Ten’s jaw turns the slightest shade of pink, which is nothing compared to the burgundy hue I’m surely sporting.
“Are you kids ready to—” Jeff’s voice dies at the same time as a clamor rises from the opposite sidewalk.
Ten’s body turns as stiff as marble.
“Jeff?” Mona gasps.
My shoulders jab together. I have my back to her, so she can’t see me. Nev wheels around, eyes growing wider and wider. Even though the excitement on the other sidewalk is deafening, the silence engulfing the Dylans—or should I say, the Stones—is thick and tragic.
“Fancy runnin’ into you here.” Mona’s surprised act has my spine hardening. “Nevada, you look—”
“Don’t,” Jeff cuts her off.
“Am I not allowed to compliment my children?”
A vein throbs in Jeff’s temple. “Not here.” He walks up to Nev, who’s gazing at her mother as though she’s some fantastical creature come to life, and hooks his arm around her bony shoulders, pulling her to his side. “You want to talk to them, you call me and we can arrange a meeting at the house,” he says, his voice low and sharp.
Mona’s answer doesn’t come right away, but when it does, it’s charged and vibrates like a scratched record. “I didn’t think I was welcome.”
Ten’s eyes find mine. Every cell in my body is telling me to act startled that his mother’s standing inches away from us, but that’s not who I am. The leaves on the tree behind him flutter, dappling the concrete with beads of light that dance around his loosely tied royal-blue sneakers.
“Oh, come on. Don’t give me that, Mona. We came back so you could see them more often. You haven’t visited once!” Jeff spins toward a paparazzo and shoves his palm against the lens just as the shutter clicks.
“My schedule’s been crazy, Jeff. I know my career’s never meant a thing to you, but I’m loyal to my fans.”
Ten’s sneakers finally shift, start to back away. “Then go be with them, Mona. You’ve always preferred them to us anyway.” His words punch the air so hard that his mother gasps.
“Ten!” Jeff snaps.
“What? It’s the goddamn truth.”
The paparazzo raises his camera and snaps a picture of Ten and Nev.
Jeff bumps his chest into the camera, forcing the man back, and growls, “If you sell a single picture of my kids, I will hunt you down and sue you for all you’re worth. Now, back off!”
I finally look up. Ten’s eyes have gone dark, as though his pupils have leaked into his irises.
“Ten, get in the car,” Jeff says. “And take your sister.”
Nev’s lips begin to tremble. I can’t tell if she wants to cry or protest. She does neither.
“You did a mighty fine job of turnin’ my kids against me,” Mona says, her honeyed voice quivering.
Anger streaks Jeff’s face. “I said,Not here, Mona.”
“Angie,” my mother calls out to me softly. I unbind the soles of my boots from the pavement and stride over to her, and then I finally turn around.
Mona’s eyes slip over Mom, then over me. There’s no recognition. Am I so forgettable? It’s such a silly, selfish thought considering the moment. Mom wraps her fingers around my arm and pulls me away.
I look back once and regret it, because Mona has tears in her eyes. My heart cracks for her. The encounter on the sidewalk might’ve been staged, but those tears look real.
Are they, though?
As I settle into Mom’s Volvo, I dig my phone from my bag. There’s a text from Ten.You knew she was there.
There’s no question mark, but I still type back:Yes.
BEAST:Why didn’t you tell me?
