“You give people lessons now?” I asked.
“Dance lessons,” she said.
“A dancer,” I murmured.
“Theater. Videos. Commercials. Mostly musicals on cruises these days. If you ever find yourself on an Alaskan Disney cruise this fall, I’m inFrozen.”
Wow. Why hadn’t Daniel told me any of this? His mom was fascinating. We talked a little more, walking past memorabilia, but before she stepped around a folding screen that separated the living room from the dining room, she suddenly pulled me aside and whispered, “Look, he’s been through hell, and he’s everything to me. If you break his heart or do anything to hurt him, I won’t be happy. Understand?”
Heat flashed through my chest and rose to my cheeks. I stuttered while forming an answer, but because I wasn’t quite sure what that answer was, I never got it out. It didn’t matter. She wasn’t waiting for a reply. She gave me a tight smile, as if to say,I’m only kidding... or am I?Then she ducked into the dining room and waved her arm, saying, “Hey! Someone’s here to see you.”
Across the dining room, I caught a glimpse of dark hair and a single earbud, its mate swinging loose. Then Cherry was shifting out of the way, and there was Daniel, wearing low-slung jeans, a black T-shirt that saidCHAOTIC GOOD, and a startled look on his face. He’d been setting the table, and nearly poked himself in the eye with a fork when he snatched the earbud out of his ear.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hey,” I answered.
Jangly, tinny guitars still floated from one side of his headphones. He struggled to pause the music while his mother hovered at my back. I glanced at her, and she murmured something about getting the food ready and left us alone.
“What are you doing here?” Daniel asked, and then quickly blinked several times. “I mean, not that I’m upset about it. I’m just...”
“I thought I’d... I mean, I didn’t realize you’d be eating dinner.”
He relaxed a little. “My grandparents would eat at three thirty if we let them.”
“Ah.” I scratched my arm. “They seem nice.”
“You met everyone?”
“Even Blueberry. That’s one big cat.”
“A big fucking cat,” he agreed. “She follows Jiji everywhere. Sleeps in the bed with them. It’s ridiculous. They bought a king-size mattress to accommodate her.”
“Wow,” I said. Maybe my weird family had some competition.
After a moment he tugged on his bad ear and said, “You must be a better detective than me, because you actually found my house.”
“It wasn’t all that hard. I mean, I lucked out and ran into your grandfather after I bused my way out here, but it wasn’t hard to find the street address. Not that many hippie communes in Seattle, surprisingly.”
He chuckled. “This place, I swear. It’s the worst, and the best. It’s weird. I don’t know. I think we’ll eventually get kicked out. The guy running everything hates us. He likes rules, and we’re rule breakers. Water and oil.”
We stood on opposite sides of the table.
“Hey, Birdie?”
“Yeah?”
“I thought you worked tonight.”
“Melinda changed the schedule two days ago.”
“Oh.” He straightened the silverware on the table. “So, why are you here?”
I hesitated, looking over my shoulder into the living room. Muffled whispering floated around the walls. This wasn’t exactly the best place to have the conversation I wanted to have. So, I just said, “After sushi, you told me to text if I changed my mind about things.”
“But you didn’t text,” he said carefully.
I shook my head slowly. “I didn’t.”
