We’d learned a lot about compassion over the years.
“I got back at her today.”
Dad’s attention switched from the window and the girl to me. “How?” Calm and steely. He had it down to a science.
It had seemed such a good plan at the time. Get Mara in trouble as payback. What could be the harm in one little detention? I hadn’t factored the kiss turning into anything more than a means to an end, a conduit. But it had. Of course, it had. People kissed for a lot of reasons, most of all because it felt good. Kissing Mara felt incredible.
“I kissed her.”
Dad set his plate on the counter. “You better tell me everything.”
So, I did. The shame of it all burned in my gut. She’d be disappointed in me. Mom. That hurt most of all. She’d forgive me for being an idiot and tell me to make it right, but she’d be disappointed.
Dad wiped a hand over his tired face. “That was stupid, Tag. And irresponsible.”
“And now she’s crying.” I couldn’t hear her anymore, but something told me she was still outside. “I’ll fix it. I’ll talk to her.”
I didn’t want to—oh, I so did not want to—but I would. It was the right thing to do.
“I’ll talk to her parents if you think it will help,” Dad offered.
The thought of that mortified me. “I’ll feel out the situation and take all the blame if it will help.”
Dad sighed. “Go on. Get out of here.”
I waited until I’d reached the back door before turning back to him. “I’m sorry for disappointing you, Dad.”
He sighed again and shook his head. “We’ll talk about that later. And Tag? Try to remember that humility goes a lot further if it’s real.”
I nodded and went outside.
Mara
I’d driven home from school to find the driveway full. I’d forgotten about our family dinner that night. As the youngest of three, I was the only one who still lived at home. My older brother, Matt, was twenty-five and married. He and his wife, Jessica, had three kids. Mabel was four and precocious. I adored her. The twins were Ross and Francis, named for Jessica’s obsession with Poldark. An obsession we shared, although I rather liked Doctor Enys better than either of the Poldark cousins.
Between Matt and me, we had a sister, Marie, who was twenty. Marie had a little boy, Simon, who she’d given birth to a week after graduating high school. Where I loved to follow the rules and hated getting in trouble for anything, Marie broke every rule as a matter of principle. Thankfully, she’d matured a lot since Simon came along.
I had dropped my backpack just inside the door and hoisted a waiting Mabel onto my hip.
“You’re getting too big,” I grunted under her weight.
Mabel slithered her arms and legs around me like an octopus and pressed a sloppy kiss to my cheek. “I’m going to preschool.”
“I know.” I should since she’d been telling me every time I’d seen her since her birthday. “But not until after summer.”
Her cherub face dropped just a little. “Is summer very long, Aunt Mara?”
“Not long enough, sweetie,” I told her, dropping her back to her feet.
Two-year-old Simon had come next, holding his arms up, a sure sign he needed some love. Gripping him around his ribs, I hauled him onto my hip. He wasn’t as heavy as Mabel, but it was only a matter of time.
“How are you, little buddy?” I murmured, kissing his soft, round cheeks. Simon’s dad wasn’t in the picture and never had been. Simon had us. He had Marie. And he had Marie’s boyfriend, Wade, who was also her boss at the tattoo shop where she worked as a receptionist.
“I think he needs his pants changed.” Wade came into the foyer with a diaper and a travel-sized packet of wipes tucked under his heavily muscled and tattooed arm.
It had taken some getting used to, all of Wade’s piercings and tattoos. But if there was one thing I’d learned since meeting the Army veteran who loved my sister, it was to never judge a book by its cover or a man by his tattoos.
“Gross,” I said, wrinkling my nose. Now that he’d mentioned it, Simon did give off a rather foul odor. “I’ll let you handle that.”
Wade sighed. “I don’t blame you. Come on, little man.” He hooked Simon under his free arm, hauling him toward the bathroom.
“Where have you been?” Marie asked as soon as I had stepped into the living room. She sprawled on the couch near the recliner, where Dad sat sipping on a cold soda.
“Nowhere.” I’d rather gouge out my own eye than admit to my sister I’d had detention after school.
Marie studied me with a frown. If anyone could ferret out a lie, it was Marie. Mostly because she herself was so proficient at it—or she used to be, before Simon. And Wade.
“What?” I demanded. I might hate confrontations, but that didn’t mean I didn’t know how to go about having one.
“It’s almost five. School ended an hour and a half ago. Where were you?”
“I told you. Nowhere.” I didn’t have to tell my sister anything. She wasn’t my parent just because she was a parent. Three years ago, she was still in high school herself, getting into all kinds of trouble. Detention being the least of it.
Brushing past my sister, I headed toward the kitchen where Mom had made spaghetti, and Jessica chopped veggies for a salad. The twins sat in highchairs within easy reach in case they tried to make an escape, which they were known to do, while munching fish crackers.
“Mara! Where have you been?” Mom looked up from stirring the sauce.
“I had to stay after. I texted you.”
I noticed the babies were getting low on fishy crackers and shook a few more out of the box and onto the highchair trays. I did not want to tell Mom why I had to stay after, with Jessica standing right there. I could have lied and told her I had a project to finish, but I was a terrible liar, and I’d have to fess up eventually.
“What for?” Mom asked, wiping her hands on the apron tied around her middle. “Mara?”
I avoided her gaze by bending over to smile at my nephews. “It’s not a big deal. I’ll talk to you about it later.”
“If it’s not a big deal, why can’t you tell me now?”
For goodness’ sake! I was making it worse by not saying anything. Why couldn’t people take you at your word when you said something wasn’t a big deal? Why did they then have to turn it into a big deal?
I glanced at Jessica, who kept her eyes on the cucumber she’d peeled and now sliced. I loved my sister-in-law, but she was just as nosy as the rest of them. I couldn’t count on her to discreetly leave the kitchen so I could talk to my mom privately. And if I suggested I wanted to talk to her privately, Mom would get even more suspicious and worked up and proclaim that we were a family and didn’t have secrets.
Well, I had a secret! And I sure didn’t want to discuss it in the family committee. They’d never let me hear the end of it.
Marie came into the kitchen and snatched a baby carrot from the bag on the counter. “Is dinner almost ready? The kids are getting antsy.”
“Almost,” Mom answered without taking her eyes off me. “I’m waiting, young lady.”