“Um…” Juliet said.
“So no, ma’am,” I said, trying to distract from Juliet’s worry over the potential that later we’d all huff whipped cream cans in the kitchen of this old plantation house with her elderly grandmother.
“Pity,” Gran said, turning back around and picking up her drink. “Manhattan?”
I glanced at the clock behind her, noting it was barely noon. “No thanks,” I said, almost wishing I did feel like a drink. The lady of the house was no doubt full of surprises and I looked forward to sitting down to learn about her life here in this place.
“Lunch on the porch,” she proclaimed, and we followed her out a screen door to a wide sweeping back porch overlooking the lawn and the smooth water flowing beyond it.
“This is incredible,” I said. I’d had no idea Maryland would be so beautiful. “Is that… the Chesapeake?” I took a guess.
“That’s a river,” Gran said, and she sat down clucking her tongue. “Californians.” She shook her head.
I thought about whether I wanted to take a guess at which river it might be, but I also found myself wanting Gran to like me, and my lack of drug use and ignorance of Maryland geography had me feeling like I was behind the power curve.
“Ignore her,” Juliet said. “It’s the Potomac.”
Juliet waved me to a seat, and we each served ourselves from the center of the table. I glanced around, wondering where Tess was, but I didn’t want to ask. Giving Juliet the impression I was interested in her sister was probably not a good idea. And I wasn’t exactly interested in her. I mean, she was interesting, no doubt.
I suspected it was more that I was fundamentally drawn to her. I’d actually never felt anything like it, and I didn’t trust the feeling completely. Maybe I was just tired? Maybe I’d feel completely ambivalent around her when we next saw one another.
Maybe, I thought, I felt around her kind of the way I felt about waffles when people first set them in front of me—super excited, like I’d never had anything half so good. But within three bites, I regretted the waffle decision and kind of wished I could just have something else.
Maybe Tess Manchester was just a regret waffle. So to speak.
I sighed and turned my focus to my lunch.
“So you can’t screw things up too badly, I’d guess, on the heels of that last asshole, Juliet,” Gran said. She was clearly talking to Juliet, but she was looking at me.
“Gran!” Juliet’s tone was scolding, but there was laughter in her smile.
“I’m pretty sure I told you back then that Zac was a moron, but no one ever listens to me,” the old woman continued. She sipped her drink and then looked at me. “Just wait, young man. Once you hit a certain age, everyone assumes you’ve got a few connections unhinged up here—” she pointed at her head, “and they pretty much ignore everything you say.”
“We don’t ignore you, Gran,” Juliet said, her eyes wandering to follow a couple of security guards out toward the yard. A chicken was following so closely behind one of them it was a wonder he didn’t step on it.
“Chessy!” Gran yelled, looking out at the chicken. “Leave that poor man alone!” She snorted and took a swig of her drink before turning back to Juliet, pointing a potato chip in her direction. “Well if you listened to me, you wouldn’t have married that idiot in the first place. And please tell me the media was wrong about the settlement you’re giving him. My whole guild is talking about it. That numb-nuts didn’t deserve a cent.” She sipped her drink again and then leaned toward me conspiratorially. “That moron was a couple beers short of a six pack. Hope you’re firing on all cylinders, cuz he certainly wasn’t.” She turned her fierce gaze back to her granddaughter. “So, the settlement?”
“Did you say guild?” Juliet asked.
“Yes. In the game.” Gran waved a hand, clearly not ready to be distracted from her question. “Settlement. Talk, young lady.”
First Juliet looked a little shocked, as if she’d been slapped. “I don’t think you can ‘young lady’ me anymore, Gran.” Then she sniffed and dropped her gaze to her plate. “I’d rather not talk about it,” she said. “It’s not final, and it’s just … it’s hard.” She looked up again, a brilliant smile plastered over the pain in her eyes.
My heart went out to her, and I remembered again how well Juliet covered her real emotions. It was rare to see her shield slip to reveal her sadness over her current situation. I reached over and took her hand—more because she looked like she needed it than because we were supposed to be a couple.
And Tess appeared in the doorway at that exact moment, and I couldn’t have explained why, but I snatched my hand back as if I’d been caught doing something I shouldn’t. Juliet shot a surprised look my way and I smiled, realizing Tess Manchester was definitely not a regret waffle. It would be easier if I could just turn the feelings off. But I suspected it wasn’t going to be that easy.
Tess stood in the doorway for a moment, her dark hair around her shoulders as her gaze went out to the lawn where the chicken was now flapping and clucking around at the feet of the guard, who was actually trying to run away from it. Tess wore a pair of jeans rolled around mid-calf—the kind that were beat up in a sort of intentionally casual way, and a tank top that showed off her curves but definitely looked like a shirt she would have simply pulled from a drawer, not something she planned. She was beautiful in such a natural and effortless way, it actually made me gasp under my breath, trying to get myself under control.
I glanced at Juliet, but she didn’t seem to notice my struggle.
Tess carried her plate to the table and
