I raised my eyes and looked at Darla’s profile. Yep, she was a mirror image of me but with her mom’s wild hair, its shade somewhere between Jules’s and mine.
There was no way we could keep up this charade for much longer.
Jules
As Darla and I pulled away from the school, she was one big tumbleweed of words. Raphael, what turtles eat, and when they poop. Drew’s car was so cool. Ms. Green was so pretty.
Yes, she was, and I couldn’t help but notice her making eyes at Drew. I wanted to say I wasn’t jealous, but I was. Terribly.
At home, I made Darla an early dinner.
“Mom, I don’t ever want to eat fish sticks. It’s like eating a cousin of Rafe’s. I’m a vegetarian like you.”
“Darla, fish is actually good for you. It’s protein, and you need that for your brain. You know, some people are pescatarians. That’s the only source of animal protein they eat. Fish is so good for you,” I said, and Drew’s questions about Darla’s diet came back to me.
What I hadn’t told him was the new doctor did suggest some additional protein for Darla, especially since she was so into tennis and needed it for her growing muscles. But I wasn’t about to reveal my shortcomings or failures to Drew or anyone else. I did the best I could.
“I’m eating the broccoli. That’s healthy.”
“Don’t fool me; you’re eating it because it tastes good. And that’s because I drizzled butter on it.”
“Mom, please? I don’t want fish.”
It was a lost cause. Darla was a stubborn as they came.
“You need something more than buttery broccoli. How about some beans and cheese?”
“Sure!”
Just as the microwave dinged, signaling the cheesy beans were ready, my doorbell rang. Darla popped out of her chair and ran to answer the door.
“Hi, Molly,” she said, then dashed back to the table.
I gave Molly a wave. “Hey. I have to scat, but Darla is eating, and then she needs to do a half hour of reading practice before any TV. I know it’s Friday, but we can have fun all weekend.”
“No prob, Claire.”
Molly sat down next to Darla, and immediately the two started chatting as I gathered my things to leave for work.
“ ... and you know, my mom has a friend named Drew from when she played tennis, and he came to see Raphael.”
Shit.
Molly looked at me and raised an eyebrow. We’d only known each other a little more than a month, but she was the closest person to family I’d had in a long time.
I shook my head and waved my hand as if Drew were nothing, not my baby daddy or anything like that.
“I have to close tonight, so I’ll be late. Thanks, Molly.” I leaned over Darla’s head, breathing in her little-girl scent as I kissed the top of her head. “Love you, baby girl. See you in the morning.”
Luckily, the Southern was jammed when I arrived, and I didn’t have a second to dwell on my day ... until Drew sat down in my section close to nine.
He was freshly showered, smelling like tea-tree oil and sex appeal. He sat with his hands on the table, his oxford shirt rolled up to the elbows and the top buttons undone. I couldn’t help but look more closely to see he was wearing jeans and a pair of scuffed Gucci loafers. It didn’t matter how hard he tried; he couldn’t shake the prep-boy image.
The lunacy of our situation grew with every second I stood by his table, waiting for him to say something.
“Do you want my usualWelcome to the Southernspiel?”
He shook his head as he eyed me, his blue eyes narrowed on mine. Without a word, he licked his lips and continued to drink me in.
