How (Not) to Fall in Love(58)

I shrugged. “I don’t know what to think, Charlie. It doesn’t matter anyway. What matters is that everyone else will believe what they read.”

Charlie and Liz exchanged worried looks.

“What are you doing for Thanksgiving?” Liz asked.

“Thanksgiving?” I blinked at them.

Liz shook her head at my cluelessness. “It’s next Thursday.”

Wow. Mom wasn’t acting like she usually did when a holiday loomed. She wasn’t in a baking frenzy. She hadn’t taken the silver out of the china cabinet for polishing. Mostly she was drinking herself to sleep every night.

“You’ll come to my house. You and your mom.” It was a command from my uncle, not a request.

“I don’t know…it’s probably best if we spend the day at home, just the two of us.”

“You need to be around people who care about you,” Liz said.

“Come at four. You don’t need to bring anything except your mom and Toby.” Charlie sounded just like Dad when he gave orders.

I shrugged and then nodded. It wasn’t like we were doing anything other than hiding in the mansion. And eating frozen pizza on Thanksgiving sounded awful.





Chapter Twenty-Two


November 22


Thanksgiving dawned clear and cold. I spent the morning arguing with Mom about going to Charlie’s. She didn’t want to, but I did. I was desperate to get out of our house and be with people who made me feel wanted.

At three thirty, I emerged from my bedroom wearing a dress. I’d put on more makeup than usual and attempted to curl my hair, even though it fell right back to straight boringness. I added a couple of sparkling barrettes Sal had given me. I had to at least put forth some effort since I knew Mom wouldn’t.

“The train’s leaving the station,” I announced as I walked into Mom’s bedroom. She sat on the bed in her bra and underwear staring into space. “God, Mom. Can’t you even try?” I stomped to her closet and yanked out a dress. I tossed it to her. “Hurry up. We need to leave, like now.” I prodded her until she was fully dressed. I dug out jewelry from one of her many jewelry boxes. I made her sit at her vanity table while I brushed her hair.

“I don’t know why you’re going to all this trouble.”

I stared at her reflection in the mirror. “Because I care about Charlie. And Liz.”

Mom dropped her eyes. “It’s not like we have anything to be thankful for.”

I stopped brushing her hair. “That’s not true.”

“Name one thing,” she said.

“We have each other.”

She sighed and reached out to touch a perfume bottle. “That’s what people say when they’re desperate. When they’ve lost everything.”

Tears welled in my eyes. “But I mean it,” I said.

We didn’t speak as I drove us to Charlie’s. Her depression terrified me. I wanted to turn it off with a switch, but didn’t know how.

Charlie’s house wasn’t far from his store. It was small and tidy, with funky metal sculptures sticking out of dormant flowerbeds. The sculptures made me laugh, but Mom just frowned at them.

Lucas opened the door. I caught my breath when I saw him. I didn’t know he was invited. Things had been awkward between us since the night at his house. We acted like polite strangers. We didn’t tease each other anymore, and we hadn’t taken Toby on any walks together. I thought about him constantly, about what he’d said about aiming high, wondering if he meant me. God, I hoped so, but part of me still couldn’t believe it.

Mom glanced back and forth between us. He looked almost as good as he had on Homecoming night, though he wasn’t in a tux. But he had on nice pants, and a dress shirt and tie.

“Wow,” I said, recovering as well as I could. “You almost look like a grown-up.”

“So do you.” His eyes skimmed over me. “I didn’t think you owned any dresses.”

He held the door open for us. My arm brushed his, waking up every nerve in my body. I stepped away from him.

“Lucas, this is my mom, Marilyn.”

He put out his hand. “It’s great to meet you, Mrs. Covington. I’ve heard so much about you.”

Mom raised an eyebrow. “I can’t imagine you’ve heard anything good.”

“Mom.” I glared at her. Way to go, Mom. We hadn’t even sat down to eat yet.

A dark-haired man about Mom’s age joined us in the living room. As he stood next to Lucas I realized who he was.

“This is my dad, Alejandro,” Lucas said. “Dad, this is Darcy and her mom, Marilyn.”

Alejandro shook our hands. As I looked into his eyes, I noticed they danced with amusement, just like Lucas’s did when we kidded around.

“A pleasure,” Alejandro said. He offered his arm to Mom. “Should we go supervise the cooks in the kitchen?”

Mom surprised me by going with him, resurrecting some of her manners. Then Lucas and I were alone. I felt shy around him, almost as much as when he’d shown me his tattoo. Maybe it was the dress. And the tie. And getting caught dreaming about him.

“I didn’t know you’d be here today,” I said.

He tilted his head. “Would you have stayed home if you’d known?”