He winks and my heart flutters.
When we get back to Lee Vines, everything is back to normal and you’d never know there was a fight the night before. He parks the Jeep in front of The Wayward Sun and he almost falls over himself trying to get to the door before I can open it. We’re both a mess; wearing the same clothes as the night before, but there’s a giddiness between us, one I feel like everyone that passes us by can sense.
Dexter leans against the side of the Jeep and pulls me close. He kisses me and boy, I don’t want to stop. I do, though, and say, “I should check on my grandmother.”
“I should check on Charlie.”
We gaze at one another for a minute longer like two ridiculous dorks.
“Starlee?”
I drop Dexter’s hand and step away. He frowns and looks in the direction of the voice. I don’t have to look but I do.
“Mom?”
My mother looks good. Better than she did before she left me here. She looks rested. Tanned. Her outfit is cute—stylish, and it doesn’t match the horrified
scowl on her face.
“What are you doing here?” I ask, completely stunned.
Her eyes zero in on Dexter, no doubt taking in his lip ring and tattoo and the fact that he’s a boy. A boy that was just touching me and from the look on her face, she saw him kissing me too.
“Get in the house, Starlee.”
“Mom, answer me. What are you doing here?”
“Get. In. The. House.” Her tone is cold as ice.
“Ms. Jones?” I hear Dexter say. “Hi, I’m Dexter. I live next door.”
Her eyes flick over and then back to me. Disappointment. That’s what I see, and along with it all my plans for the next year. Not wanting to make her more upset, I walk past her, leaving Dexter alone in the street with not as much as a goodbye, and head to the house.
Leelee stands in the kitchen. “Starlee, I’m sorry. I didn’t know she was coming. Sierra told me you went down to June Lake with Dexter and I wasn’t worried, but your mother showed up out of the blue. Sitting on the porch first thing this morning.”
“It’s okay. Why is she here?”
“I still don’t know, but she was mad as a hornet when she got here.”
I hear the front door open and close. My mother appears in the kitchen doorway. “Care to explain that?”
“That’s Dexter,” I say, trying to keep my voice even. “He lives next door.”
“I know that, Starlee. What were you doing with him?”
“We’re friends.”
Her eyes sweep over me and in my heart, I know she can tell. She can tell what happened between us the night before. A lump forms in my throat and my cheeks burn hot with humiliation.
She walks across the room to her purse on the kitchen table. She unzips it and pulls out an envelope. She holds it up. I’ve seen the marking in the corner before. State of California. “You got this in the mail. I opened it to make sure it wasn’t important. Turns out you’ve been subpoenaed to a hearing on tomorrow.”
“I know. I got one here, too.”
“It’s for that boy.” She reads his name off the paper. “Dexter Falco.”
“Yes.” My eyes meet Leelee’s. She moves into action.
“Star, honey, sit down at the table and I’ll make some tea. We can talk over this whole thing.”