“No.” I race after him.
“Winnie, I thought you were going to change.” Mom is exasperated.
Knox catches me around the waist.
I beat him off.
“Don’t mind Winnie.” Dad scoots out Knox’s chair and sets a steaming plate of chicken parmesan in front of him.
“So, ah—” My parents pour him wine.
Knox guzzles it.
“Are you still with, um—” Dad clears his thorat.
“Brinley?” He stuffs the food in his mouth, practically using his hands to eat. He shrugs. “Sort of.”
Mom clasps her hands together. “Kathy, this could be another chance for the great American love story.”
“Mom, jeez, she’s not Taylor Swift.”
“I might be persuaded if Winnie can stop being a mother hen.” Knox smirks up at me.
“Kathy has a job now. She doesn’t need your bullshit.”
“Frances, put that knife down and sit down,” Mom pleads.
“I’m not breaking bread with a cheater.” Gran crosses her arms.
“Well, you’re going to have to quit your job then, if we get back together,” Knox tells Kathy.
“Oh, right.” Kathy deflates.
“I need you on my team.” He’s still staring at me.
My parents are ecstatic. “They’re getting back together!”
“Maybe.” Knox smirks, loving pulling their strings.
“He hasn’t even broken up with the last skank.”
“Jesus Christ, Winn Dixie. Is she always like this?” he jokes meanly to my parents.
“It’s why she has a hard time getting a boyfriend,” Mom says with a long-suffering sigh.
“You should come to my first game tomorrow.” Knox scrapes his fork on the plate.
I glare.
“Over my dead body.”
“For someonewho had no dating prospects, it’s ironic you’re now juggling three men.”
“Shh!” I cut off Carolina. “Knox is not in the juggle.”
I look over at Kathy. She’s recovered from the Knox appearance, and she and Olive are giggling as they work on wedding planning.
No, not for anyone important or nice. It’s Loony Laura.
