Page 89 of Maid of Dishonor

“You’re an evil old woman,” I say to Wini over my shoulder as I leave.

She just cackles and picks her book back up, and I shake my head, smiling.

Thankfully,mercifully, Carter doesn’t say anything about Wini’s suggestion when I catch up to him. He just twines his fingers through mine as we walk to the car.

“She really did that whole kiss thing because she thought we needed a kick?” he says, looking over at me.

I nod, grinning. “Yeah. I told her you and I were just friends, and she said it was just because we needed a kick in the pants to get things moving.”

“Quite the kick,” Carter says, and I laugh.

“Well,” he goes on as we get in the car, “I wanted to work on my swing for a while, but would you rather work on yours? I can wait until next time.”

The temptation is there—to say yes, to go work and work and work until my swing is perfect. But, I realize, it’s also unnecessary. It’s probably good for me to step back this time, to purposefully let go of this one so that I can practice not being a perfectionist.

I fight with my brain for a second, with the part of me that still thinks I need to pay penance by striving for continuous perfection.

I thank that little voice for how much it cares about my mom, for how much it’s been trying to make things right for her.

Then I gently set it aside.

“No,” I say finally, feeling strangely proud of myself. “Let’s work on your swing.”

Carter’s eyebrows lift in surprise, but he doesn’t say anything. He just nods, giving me a little smile that makes my heart warm. Then he starts the car, and we’re driving.

We’ve only been on the road for a few minutes when Carter’s phone rings.

“Answer that?” he says, nodding to the phone.

“Yeah.” I pick it up, answer the call, and say, “Hello?”

“Sam?” Maya’s voice says a second later, sounding confused. “Did I call you by accident?”

“No,” I say. “Sorry, Carter is driving. Do you want me to pass it over?”

“No,” she says, and it’s only when she sighs that I realize how off she sounds. “Put me on speaker?”

“Yeah, sure,” I say, feeling suddenly nervous. All she did was sigh, but it just sounded so…tired. Sosad. I pull the phone away from my ear and put it on speaker, and then I say, “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

“I’m—I’m not—no,” she finally says, and now I can hear the tears in her voice. Carter and I glance at each other before he speaks.

“What’s going on?” he says, looking concerned.

“Do you think—would you guys be able to come over for a bit? Just—for moral support?”

“Of course,” I say without thinking.

“Absolutely,” Carter says. “We’ll be there in fifteen, okay?”

“Thanks,” Maya says, sniffling. And then, without saying goodbye, she hangs up.

The sudden silence is unnerving. I bite my lip, looking over at Carter. “What do you think that’s about?” I say.

“Chet, if I had to guess,” he says grimly.

I nod, still worrying my lip. “I think so too.”

Carter glances over at me, then to the road, and then back at me again. “Leave that poor lip alone,” he says finally. “And—wow.” His voice is sort of awed now. “There’s so much I can tell you now, Sam. So many things I never said before. But every time I see you biting your lip, it makes me want to kiss you. It’s like a big arrow just pointing to your mouth. It drives me nuts.”

---