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‘Are we all caffeinated enough to feel alive yet?’ Dad asks after the server leaves.
‘Nearly there,’ I say, coffee cup practically to my lips again. ‘You two started before me, so feel free to chat amongst yourselves.’
He chuckles, turning his attention to my sister sitting across from him. ‘What have you been up to, Laney?’
‘You mean, besides her telling you all my business…’ I ask with a snap, halting my coffee drinking to stab at her with a little sisterly irritation.
Laney rolls her eyes, ignoring me altogether. ‘Let’s see…’ she says, setting her cup on the table. ‘Work, work, work, bought a pink taser – remind me to show you – more work, overtime, got my hair done.’ The required hair flip after announcing she had it done cracks me up. We all do it. ‘I also had my eyebrows reshaped. The left one finally grew back after the last place made it look like I’d lost it in a barbecue accident. What do you think?’ she asks, her eyes on me.
‘Can’t even tell anymore,’ I say, sincerely impressed. Her eyebrow took months to grow back. I was starting to worry it never would. I’m actually relieved for her. ‘They look good.’
‘Wait. Back up. You bought a taser?’ Dad asks worriedly. ‘If you’re having an issue with a guy, say the word, and I’ll take care of him.’
‘I’m not fourteen. My daddy can’t handle my problems anymore. That would be weird,’ Laney insists. ‘Besides, Jade carries around a bottle of mace that I know for a fact she’s used at least once. Why aren’t you worried about her?’
He laughs, but it’s not humorous. ‘Because if I ever get a call that one of you needs to be bailed out of jail, I’m almost certain it won’t be Jade.’
I smirk her way, enjoying being the favorite child for a moment. Or at least the one he knows is mostly well-behaved. Luckily, there’s no time for her to argue as our waitress approaches our table.
Oh my Lord, the sweet smell of pancakes and fruit fills my head. I didn’t realize how starving I was until my plate was placed in front of me. I got my fave: fancy maddie cakes – aka three lemon ricotta pancakes topped with house-made blueberry compote and lemon curd. It’s like a dessert for breakfast. So good.
After we’ve silenced our hunger by allowing our food to distract us from words, we all start to liven up.
‘Do you also need a taser?’ Dad asks, studying me as he works on his Bennie Hashbrowns – fancy hashbrowns topped with bacon, ham, spinach, two poached eggs, and hollandaise sauce. It’s complemented with buttered sourdough toast that Dad slathers a spoonful of my blueberry compote across.
‘Not yet. But I’m a good girl,’ I tease Laney.
‘You’re boring,’ she retaliates.
‘I am not boring.’
Dad laughs under his breath like he always does when we girls fight. He has one brother, and no sisters, so the sister vibe took him a long time to get.
‘Jade has an attack parrot that barks at dogs; she’s far from boring,’ he says, coming to my rescue. ‘How was your non-date?’
Laney practically drops her fork from her mouth. ‘You had a date?’
Right. I never told her. Oops.
I shake my head to correct her. ‘I had an anti-date. With a friend. It was nothing.’
‘What friend?’
‘Just a guy from the bar whom I’ve befriended over the months. He’s harmless and sweet, so I figured he could advise me on Conner since he’s about my age.’
‘And the verdict is?’ she asks, as though she can’t believe I went to someone besides her for advice.
‘He thinks I could do better.’
Dad nods his head as if he agrees while he eats. ‘I like him already. Does he think the better is him?’
‘Um…’
Laney’s eyes are burning through me as I consider my answer. Things did get a little flirty in the Uber last night, and I did pretend to be his fiancée. Are those hints that he likes me? Nah. I think he’s just being nice. But maybe he does? We did have that ‘moment’ in the street a few months ago where I thought he would kiss me, and I’ll be honest, I’d have kissed him back. But that moment fled, and now I’m engaged.
‘I’m going to plead Magic 8 Ball and go with, ask again later.’
‘I will ask continually until you spill everything,’ she says. ‘You know this. Now when do I get to meet him?’
