“What I’m trying to say,” she said, forcing a calm tone on top of a tight smile, “is that Natalie seems troubled.”
Jenna placed her fork onto her plate and put her elbows on the table just like Kay hated. “What are you talking about? No, she’s not.”
“I’m just hearing some things-”
“What things?”
“Her mother is… well, there’s some trouble at home and-”
“So what? That doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with Nat. Her parents are screwups. But it’s not fair to say she is.”
Damien held up a hand to each of them. “We’re not saying that. Not at all. I think you’re reading what your mom is saying wrong; isn’t she, Kay?”
Kay bit down hard on her lip, casting a measured look at Damien. “I think that she should be careful when choosing friends. Sometimes kids can act out when their parents are going through something and can be bad influences on other kids.”
Jenna gripped the edge of the table. “So you think Caydance and Zoey are good examples?”
“They seem like nice girls.”
“Do they. Hmm.”
“And Madison in particular. She’s a straight-A student.”
“So let me get this straight. You want me to hang out with Caydance and Zoey and Madison because they’re popular and straight-A students, and you don’t want me to hang out with Natalie because her parents are weird.”
“That’s not what your mother is saying,” Damien said, shooting Kay a look that said stop talking. “You’ve always chosen your friends wisely. We don’t question that at all. I think what your mother is trying to say is that if Natalie becomes a bad influence, think twice about hanging out with her.”
Jenna took in a deep breath, looking the slightest bit relieved. “May I be excused now?”
Kay started to stop her but Damien said, “Of course. I’ll get the ice cream out later.”
“Yum. Ice cream. That’s all I need, more fat on my hips,” Jenna growled, throwing her napkin onto the table. She disappeared up the stairs.
“Can I have her pork chop?” Hunter asked.
Damien scooted the plate toward him but stared at Kay. “What was that all about?”
“What? I’m just trying to figure out who she’s hanging out with.”
“It seemed like you already had an opinion about whom that should be.”
“Don’t give me the third degree on this. I happen to know the mothers of those girls, and it’s better for us if we know the parents of the girls she’s hanging out with.”
“She doesn’t seem to be a big fan,” Damien said, continuing with his meal.
“Well, sometimes at this age they don’t know what’s best. Can’t you see what’s happening with her? Didn’t you see her shirt tonight? Papier-mâché thin.”
“You know Jenna. She’s never been drawn to the most popular girls. Even when she was younger, she was able to choose quality over quantity. I think we should trust her on this one.”
Kay looked down, everything on her plate suddenly unappetizing. “She just can’t see…”
“See what?”
The doorbell rang and Damien scooted his chair back. “I’ll get it.”
Kay watched him go around the corner to the door, then looked at Hunter.
But Hunter didn’t look back. “May I be excused?” he asked and didn’t wait for an answer. Before she knew it, she was totally alone.
The table, overcrowded with dishes and plates of uneaten food, caused her to push away and leave the room. She wandered to the office, where a bright screen saver of a rolling hillside greeted her. With one click she was on the Internet. Ten seconds later, she was immersed in a dark world of insinuation and accusation, but she couldn’t tear her eyes away.
She searched for anything that could be about her.
Damien smelled her before he even opened the door. That was some kind of dousing to be able to instantly kill the smell of pan-seared pork chops. He braced himself for the overwhelming scent of jasmine and the intrusive eyes that would undoubtedly focus on him.
He’d once complained to Frank that Angela wore too much perfume. He made that mistake only once.
Swinging open the door, he feigned surprise while managing to say, “Angela!” and hold his breath. “What are you doing here?” He stepped out onto the porch for some fresh air and privacy. He didn’t want Kay involved in this conversation, whatever conversation it might be. When Angela dumped Frank, Kay remained friends with her but not for long. They got into a fight and hadn’t spoken since. To this day, Kay wouldn’t talk about it or her again. Damien never even knew what the fight was about.
His nose twitched, fighting off a sneeze. He turned a little toward the breeze.
“I want to talk to you.” Her voice was low, breathy.
“I’m here. What can I do for you?”
“It’s about Frank.”
“I figured it was.”
“You know he filed a missing person report on me, don’t you?”
“I haven’t talked to Frank today.”
“Surprising. I thought you two were attached at the hip. And also, you went with him.”
“I don’t know what the report was about. Honestly I don’t really care. The thing is-the thing you’ve never understood-is that Frank loves you and will never stop loving you. He does crazy things because of his love for you. And his love has been tested in a variety of different ways. It’s still holding.”
“Don’t you dare bring up the affair.”
“I didn’t say a word about it.”
“A lot of people blame me for that. But nobody knows what it was like. Frank was not an easy person to live with.”
“I can only imagine.”
Angela kept her eyes locked on Damien’s, stepping forward. “I’ve put up with a lot from that man, but he’s crossed the line now. And I’m not talking about the ridiculous missing person report he filed on me.”
“Okay…” The muscles in his shoulders began seizing up. He didn’t like talking about Frank, not in this way, where all his vulnerabilities and shortcomings were exposed. That tended to happen a lot when Angela was involved, but Damien never questioned it to Frank. Daresay a bad word about Angela, and that was the permanent end to the friendship.
Again, she stepped forward, backing him toward his front door. Not only was he drowning in the scent of jasmine, but he was also now suffocating from lack of personal space. He had nowhere to go. He blinked rapidly as if a fly buzzed near his face.
“And I know something,” Angela said, her voice lowering again. “I know that you don’t like to hear that Frank isn’t the perfect guy. Nobody likes to hear that. But you have to hear this.”
“First of all, I know Frank’s not perfect. None of us are. Nobody ever said Frank was perfect.”
“That’s the thing that always got under my skin,” she said, her eyes narrowing. “Despite the immense personal failings of this guy, nobody was more liked than Frank Merret. The guy has the social skills and the self-awareness of a baboon, yet most people think the world of him.”
“That’s because he’s a good guy. Something you could never see about him. Despite all his flaws, at the end of the day, he’d do anything for anybody. And he’d do more than anything, above and beyond, for you.”
It seemed whatever words Angela was about to speak halted at the tip of her tongue. She stared at her feet for a moment, her fingers twisting around her lips and her chin, scratching her skin as if she were attempting to fend off whatever it was she thought she needed to say.
She finally looked up, a half-baked resolve set in her eyes. She didn’t look directly at Damien. Her gaze shifted to the left to the point that Damien wanted to lean over into her line of sight. “I’m seeing someone,” she said.
“All right. What does that have to do with me?”
“We’re getting serious. Very serious.”
“Good for you. You’re afraid this is going to upset Frank? He’s been down this road a time or ten.”