Sylvia blinked. “Was that sarcasm?”
Bree blew out a sigh. “We’re a thing, Mom. Now … go away.” She made a shooing motion. “Shut that door when you go.”
I tried not to smile.She called us a thing.It was impossible to keep my lips from curving, however. Bree was already looking at me before I could pull the blanket over my mouth.
“Why are you looking so smug?” she demanded.
“No reason,” I lied.
She wasn’t going to fall for that. “No reason?”
I could have kept lying. Maybe it would have even been the smart thing to do. Instead, I shrugged. “You said we were a thing.”
Those words landed like an anvil, and she rolled her eyes. “Are you kidding me right now?”
I shook my head and reached for her, my fingers going into her ribs to tickle.
She was laughing so hard she sputtered. “Are you in middle school? Do you want to send me a note and ask me to check a box to go steady?”
“I would love to do that. I’ll get a pad of paper.” I didn’t want to leave her side. “When we get out of bed,” I clarified.
She laughed when I tickled her again, her eye roll disappearing. “You’re such a goofball.”
“Only with you.” That was the truth. “I can’t believe you just admitted we’re a thing.”
“I’ll take it back if you’re not careful,” she warned, although her tone lacked bite.
Just to be on the safe side, I changed the subject. “Is your mother really stalking my father?”
“Yes, but don’t worry. She’s not going to boil a bunny or anything. She’ll just spy on him until she actually catches him with somebody else and then make a scene.”
It was funny that she thought that was acceptable. “What sort of scene?”
“Like, she’ll march up to him in the middle of a restaurant and call him a cheater. To her, it’s a game. She wants him to chase her.”
“My father is not going to chase her. He’ll have her thrown out of the restaurant.”
“Oh, I know.” Bree bobbed her head. “That’s the result fifty percent of the time.”
“So why does she do it?”
“Because she feeds off the negative energy. It’s just who she is.” She paused a beat. “You can warn your dad if you want. If you’re worried he’ll be embarrassed, you can tell him what she’s going to do. I don’t care.”
“No.” I shook my head. Truth be told, a public embarrassment might be exactly what my father needed toreassess his life choices. “I kind of want her to do it. That might be fun.”
“Your father won’t think it’s fun.”
“I don’t care. He needs a wakeup call.” I pulled her tighter against me. “Let’s not worry about our parents, huh? Let them sort their own stuff out.”
“That’s been my philosophy with my mother for fifteen years or so.”
I gave her a kiss. “What do you want to do with our day?” I asked in a husky voice. I would accept any answer. There was one I was really hoping for, though.
“I thought we could spend it right here. I mean … if you don’t have any writing to get to or anything.”
It was a weekday. I should have been writing. Being ahead never felt so good. “You read my mind.”
She tapped the end of my nose. “Funny how that worked.”
