Page 41 of Detention with Daddies

Hank and Evelyn do their best to keep the chatter lively, and Marielle’s general attitude still seems off.

But Lisa…the comments she makes have me biting my lips. Because I want to demolish her.

They quickly transform from comments about how round her daughter’s cheeks are, the cut of her hair not framing her face right, how she should come with her mother to a decent stylist to get that fixed…to questions and thinly veiled insults about me and my appearance.

How sweet it is that you and Nick are close enough to come to family dinner.

You’re actually quite pretty for a big girl. I bet your cheekbones would be divine if you lost twenty or thirty pounds. At least the extra weight fills out that low-cut top of yours.

I’m surprised to hear you work in the same field as my husband—sorry, ex-husband. He works with athletes and coaches.

I don’t bother correcting or countering anything she says.

No one else stops her or calls out her behavior either. But you know what? I will gladly take the jabs if it means she leaves Ruby alone.

I simply relish eating everything she can’t with a placid smile on my face.

I’m still flabbergasted by Nick’s silence. He eats mechanically and won’t meet my eye, but his jaw jumps and his eye twitches every time Lisa opens her mouth.

Still, I remain quiet. Sit back. This is not my space. These are not my people. I have nothing to input here, even though it’s hard to remain quiet. Completely against my nature.

When Nick disappears during dessert, Lisa isn’t far behind him, and my stomach drops.

I want to give him the space to deal with this without complicating it. While he’s gone, I slip Ruby one of the cherry cheesecake bombs with another wink. And she smiles at me. It’s small, but it means a lot to me.

A reward for enduring the shit show this dinner has been.

Hank and Evelyn ask me about my experiment, and they don’t balk at my research topic. They seem most comfortable with me, but Marielle is eerily separate from our conversation, excusing herself to the kitchen to start cleaning up.

Nick has been gone for a while, and I really want to give him space, but Lisa has been gone nearly as long, and I’m growing a little concerned. A little…jealous?

We’re not anything more than friends right now. Okay, a little more than friends, but I’m not his girlfriend, so I don’t know how to respond to this.

His parents, though, are so completely reassuring, but none of this feels quite right.

I ask for the bathroom, and when I go, I spot Nick and Lisa in the crack of a bedroom door. He looks defeated, and I’ve never seen it on him before. It’s a bit scary.

Pausing to listen—because I really, really can’t help myself—I hear Lisa say, “Well, you’ve certainly moved on, but not up, if you’re dating that whale.”

I jerk at the derision in her tone. It’s been a while since I’ve had someone call me something so blatantly demeaning. I take astep back, slipping into the bathroom to keep my cover. I really don’t want to wait and see if he defends me or not.

Calling my bestie, Shawna, she picks up on the second ring. “Girl. What are you calling me for? Aren’t you at a family dinner with that guy you’re seeing?”

“Yes, and it’s a shit show. His ex-wife showed up.”

Her horrified gasp eases a bit of my panic from overreacting. “No.”

“Yes. Can you come pick me up?”

“Uh. Of course, I can. Send me the address.”

“You’re the best. Thank you. I’ve got to go before my absence looks suspicious.”

“I’ve got you girl.”

Sending her a quick text with the address, I slink back to the kitchen, help clean up the remaining dishes, check on Ruby, and slowly slip out of the house without anyone noticing.

Shawna picks me up at the corner with my favorite specialty drink—an iced white mocha with extra caramel drizzle and sweet cold foam. A box of tissues sits in my seat too.

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