She nodded. “It was a difficult time for me.”
“What was?” David asked, walking up with the basketball. He dropped it and steadied it with his foot, before whipping off his jacket and tossing it on the blanket.
“Divorce,” Jessa and I said in unison.
He froze, his eyes finding mine, then crouched beside us. A sheen of sweat glistened on his biceps, and he wiped his upper lip on his sleeve. “Fuck,” he said. “Is it always this warm in November?”
“You just can’t keep up with the kid like you used to,” Jessa said. “Plus, you look nervous as hell right now.”
He glanced between us. “So . . .?” he asked her. “You going to tell me I fucked up?”
“A divorce is a lot to take on, David,” Jessa warned him. “It’s ahugecommitment. And if Olivia’s in it, so are you—you can’t let her do this alone.”
“I know,” David said without hesitation and smiled at me. “Olivia’s worth it.”
Happiness swelled in me, but Jessa didn’t give me a chance to respond.
“Oh my God,” she said and fell back onto the blanket dramatically before yelling up at the sky. “Finally! The pickiest man alive settles down.”
“What’s going on?” Judy called from across the grass.
“Shut up, Jess,” David hissed. “You act like I’ve never had a girlfriend.”
Jessa sat up and ignored him to address me directly. “Olivia, it may be too soon to say this, but I don’t care because the energy is good here. Welcome to the family. I can see my brother here is quite taken with you.”
I blushed wildly, unable to contain the huge grin spreading across my face. “It’s complicated, Jessa,” I said, hating to ruin the moment. “There have been . . .” I glanced up at David. “Transgressions. We haven’t been as ethical as we’d like.”
She arched an eyebrow at me. “Do you think I’m blind?” she asked. “I could tell there was something going on the moment I saw you two together.”
“Does that bother you?” David asked.
“Of course it bothers me, David,” she said, nodding over at Alex. “He and I went through this, and it sucked. But . . . if that’s how it had to go down, then I guess you two have to live with that. I can’t condone it, but Alex’s dad cheated on me because he was a horny fucking idiot, not because the universe offered him the gift it’s giving you guys.” She picked a blade of grass, twirling it between her fingers. “It was really just a symptom of a dying marriage.”
“So you think it would have happened eventually?” I asked, genuinely curious. “Your divorce?”
“I do. I loved him, and his cheating destroyed me, but after many years I’ve realized that we weren’t a match. He brought me down. I mean, Libra and Virgo—what was I thinking?” She laughed as if I should understand that.
I found comfort in her words, though. The more time I spent with David, the more I realized how out-of-sync Bill and I had been. The recent deterioration of sex had indicated as much. At the same time, David and I had connected on a level that couldn’t be ignored.
“We’re good, right?” David asked Jessa and grabbed his basketball. “Can I go play?”
She laughed. “Get out of here so I can tell embarrassing stories about you.”
He halted suddenly and looked toward his parents. “What am I going to tell Mom and Dad?”
“I suggest you tell them the truth,” she said. “Today.”
He broke out into a smile and, with a glance to make sure they weren’t watching, leaned over to give me a swift kiss.
After he jogged off, Jessa shook her head in awe. “Jesus, I’ve never even seen him hold hands with a girl in public.”
Speaking of girlfriends . . .
“Has David, um, brought many girls home?” I asked, fingering a lock of my hair.
“Here and there over the years,” she said, turning back to me.
“Maria?” I blurted.
