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Marlowe was soft in all the ways Jennifer was hard, warm in all of the ways Jennifer was cool. And apparently in high school, she’d been in the I’ll-have-your-baby camp.

The phrase made him smile.

He didn’t call Jennifer.

CHAPTER 18

On Monday morning, Marlowe and Delancey both had the early shift at the hair salon. While they went over the schedule for the day, Delancey said, “Riley said she had a good time with you and Jace at the river.”

“It was super fun,” Marlowe agreed and hoped that her voice didn’t sound wistful.

Today Delancy’s curly brown hair was piled on top of her head to showcase earrings that looked like they’d come from the Incan Empire. “Riley said that after the things Jace had told his family about you, she was afraid you’d gone off the deep end after high school. Why does he think you belong to the communist party?”

Marlowe momentarily froze. She should’ve known she would be having this conversation sooner or later since Delancey and Riley were roommates. How much should Marlowe tell her? If she admitted that Jace was trying to make her sound bad so that Jennifer seemed better by comparison, for sure, Delancey would tell Riley that information. And Riley would tell Lucas.

It made more sense to pretend ignorance about all of it. “Communist party? Are you sure Jace wasn’t talking about the community party that’s coming up? His mother is in charge of the dessert auctions, and I’m making some pies for it.”

“Jace told them you could quote the communist manifesto.”

Marlowe laughed out loud. “I hadn’t even realized that communists had a manifesto. But Jace has been listening to my grandmother complain about the government. It is a hobby of hers, so maybe he’s made assumptions about our family. Also, she’s currently trying to get our neighbors to go in on a communal goat so that none of us have to mow our lawns. If that worked, I’d be all for it. Perhaps that’s not the capitalist way of running livestock?”

Delancey paused, still considering her. “Jace said you could read auras. I told Riley if you could, you’d been holding out on me. I’m hoping I have a really interesting one. Do they come in metallic?”

Marlowe lifted her hands. “Sorry. I don’t read auras. I mean, I hardly read emails, and those are things people actually want me to know. I’m not about to try and figure out how to read people’s energy colors. I did tell Jace that sometimes he made me see red.” Like right now. “He might have been confused by that statement.”

Delancey shook her head. “You need to tell the boy to get his facts straight before he says stuff to his family about you.”

“Yeah, I do.”

Delancey checked the drawer to make sure it had enough change. “How are you and Jace getting along? Riley said he couldn’t take his eyes off you on Saturday.”

That just proved acting was one of his talents. “Things are good,” Marlowe said. “He’s really sweet.” She must’ve said the words too tightly because Delancey glanced at her questioningly. By way of explanation, Marlowe said, “Sometimes I wonder if he’ll go back to Jennifer. She’s there. I’m here.”

“The boy should have better taste than that,” Delancey said. “But make sure you visit him often. It’s not like the salon is so busy that you can’t take a week off now and then.”

The salon wasn’t the problem. The problem was finding someone to stay with her grandmother. Well, that and the fact that Jace had never said he wanted her to come for a visit. That wasn’t a fake girlfriend duty he’d given her. Which was honestly a shame.

Marlowe changed the subject. There was no point talking about trips that wouldn’t happen. “Have you ever thought of opening your own salon?” Delancey knew that she’d started taking the business class, although Marlowe had told her she was just thinking about the idea.

Delancey shook her head, making her earrings jangle at her throat. “I wouldn’t want to worry about payroll and marketing and all that. One of the reasons I became a hairstylist was because it was a flexible job. I could do it anywhere, including wherever my husband’s job took him. I guess I always saw myself setting up a little salon in my house and working part-time while I raised kids.”

That actually sounded like the best of both worlds—working for herself without the long hours or the hassle.

Delancey sighed and looked around the room. “And suddenly I feel bad about my life because not only do I not have my own home salon, I don’t even have a boyfriend.”

“You’ve still got time,” Marlowe said.

She sniffed. “If Jace has any cute medical student friends, I want to meet them.”

“I’ll let him know.” Little good it would do. Both of them were too far away from California.

Jennifer would be there, though … all year while Jace finished up school. Of course she would want him back. He was handsome, smart, hard-working, kind, and would make a doctor’s salary. Any woman would want to be with Jace. And maybe Jace would take Jennifer back because he didn’t realize he deserved better. He didn’t see Jennifer for what she was, and worse, he didn’t see himself for what he was. That was perhaps the biggest shame.

CHAPTER 19

On Tuesday, when Jace returned home from a stint with the fire department, his mother said, “Marlowe stopped by.”

“She did?” That was unexpected. “Why?”