Page 53 of Clara Knows Best

“We’re watching,” Nash assured her.

She tossed the egg into the air and caught it deftly on the sharp edge of the blade, cracking it but not breaking it all the way through.

“I can do that. Give me that,” Beck demanded, taking the knife from her.

“I only need three eggs,” she cautioned, scooping the cracked one off the knife and emptying it into Jesse’s bowl. “The rest are for breakfast, so don’t waste them.”

“Go ask Mom if we can crack all the eggs tonight,” Beck ordered Nash.

“On it,” Nash replied.

“Where’d you learn that?” Jesse asked her.

“Aunt Liesl. She has a bunch of tricks from culinary school.”

“Dang it,” Beck said, as the knife sliced all the way through the egg and it splattered on the counter.

“It’s fine,” Clara assured him, picking the shell out of the mess. “I can still use it. Don’t toss it quite so high.”

Nash returned. “She said we can crack as many as we want. Just save them in a bowl in the fridge after.”

Hart appeared behind him. “What’s going on with the eggs?”

“Get in line,” Beck said.

Clara added the second raw egg to the batter. “We should talk about your feelings for a minute, Jesse.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“How are you doing with stuff?”

“What stuff?” Jesse asked blankly.

“Well, let’s see, realizing that the past six years were a lie and the time you spent with uswasn’tjust any other foster placement and my mom’s not evil and you’re not actually alone in the world?”

“Oh. That stuff.”

She waited.

“Fine, I guess.”

“How’d it feel to punch Hart in the face?” Nash asked. “I’ve always wondered.”

“Bet it hurt your hand more than it hurt me,” Hart interposed.

“Are you still having trouble processing everything?” Clara asked, ignoring them. “You’ve been thinking my mom screwed you over for a long time.”

Was he having trouble? Great question. He had no idea.

Another egg hit the counter with asplat.

“It’s kind of like you have to forgive her even though she didn’t do anything wrong,” Clara mused. “Reminds me of when I dreamed that my cousin Eve stole my dog, I was so mad at her for days. It felt so real. Luckily she was away at school at the time and didn’t know. Not that I’ve ever had a dog.”

“Uh-huh.”

“So, are you mad at her?”

“Eve?”

---