Page 95 of Kiss My Glass
“How many have I got in here now?” she asks. “Three to your one! Oh dear. Danny can’t even win at insults.”
“That’s four!” I insist. “I am going to have so much fun picking your punishment.”
“You know I’ll get my own back,” says Ava, with an evil grin. “One day, when you least expect it…” She mimes giving me a snake bite arm burn.
“¡Cállate!” says Valentina, in a voice that will not be disobeyed. “Your mouths are for eating, not childish bickering!”
I sit back down next to Frankie, whose shoulders are shaking with silent laughter.
“I let Ava get to me again, didn’t I?” I murmur to her.
“It’s like she doesn’t even have to try,” agrees Frankie. “It’s okay. I have siblings, too. If Jackson was here, I’d probably have already thrown an empanada at him.”
“I love you,” I say, quietly. “When can we talk?”
“After breakfast,” she says. “But I might need a quick nap beforehand.”
“We can nap together?” I suggest. “Though perhaps ‘nap’ isn’t the word I’m thinking of…”
Frankie elbows me in the ribs.
My “Ouch!” receives another glare from Valentina. I settle down, drink the coffee that’s tasty but nowhere near as potent as Shelby’s. Mind you, anything more potent and you’d never sleep again.
Finally, breakfast is over. Frankie’s mom and Nate offer to help Valentina clear up but she waves them away. All the harvest crew are drifting out the door now, yawning but still chatting away. Cam wraps his arm around Ava, and they’re gone, too.
“You two should get some rest,” Frankie’s mom says to us. “Would you like some of my herbal tea to help you wind down?”
“No, that’s okay, Mom,” says Frankie, hastily. “I couldn’t honestly eat or drink a thing more.”
Nate’s phone pings. “Shelby,” he says with a smile. “Demanding to know how the harvest went and, more importantly, that I bring her some of Valentina’s leftovers.”
He calls her. “Hey, gorgeous, how are you?”
My older brother has what I call resting granite face, stern and reserved like our dad’s. But as he wanders out of the room, talking to Shelby, his face is alive, lit up by love and affection. It suits him. I kind of wish I could see that expression on my dad’s face, too, when he talks to me…
I feel a hand slip into mine. “Want to go?” says Frankie.
I’m about to say, “How fast can we walk?” when my phone starts ringing.
“It’s my mom,” I tell Frankie. “I’d better take it. In case something’s wrong.”
“Of course,” she says.
“Mom? Everything okay?”
“Everything’s fine, dear,” Mom assures me. “Are you free to come round this afternoon? I think your father would like to talk to you about…”
She pauses and my mind churns through a million possibilities, not one of which sounds like a fun time.
“Aboutwhat, Mom?”
“Well, perhaps I shouldn’t say anything more,” is her reply. “I’ll leave that up to your father.”
Jesus. Is he going to finally disown me? Okay, I am not facing this alone.
“Mom, I’ll bring Frankie with me.”
I feel the burn of Frankie’s glare, but I’m a desperate man. I’ll make it up to her later.
