“Hey, you two,” he says as we sit down. “How’s the friend-date working out?”
“Fine,” I say with a casual shrug. “With two divorces between us, we couldn’t be expected to find decent dates last minute.”
When I realize that Sheldon’s mind is currently nowhere near me and my dating issues, I relax. My brother is one hundred percent distracted by his other sister’s love life. “Have you seen Daphne and Todd? They were fighting on the dance floor in front of all the cameras.”
Jenson tries to urge him to lower his voice, but Sheldon can’t be contained.
“I feel bad,” he says. “It’s like Daphne went to a wedding and got lonely.”
I stop fiddling with my hair to stare at him. He’s right. I turn to scour the crowd for Daphne. I don’t see her anywhere. Sheldon’s still rambling on about weddings, about how much pain they can cover up and that, if you’re not careful, you’ll soon find yourself lost in the middle of a reality you didn’t want to be lost in. I excuse myself and walk toward the dance floor, hoping to catch a better view of the crowd.
I finally spot Daphne. She’s off in the corner, talking to Mom. I head over and insert myself into their conversation.
Mom’s talking about the weather, never a good sign. “…slight potential of thunderstorms next week. It would mean loads of lightning and tons of water. There could be flooding off Main Street if Mother Nature plays it just right.”
I nod politely as Mom turns to me. “Olivia, you need to keep your eyes open for that rain,” she says soberly. “Your house is off Main, after all.”
“It is off Main,” I agree as I glance at Daphne. Her mouth is set in a thin line, and her hands are clenched at her sides; one more weather comment from Mom, and Daphne may very well slug her. “Mom, I think Dad’s calling for you.”
“Oh…” Mom turns to where I’m pointing and sees my father. He doesn’t exactly look like he’s calling for her, but when he turns to see us all staring at him, he waves and smiles. Mom gasps. “Thank you, Olivia,” she says. “I don’t know where my hearing’s gone lately.” She walks away, and I turn back to Daphne.
“Thanks for the save, Olive.” She releases her fisted hands and exhales. “Mom was making me lose it.”
“The ceremony was very nice. How are you doing?” I say to her.
“Great.” She bites her lip so hard it bleeds. “Couldn’t be better.”
I take her arm. “Let’s get some air. You know how I hate crowds.”
When we reach the edge of the rooftop, in the back where there are no people, I reach over and hug my sister. “You look beautiful, Daph.”
She makes a face as I step back and lean my elbow on the guardrail. “No, I don’t,” she says. “And you know it. You must have seen Todd and me fighting. I’m so embarrassed to do that to Dad during his campaign year.”
“It’s okay. Honestly, I didn’t notice. I’m telling you the truth.”
“What has you so preoccupied?”
I fidget with the scarf around my neck, accidentally pulling it down just enough that Daphne gasps.
“Where’d you get that love bite?” she says suddenly, pointing at my neck.
I immediately cover it up again with my scarf. “Nowhere.”
“Nowhere? What’s that supposed to mean?”
I sigh. “It means it’s private. For now. No offense.”
Like Sheldon earlier, Daphne’s too caught up in her own issues to push me about mine.
“You and your new lover, whoever he is, have these romantic secrets, and my husband doesn’t even want to be with me. He sleeps in the guest room all the time now.”
I stare at her. “The guest room? Why?”
She frowns. “It started when Amy was born. She needed to be fed all the time, of course, and so she stayed in our room at first. Todd was tired, and he had to be up early for work, so he started sleeping in the spare room to get his rest. But after Amy left our bedroom, he never came back to me.”
She reaches into her purse and pulls out a cigarette. I haven’t seen her smoke since she and Todd got married.
“You’re smoking again?”
