And because I was a sucker, I briefly entertained the notion of taking a ferry into the city to meet him before his shift started, but then Mona asked me to come over.
“Think you can go one night without him?” she teased.
“Ye-e-es. Probably.”
Let me just say that two people who are carrying on a secret romance at work and live on opposite sides of a giant bay of water have itrough. Especially after you’ve spent an entire night engaging in erotic activities with no one else around but the two of you; it’s unfairly sobering to realize you can’t do that every night. And desperate people do desperate things, so I’m a little ashamed to say that wemayhave taken advantage of our working situation and made use of an unbooked hotel room on our lunch break after our trip to Darke’s house.
And again during last night’s shift.
I had no regrets. I was riding an intoxicating high that made all hurdles tolerable.
“When the two of you are sixty, kissing on your front porch, I just want you to remember that it was me who encouraged this one true pairing.”
“Whoa. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”
“Have you said the L-word back to him yet?”
Ugh. I regretted telling her about Daniel’s big love speech. “That’s N-U-N-Y-A.”
Just the thought of saying it made my frightened-rabbit heart wild with fear. Everyone I loved died. At least half of them did. Those were terrible odds. Did I really want to put that curse on Daniel? The rational part of me knew this was ridiculous, but something deep and feral inside my subconscious wasn’t so sure....
Aunt Mona squinted at me. “You guys are being careful, right? Every time?”
“Every time.”
“Just one slipup and your entire life can change.”
“Um,veryaware of that. My entire existence is the result of one slipup,” I said, gesturing to myself dramatically. “And I have no intention of repeating that cycle. I promise, hand on this coffee table book of... male bondage?”
Aunt Mona gave me a sheepish smile. “It was on sale. But see? This was a snap decision. In one fleeting moment, you’ve spent your entire electric bill budget on stupid things.”
“Jeez, I’ve got it, for the love of Pete. I don’t have an electric bill, so I think I’m okay for now.”
“God, I’d give anything to be eighteen again,” Aunt Mona said, falling back on the sofa and tucking her legs beneath her robe. “Not a care in the world. My entire future ahead of me.”
“You’re only thirty-six.”
“Ancient, Birdie. I’m too old. And I’m terrified.”
I sat down next to her, careful not to poke my legs with the army of pins that circled the hem of my dress. “Seriously, what’s wrong? You’ve been keeping something from me for weeks, and it’s clearly not Leon, because I already know about him.”
“I don’t want to tell you.”
“Are you in trouble aboutYoung Napoleon Bonaparte? Is that why you were meeting with a lawyer last week?”
“I wish. Sharkovsky’s left me a million messages, but I’ve just ignored him. I posted all over the local art blogs about what he did. I hope he loses the Pioneer Square Gallery.”
“Okay. So why were you seeing a lawyer?”
She curled tighter into her robe and hugged her knees. “Reasons.”
“What reasons?”
Her eyes flicked to mine. “I’m pregnant.”
I snorted. That was absurd.
But she wasn’t laughing. In fact, the look on her face was very,veryserious.
