thursday morning, the temperature outside is seventy-one degrees and climbing while Meredith Parker considers which of a thousand recommended places she would like to visit before she dies. Not that she’s anticipating dying anytime soon, but she needs a distraction. She figures she has already seen at least a handful—Yosemite (breathtaking, as advertised), Niagara Falls (overrated, in her opinion—and cold), and San Francisco (lovely, with a charming, hippie vibe). It’s the exotic locales that have eluded her over the past forty-six years, places like Tahiti or Rome or the Swiss Alps. Although, come to think of it, Meredith doesn’t really care for skiing, so she can probably cross the Alps right off her list. But Rome would be nice—all that history and pasta—and wine! A cheap fare must be available on one of those best-deal websites, if she searches long enough. Yes, she’s fairly certain she can persuade her husband, Joel, that Rome should be their first-ever international destination, the new green pin on their Where Have You Been? map that hangs on the wall in the den. That is, of course, once the kids have settled into their new homes.

  And with the thought of her children’s imminent departure, Meredith’s throat tightens. What’s the use? she thinks. No number of mental hijinks will make her forget the real purpose of today’s trip. She, Joel, and her mother, Carol, are tracing the familiar route up from New Haven to Boston, as they have dozens of times before, the trees beyond the window zipping by in a curtain of emerald green.

  But this weekend will be different.

  Because this weekend marks the twins’ college graduation, an event that seemed impossibly far away only a few years ago, even a few months ago. Tomorrow her babies, the ones she used to cradle in each arm, will accept their hard-earned diplomas and officially step out into the great wide beyond, otherwise known as Adult Life.

  Last night, when she’d gone to her neighborhood book club, the room had been abuzz with excitement over the upcoming weekend. “You must be bursting with pride!” her friend Lauren exclaimed. “I can’t believe that Cody and Dawn are already graduating. It’s so exciting.” And Meredith had nodded, as if she, too, were in a state of shock over this improbable fact.

  It’s true that she couldn’t be prouder of the twins, but the moment is bittersweet. Soon, Cody will be off to Bismarck, North Dakota, to teach high school history, and Dawn is headed to Chicago to work at an advertising firm. Her kids will be so far away, they might as well be moving to Bangkok. Even though she knows it’s irrational, Meredith is racked by the feeling that after this summer she might never see her children again.

  Admittedly, she is at a corner, or more specifically, at a crossroads in her life. Images of a two-year-old, chubby Cody racing into her arms or of a young Dawn asking for “one more good-night tuck-in” swim
through her mind. She can still feel those small arms wrapped tightly around her, the love so palpable she used to think her heart would leap from her chest to theirs. How is it possible that her babies are graduating from college this weekend?

  With Lauren’s comment, Meredith had cast her gaze around the book group (who, truth be told, rarely ever discussed the book at hand) and realized with a start that the difference between her own life and that of her friends suddenly stretched before her like a giant yawning chasm: Meredith was about to say goodbye to her kids once and for all, while her neighbors still had years of child-raising ahead of them.

  Lauren had offered her an affectionate pat on the shoulder, as if she could read Meredith’s thoughts, and handed over a generous pour of chardonnay, which Meredith accepted gratefully. Maybe, she allowed herself to consider, Lauren was right. Maybe the graduation weekend would be exciting, as pleasing as a perfectly folded fitted sheet. Tuck this person into that corner, that person over there, smooth it, smooth it, and everyone would get along swimmingly.

  Given her patched-together, hybrid family, though, Meredith sincerely doubts it. Her ex-husband, Roger, will be bringing Lily, his new wife of six months. And as fine as Meredith is with the idea of Roger’s remarrying after all these years, his new marriage somehow feels forced, as if he has just purchased a new set of golf clubs that he’s eager to show off to the rest of the family.

  “I know. It’s crazy, right?” Meredith had managed to get out after swallowing her wine. “The twins are officially all grown up.”

  Lauren, a corporate attorney, has two young girls, six and eight, whom Meredith adores and dreams of kidnapping one day. (She tells herself it wouldn’t really be kidnapping, though, since they’re all neighbors, and obviously she would do Lauren the courtesy of asking before moving the girls into her own home.) As it is, she helps out with the girls whenever she can, usually after school when Lauren works late and Meredith is already back from her shift in the NICU. The girls have her pegged for a softy and know full well that she will buy them ice cream, bake chocolate chip cookies on a whim, and watch every terrible mermaid movie that’s available for streaming. They call her “Auntie,” which makes her heart swell and break simultaneously.

  Some days she wishes she and Joel had tried for their own children way back when, even though the timing was off—they didn’t meet till Meredith was in her late thirties—and there would have been a considerable age gap, more than a decade, between a new baby and the twins. But at least she would still hear young voices in the house, would have someone to ferry to ballet practice or help with a book report. As exhausting as it could be some days (that Taj Mahal built out of marshmallows for fifth grade nearly killed her), she misses the maternal responsibilities she was once counted on for, feels the lack like an unfamiliar brittleness settling into her bones.

  Theoretically, she understands that the twins flew the coop four years ago when they left for college. But that was different. The kids continued to call every Sunday night, and she and Joel could drop by on the odd weekend. Luckily, both children had decided on the same college in Boston, making spur-of-the-moment visits ridiculously convenient. But traveling so far away for jobs where she might see them only once or twice a year for Thanksgiving and Christmas? She honestly doesn’t know how—or if—she can handle it.

  Thankfully, no matter what faults she and her ex-husband, Roger, might have had as a couple, their kids have turned out all right—better than all right—and Meredith lets herself relax slightly with this thought now. Dawn, hands down her most difficult child during the teenage years, has blossomed into a bright young woman. Gone are the days when Meredith’s every comment would prompt an eye roll from her daughter. And despite an unfortunate hiccup with the Administrative Board last year, Dawn has managed to pull off graduating with honors. Meanwhile, Cody (Meredith’s lips part into a smile when she imagines him striding across the stage in his gown) is graduating Phi Beta Kappa. Not only that, but he set the school record for all-time rushing yards this fall, leading his football team to their best season in fifteen years. Cody has become a rock star on his small New England campus, and as his mother, Meredith can’t help but feel a bit smug. After all, she was the one who whipped up protein shake after protein shake and lugged him to hundreds of high school practices. She was the one who allowed her lovely den to be transformed into a weight room filled with smelly sneakers and barbells for four years.

  If she knows one thing deep in her bones, it’s that she is a good mom, one who has raised hardworking, resilient children. She imagines holding her breath as they parade across Bolton’s commencement stage, much as she did when they took their first ungainly steps across the kitchen floor, Cody wheeling ahead in wide, determined strides and Dawn following a few paces behind, her tongue twisted into a tight coil of determination. Meredith is enormously proud of them, and, quite honestly, of herself. She didn’t abandon her kids like Roger did, when he’d seen fit to put his penis where it didn’t belong. But that was nearly ten years ago, water under the bridge—more of a tepid stream wandering through her mind these days than a charging river.

  She drums her fingers on the armrest as the car hurtles forward. How many times have she and Joel driven up to school for the kids’ sporting events or to treat them to dinner? Certainly more than she can count. On the rare occasion, her mother, Carol, will also pack herself into the car to say hello to her grandchildren. Now her mom sits in the back seat, her hands wrapped tightly around a beaded purse, which Meredith knows carries two envelopes thick with cash. Graduation gifts. In the trunk are their suitcases, some extra packing boxes and tape (just in case), and the twins’ graduation presents.

  Meredith has checked her weather app only about a hundred times this week, and each time the forecast is for bright sunshine, accompanied by unseasonably warm temperatures for mid-May. If the meteorologists are correct, tomorrow—graduation day—will bring the humidity index to 90 percent. Rain without actual raindrops, she thinks. At the moment, though, she would never guess it—the pillowed blue sky stretches before them like a big fluffy blanket.

  “Thank goodness there’s no rain forecast for the weekend.” She turns toward Joel, his hands resting at a steady two and ten on the wheel. “It could be worse.”

  “Yes.” He grins. “My little optimist. Although, I imagine there’ll be a few pop-up storms, if you know what I mean.”

  Her hand swats at his arm, a big, bulky bicep that looks custom-made for comforting. “Stop it. You’re not funny.”

  She knows what he’s referring to, of course. From Friday to Sunday afternoon, they will share the weekend not only with the kids but also with Roger, Lily, and Roger’s extended family. Plenty of opportunities for metaphorical thunderstorms and lightning bolts. Meredith has made Joel promise to be cordial for the entire weekend, no matter how obnoxious Roger might become after a few cocktails or what revealing outfit Lily might wear.

  And Meredith, herself, has resolved to take the high road. Lily is fine, of course, in that way that any second wife who is twenty years younger than your ex-husband is fine. She has long jet-black hair, a pert ski-slope nose, and an ass that refuses to jiggle. Looking at Lily reminds Meredith of staring into a bright light, one that she has to shield her eyes from but can’t resist peering at, anyway. In fact, Lily’s breasts are so perfect that when Meredith was first introduced to her, she found herself longing to reach across the kitchen island to squeeze one, just to confirm they were phony, imposters.

  So, when Roger announced six months ago that he and Lily had eloped, Meredith was surprised. Stunned, actually. She’d always assumed that Lily was one more link in the long chain of women who’d sauntered through her ex-husband’s life since they’d divorced ten years ago. She didn’t expect Roger to settle down ever again. In fact, she’d told herself that was the reason they’d gone their separate ways in the first place: Roger simply wasn’t cut out to be committ
ed to another human being, much less to a family. Apparently, she’d been mistaken.

  She gives his new marriage two years tops.

  “Relax. It all will be fine,” Joel says now, as if reading her mind. She wonders if he’s referring to the kids’ graduation specifically or to the four days ahead more generally. The long weekend looms ahead like a head cold—one that should resolve itself quickly but could just as easily turn into something more dire, like a nasty sinus infection, bronchitis, tonsillitis even, if not properly tended to.

  She chases the thought away, smooths her skirt (a summery pink A-line that she snagged off the sales rack at Nordstrom last week), and silently recites her goals for the weekend, goals which she outlined in bed last night. 1) She will refrain from overwhelming the kids with affection or gushing about how proud she is. No point in embarrassing them in front of their friends. 2) She will limit herself to two (three at the most!) cocktails each night to avoid any snide comments about Roger and/or Lily. And 3) She will be the personification of grace under pressure. Yes, Meredith intends to be the Jacqueline Onassis of graduations.

  It’s all about the kids, she reminds herself, no matter what might happen, might go wrong. Because surely something is bound to go wrong. No matter how many times she envisions Dawn and Cody striding across the stage, her thoughts are interrupted by how exhausting the weekend will be.

  Seventy-two hours of good behavior.

  At least tonight it will only be her and Joel and the kids. Roger and Lily are busy preparing their home for the party on Saturday, which, from her ex-husband’s intermittent texts, is beginning to sound a lot like the presidential inauguration. Roger has promised the twins a “killer” celebration and appears to be more than living up to his end of the bargain. There will be swimming in the backyard pool, unlimited barbecued wings and ribs, and a DJ with dancing just steps from the ocean. Meredith prays the party will be memorable for the right reasons.