“Dinner would be lovely,” she said. “Just one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“Do you have any idea what you’re stirring up?”
He gave the question a moment’s thought before answering. “In town? Pretty much. Between us? Not a clue.”
She laughed. “Okay, then. I guess we’re on the same page, after all. Dinner ought to be interesting.”
“Oh, it will be,” he promised. He just had to remember how this dating thing was supposed to work. These days most of his charm was reserved for getting kids not to bite him when he was giving them their shots. He doubted the same techniques would work all that well on Laura.
Misty had once again fixed dinner, since it seemed apparent that her mom wasn’t up to it.
“Soup and grilled cheese again?” her brother complained when she called him into the kitchen.
“Hush,” she told him, casting a warning look in the direction of their mother.
Jake was thirteen, which made him essentially clueless, as far as Misty could tell. He just snatched up his sandwich and the bowl of soup and left the table.
“I’m eating in my room,” he said on his way out.
Misty sighed, then turned her attention once more to her mother. “Mom, you have to eat something. You’ll get sick if you don’t.”
Her mother blinked and finally focused on her, then glanced at the food. “Oh, sweetie, you didn’t need to do this. I would have fixed something.”
“When, Mom? It’s already after seven. Besides, it’s no big deal to heat some soup and make sandwiches.”
“But it’s not your job to do that,” Diana protested halfheartedly. She ate a spoonful of the vegetable soup, then put aside her spoon. She left the sandwich untouched.
“Mom, please, eat some more.”
“I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. Has your father come home?”
Misty frowned. Wouldn’t they know it, if he were in the house? “No sign of him,” she said. “He hasn’t called, either.”
For a moment, her mother seemed to shake herself out of her lethargy. “Speaking of calls, I did have one today from Mariah Litchfield. What exactly is going on between you and Annabelle?”
“I told you the other day, don’t worry about it,” Misty said. “I’ve got it covered.”
“Not to hear Mariah tell it,” her mother said. “There was an incident of some kind at the fall festival?”
“I told you about that,” Misty said. “Annabelle and I had an argument, no big deal.”
“Are you sure?” her mother asked, regarding her intently. For the first time it seemed as if she truly cared about something other than what was going on in her own life. “You know that I’ve known Mariah most of my life. I know how she can be when it comes to Annabelle. You don’t want to mess with that girl, Misty. It’s better to steer clear of her.”
“Believe me, I’m trying to do just that,” Misty said.
“You’re not trying to make trouble for her? That’s what Mariah implied.”
“No way,” Misty said indignantly. She was doing everything in her power to avoid causing trouble. Annabelle was the one who kept pushing and making it almost impossible. “What did you tell Mrs. Litchfield?”
“That I’d have a word with you.”
“And now you have,” Misty said, unable to keep a hint of bitterness out of her voice.
Her mother gave her a sharp look. “Why do I have the feeling I’m missing something?”
“I have no idea,” Misty claimed. “I have homework. I’m going to my room.”
For once she was relieved that her mom didn’t argue. She didn’t even remind Misty to send Jake down to put the dishes in the dishwasher, which meant they’d probably still be on the kitchen table in the morning. Better that, though, than talking about Annabelle for one more minute.
Misty lingered once again after English, hoping to give the other kids time to move on to their other classes. Ms. Reed was pretty cool about it. She didn’t even bring up Annabelle for once. In fact, she looked almost as distracted as Misty’s mom did these days. Misty wondered what was going on in her life. Funny how she’d never considered what kind of lives teachers lived outside of school.
“Misty, you’d better hurry if you’re not going to be late,” Ms. Reed said eventually. “Unless there’s something you wanted to speak to me about.”
“Nothing,” Misty said hurriedly, quickly gathering up her books.
She’d no sooner stepped into the hallway than she was surrounded by Greg Bennett and two other guys from the football team.