Page 69 of Our Daughter's Bones
“It’s one of those days.”
“One of what days?”
“My mother’s birthday.”
His eyebrows furrowed. “Oh? And you’re here with me?”
Gravity tugged on her body like a toddler pulling at a hem to get an adult’s attention. She grasped the edge of the table. “I thought I was falling.”
“You were about to tell me why you are spending your mom’s birthday with me. She doesn’t live here?”
How fast would he run if she told him the truth? “She’s dead.”
“Oh. I’m sorry to hear that.”
“It’s been a long time.” She gave him a tight smile. “What’s your sob story?”
“I don’t have one.”
“Then tell me a funny story.”
“Let me think.” He stroked his chin. “When I was in the second grade, I had a crush on a girl named Tammy. I was having my birthday party at McDonald’s, and I invited all the boys in class and Tammy. So she came to the party, but I didn’t say a word to her because she was a girl. Nobody else played with her. I remember her sitting in a corner alone and crying.”
“Thatis your definition of a funny story?”
“Yeah, I realized that as I was telling the story.”
“I hope you made it up to her.”
“I gave her a yellow rose on Valentine’s day. My mom forced me to.”
“She taught you to do the right thing.”
“I decided to never break a girl’s heart after that,” he said. “I’ll go up and order more beer. I don’t think the server is paying attention to us. Do you want anything?”
“I’ll have some wine. Any wine. Why don’t they have blue wine? Blue is a nice color. Or yellow. Though that might look like pee.”
Sterling raised his eyebrows. He bit his lower lip to control his laughter. “I’ll bring you some water. Then we can talk about having a wine for every color of the rainbow.”
“Rainbow wine collection! That’s a brilliant business idea!”
Thirty-Six
September 19, 2018
I decided to never break a girl’s heart after that.The sound of Sterling’s lie was pierced by Nick’s sharp honking.
“Move!” he growled.
Like a colony of ants racing toward their prey, people marched away from the field. Their enthusiasm spiked. Lakemore Sharks had scored a victory over the Frogs.
The crowd could swallow the car. Shoulders and arms rubbed against the doors. Fists banged on the hood. Lakemore Sharks flags waved in the air. Even the school’s marching band were part of the crowd.
“Still a fan?”
Nick snorted. “My cousin makes three grand every month selling T-shirts during the season. Can you believe that?”
Mackenzie stared as the sticks beat the drums, mouths wrapped around the trumpets and fingers tapped on the clarinets. She didn’t know what was harder to think about: the possibility of Abby being dead or her husband’s potential mistress. Closing her eyes, she took a quivering breath against the heaviness in her chest. Deadweight. Like she was trapped under a dead body.
