Chapter Twenty-Four
The next day found her sitting on Carey’s floor, playing off-brand Lincoln Logs with the kids. She’d called her sister that morning because she was feeling so out of sorts because of last night’s awkward goodbye with Vance, and Carey and the kids had stopped by Mountain View to pick her up after school.
“So he asked you to move in with him and said he’d buy you a car.”
“Yes,” she said as she set the long roof pieces on the barn she’d built for Allison’s toy ponies.
“And you said no?”
“Yes.”
There was silence from the couch where Carey was clipping coupons from the circulars and Lilith looked up to see why the commentary from the peanut gallery had ceased. She’d never known Carey to keep her opinions to herself. But there Carey was, brows arched and lips pursed, shutting the fuck up. Super weird.
“What?” she demanded.
She’d thought Carey would deeply approve of her caution and sense-having but here she was looking anywhere but at Lilith as though her little sister had just turned down a second piece of pie at dessert. What kind of monster would turn down pie?
Carey wrenched her mouth to the side as she picked up the next flyer and started flipping through it. “It’s just that you seemed to really like this guy.”
“Seemed to? No, Idolike this guy. Why are you saying it in past tense? I still like him. That doesn’t make it a good idea to hitch my star to his wagon.”
Lilith gave Carey a meaningful look because she tried not to talk shit about Doug in front of the kids, but come on. Their father had swept Carey off her feet with all sorts of promises and pretending he could afford a certain way of life when in reality he’d been deeply in debt and ended up dropping Carey in the mud. And keeping her there with his refusal to be a stand up guy who could get and keep a job and god forbid Carey be the breadwinner. No, Doug had way too much pride for that and Lilith didn’t think he’d earned an ounce. Bastard.
“Is that really the excuse you’re using?”
“I’m sorry, what? You’ve been telling me for years that men aren’t trustworthy, that they’re creeps and liars. And you know what? You were right.”
Carey leveled her with a big-sister glare. Still made her feel like she was five years old.
“Is Vance a creep or a liar?”
“I don’t think so, but—”
Carey put the superstore insert to the side and climbed off the couch to plop down next to Lilith.
“I obviously don’t know the guy—because you’ve never let me meet him,” she added pointedly, “but from what you’ve told me, he seems like a thoroughly decent person. Careful with you, respects your limits, does kind things when you let him. Good looking, good in bed—”
“Ew, Mom, stop!” cried Lucy from the kitchen table where she was doing her math homework.
Carey rolled her eyes but Lilith wasn’t sorry that she dropped the good sex part of the conversation.
“I’m just saying, what would be so bad about living that life for a little while? Maybe longer. I’m not saying to take advantage of him but you wouldn’t be. It’s not like you’re going to bilk him out of his retirement fund or anything. He’ll have a harder time getting you to accept nice things than he would getting you to do chores.”
Actually, the thought of Vance assigning her chores was kind of hot. She bet he would make her a sticker chart if she asked him to and she fucking loved stickers…
“You’ve had a really rough few years, maybe the universe is just trying to make up for it, give you a little somethin’-somethin’.”
“Seriously, Mom, stop! You’re so gross!”
Carey snickered. “Twelve-year-olds are such prudes. As they should be. Still fun to tease her though.”
They shared a smile and Carey shrugged.
“Anyway, I don’t think it would be the worst thing in the world for you to shack up with this guy for a while. Or, who knows, maybe forever. And if it doesn’t work out, you’ll have bought yourself some time to figure out what you want to do with the rest of your life, had some really good…”
Carey looked at Lucy meaningfully and the sixth-grader looked back with a murderous glare and held up her pencil like she might use it as a shiv. Lilith loved that kid.
“Meals. You said Vance is a great cook.”