“You can order prescription painkillers though the mail?” Rudy asked excitedly.
“Rudy,” Tess chided. “Eat your meal.”
“But—” Rudy said.
“And put your napkin in your lap.”
“Are you interested in dating any of the girls in your grade?” Leah persisted. Dylan was polishing off his food and would bolt in seconds.
“No.”
Should she believe him? Or should she add “teenage love” to her list of fears, right before guns and right after bomb-making?
He picked an olive off his slice and took his final bite. He’d picked the olives off since he was small.
“I wonder if he’s being cyberbullied,” Leah said companionably to Tess.
“I don’t believe so,” Tess said back. “No.”
Moving as if wearing a body that wasn’t quite the right size for him, Dylan rose and carried his dishes toward the kitchen. “I’m not being cyberbullied.”
“Are you sure, O love of my life?” Leah called after him. “No one’s heckling you?”
“I don’t even know what that word means,” Dylan said.
“Heckling means tickling,” Rudy announced.
“No,” Tess instantly corrected. “Heckling is abusive speech.”
“No one’s hecklingortickling me,” Dylan said loudly from the kitchen.
“Truly?” Leah asked. “No girls are tickling you?”
“I’m leaving to go hang out at Jace’s,” Dylan said.
Leah had vetted Dylan’s evening plans with Jace’s mom earlier. “Leave us here if you must, pining for your presence.”
He appeared in the doorway between the kitchen and dining area. “Thanks for the dessert,” he said to Tess, lifting one of the cookies she’d brought. “These are awesome.”
“You’re welcome,” Tess told him indulgently, followed by a loving sigh.
Dylan skulked out of sight, and Leah could hear him gathering his keys and wallet. Their kitchen ended in a door that led to a small mudroom containing their washer and dryer. Leah had cajoled him into using the mudroom as a dumping ground for his backpack, athletic bag, water bottles, spare change, wallet, and keys. Thus, he always came and went through the back door.
“Be safe!” Leah yelled. “Love you!”
Muffled grunt. The door closed behind him.
When Dylan was younger, he’d been challenging because he’d been wounded by Mom’s abandonment, hungry for attention, in need of constant supervision, full of energy, and not in the least independent. But he’d been good company.
Now he didn’t want attention, didn’t require much supervision, had low energy, and was very independent. And Leah really, really missed his company.
Why was it so easy to focus on the difficulties that came with a specific phase of a relationship? As soon as that phase ended, you mourned the benefits.
“And you?” A roll in one hand, Rudy stretched his knife toward the butter dish. Tess moved the butter dish out of his reach. His attention swung to Leah. “Are you interested in dating any of the young men you know?”
“I’m not. No.”
“None of them has been tickling you?”
