“Wait. Don’t gloss over this landmark moment.” She leans forward with elbows on the table, and I wonder why it’s okay for her to put them there and not Daisy. “Is it a love triangle? Did he choose another woman over you?”
I hate how much she seems to be enjoying this, but as her ex is remarried, she might feel like this makes me more relatable. “No,” I say slowly. “I think he had something bad happen in his past that has him building walls with people.”
“Don’t we all?” She throws her arms up in the air. “Except you. You want everyone to like you, including this one man who isn’t interested.”
I shift in my seat. “I’m drawn to him because I want to help him find joy again. He’s got a lot of anger he needs to let go of.”
“Oh, sweetie.”
I sit up taller, not that I could ever be taller than my twin. “Don’t ‘oh, sweetie’ me,sweetie.” Yeah. I said it. I called her sweetie in a mean tone. But I’ve had enough.
She laughs to see me get so riled and then holds up her hand as though I’m the one who needs to calm down. “You obviously don’t know much about anger, sis. So let me give you a little psychology lesson that will help you connect to your irate officer.”
If she knows so much about managing anger, then why is she the one with the extra wrinkles? I want to say this, but I don’t, because I’m actually curious. I do need all the help I can get with Karson. “What?” I ask grudgingly.
She leans back and crosses her legs, making herself comfortable as if she’s dealing with a patient on her couch. “Anger comes from one of three areas—pain, fear, or frustration.”
Like my frustration with her? “I’m listening.”
“So either your cop is hurting, he’s afraid, or there’s something”—she pauses, looking me up and down—“or someone, annoying him.”
She’s calling me Karson’s annoying someone. Which makes hermyannoying someone.
“Well.” I push my chair away from the table, steak only half-eaten, though I consider eating her ice cream. All the lactose in the world couldn’t make me any sicker than I already feel. “I did do one thing that annoyed him.”
The corners of her mouth curl up. “Care to share?”
If fear is one of the causes of anger, then I should prepare for her backlash. I take a breath and rip off the Band-Aid. “When Karson took my fingerprints, he thought I had a warrant out for my arrest. But it turns out that my fingerprints pulled up your file.”
Her lips purse. Her eyes narrow.
“Apparently you haven’t been paying your child support.”
She blinks. But her lips slide back into a stiff smile. “No. That’s not true.”
Jewel says it in such a way that I’m actually questioning whether Karson made a mistake. Or there’s a triplet neither of us knows about.
A triplet would be wild. I’d like to think she’d be on my side in standoffs such as this.
I hold a hand out while I shrug. It’s not for me to determine if the warrant is real or not. “I’m just repeating what Karson said. He told me to tell you, so you can take care of your back child support before he has to arrest you.”
“Karson?” she mocks, as though he’s not a real cop because he’s teaching a class. Just as easily, she brushes away the threat of prison. “When I started my own practice, the state stopped automatically taking the funds from my paycheck. I pay Grant directly. He just needs to let the government know.”
I don’t want to argue anymore. So I remain still like a hiker who just ran into a rattlesnake. “Okay.”
The sliding glass door slams shut, distracting Jewel, and giving me a chance to back away slowly. “I’ll finish my art with the kids before I leave for my class.” I prepare my exit strategy before offering, “And maybe you should go call Grant just to make sure you’re on the same page with child support.”
“Shh …” she hisses, head tilting toward her kids as though I’m an idiot for mentioning child support in front of them. I don’t think they even know what that means, so I’m pretty sure she’s just using them as an excuse to end our conversation. “There’s nothing to worry about. Just run along and play. I’ll clear the table and wrap up your leftovers for you to take home, Gemma.”
Again, there’s no way for me to win. I was trying to help, and also entertaining her kids, but she’s making me seem like the immature one.
Forrest and Daisy grab my hands and drag me up the path, so I turn my back on Jewel. The three of us have a great time finishing our story, and I’m surprised to see the time on my phone when I snap my last picture. Jewel has been inside for quite a while. Maybe she really is taking my advice and giving Grant a call.
I don’t want to interrupt, but I have to leave for the police precinct, and I should at least stick my head inside to say goodbye. Though she may not appreciate me now, I think she’ll love the photobook of her kids I’m going to put together. Then one day I’ll sell a screenplay, and she’ll have to take my career seriously. Takemeseriously.
CHAPTER SIX
KARSON
