'What are you worried about?' I asked him quietly. 'That he'l do it again?'
He didn't have to answer with words. I reached across the
island and took my half brother's hand. In my pocket, my
island and took my half brother's hand. In my pocket, my
phone buzzed, but I didn't reach for it.
'Your dad loves you. And he loves your mom. Crazy
like.'
Jeremy let me hold his hand but didn't squeeze my fingers
in return. 'Did he love your mom, Paige?'
I let go of his hand. 'I don't know. That's between them.'
'And it doesn't make you mad?'
I shrugged. 'It used to, I guess. But what can I do about
it? I'm a grown-up now, kiddo. I have to do my own thing.
At least I know my dad, you know? Some kids never do.'
He nodded finaly and wiped at his face again with the
grimy, shredded tissue. 'It makes me so mad, though.'
'It's okay to be mad. Maybe you should talk to him about
it, though, instead of being bad in school.'
Jeremy looked stricken. 'He'd tel Mom that I know!'
I didn't point out that it wasn't just our dad who'd done
wrong. Stela had known what she was doing, or at least
I'd always assumed so since she wasn't a woman who
ever did anything by accident. I just patted his hands and
washed my own before I finished my soda.
The sound of the garage door opening had us both on our
feet. Jeremy hopped up the stairs without a word from me,
while I dumped his can in the sink and stashed the can in
the recycling bin. By the time my dad and Stela got in the
house, silence reigned from upstairs and I was flipping
through a back issue of some home-and-garden magazine.
'How did it go?' Stela bustled into the kitchen and stuck
an aluminum swan in the fridge. 'You got our message?
The fund-raiser had only the tiniest hors d'oeuvres and we
were starving, and since you were here, wel, we just
decided to treat ourselves to a nice dinner out.'
'No problem. I took them to Jungle Java.'
Stela raised a brow. 'That junky place?'
My dad had come in behind her and let out a long, loud
belch. 'What junky place?'
Stela roled her eyes. 'Paige took the boys to Jungle
Java.'
Java.'
'Yeah?' He looked at the clock and yawned. 'That place is stil around?'
I got the not-so-subtle hint. 'Yeah. They're upstairs, but
I'm not sure if they're asleep.'
Stela sighed. 'Did they bring home a bunch of junk?'
I grinned unapologeticaly. 'Absolutely.'
She gave me a second glance, then a smal smile. 'I'm
going up to say good-night. Are you leaving, Paige?'
