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.”
Crap. She’d brought out the young lady. Marie stood up straight, eyes and ears on full alert. If she’d been a dog, she would have lifted her nose to sniff the air for the scent of trouble.
I was going to kill Taggish for this.
“Matt!” Marie shouted to our brother. “Better get in here. Perfect Mara’s in trouble.”
“I am not,” I hissed at my sister. “I am not!” I said louder so Matt would hear in the other room, but it was too late. Matt came skidding into the kitchen. “What are you? Two?”
He grinned and rubbed his palms together, completely ignoring my question. “What’d she do?” he asked Marie with glee.
“You guys are such children.” How was it I was the youngest?
“Mara, you still haven’t answered my question. And I’m getting angry, so you better tell me right now. The way you’re behaving tells me something isn’t right, and I want to know