Both kids are wearing swimming suits, and the house smells meaty, like Hamburger Helper. I interrupted a day in the life of a mom.
“Can I open my present now, Mom? Can I open it?”
Jewel shrugs. “That’s why Aunt Gemma’s here,” she says with more than a tinge of skepticism.
Sometimes I hate our twin ESP. Though it’s probably why she got into psychology in the first place. She likes being able to read other people’s minds.
I avoid her eyes when handing over the gift.
Forrest turns it upside down, and out falls the box onto a floor that looks like wood but is actually as hard as tile. For the first time in my life, I’m thankful for overpackaging. At least Forrest didn’t rip up the bag with the Muppet’s face.
“Itisa car,” Daisy squeals.
“Awesome!”
Daisy is older and faster, so she beats him to the box. But as the good big sister that she is, she holds up the picture for him to see. “It’s a police car.”
There goes my twin’s all-knowing eyebrow again.
“Can I drive it, Mom? Can I?”
“Outside.”
The siblings pretty much spin out the sliding glass door in a whirlwind reminiscent of the Tasmanian Devil from Looney Tunes. Daisy slides it shut, and suddenly it’s quiet.
Jewel gets up from the couch and crosses the room to open the stainless-steel refrigerator behind her white marble island. “Want something to drink?”
I flop back into comfy cushions to stare at the chandelier and contemplate the beverages I know she has in her fridge. If I chose a certain one of them, attending tonight’s class wouldn’t be an option anymore. Tempting. “I’ll take a Coke Zero.”
A can pops and soda fizzes. “Did you eat dinner?”
I try to remember the last time I ate. Usually I cook my meals fresh, but I haven’t had the energy lately. Oh yeah. Kai microwaved frozen zoodles and meatballs and then smothered them in marinara. He must have been really worried about me. “Yes.” I’d forced down a few bites anyway.
A tinny police siren makes me jump. Just the RC car. Jewel’s going to hate me for that.
She sets my drink on the glass coffee table with a clink, then drops down across from me with the squoosh of cushions. “Why are you really here?”
I groan and sit up straight to reach for my Coke. “Karson is divorced.”
Both her eyebrows shoot up this time. “So that’s why he’s angry.”
I reach for the glass, slick with condensation, and guzzle its cool sweetness as if it’s the drink I’d wanted to ask for. “I think it started before that. His mom had a drug addiction and took off. He was raised by his grandparents.”
Jewel looks out the window at her children. “That’s rough.” She may not be the best mom on the planet, but she’s here for her kiddos. “He’s got abandonment issues then.”
With that thought, my heart bleeds for Karson even more. It makes me want to be there for him, but will he be there for me in return? “He asked for a separation from his wife when she gave him the ultimatum of quitting the police force or getting a divorce. If he knew the pain of abandonment, why wouldn’t he fight for her? Why would he give up?”
Jewel twists her lips as she studies me. “What reason does he give?”
I sigh. It is a sad story, but it could have had a happy ending. “He said she cared more about her image than him.”
“Huh.” Jewel nods slowly. “Perhaps he felt abandoned again, so he was going to get her before she got him. Probably thought he was protecting himself.”
I slump. That’s what I’d been afraid of. “He compared Amber to his mom, and now he’s comparing me to Amber. I don’t really have a chance, do I?”
Jewel tilts her head and narrows her eyes. “Why is he comparing you to Amber?”
“He assumed I was all about image at first.”
