Joel hasn’t left. It’s been four days since he walked out of that building with a dark bruise on his face and an invisible one on his soul. But he never gave any sign of indecision, of wavering. Of doubting. If anything, he’s been appeasing our fears all along. He seems calmer than ever. Like he’s found his center.
So I push down any lingering uncertainty and tell myself for the thousandth time that neither of the boys need to get down on one knee and give me a diamond ring to ease my insecurities. It doesn’t work that way. My fears are my own to handle, and I am the only one who can beat them into submission.
Besides, Mom and Dad did the whole diamond ring thing, and how did it help?
Oh God, I need to talk to Dad. Saturday, the day of the party, is tomorrow, and I don’t even know if Mom isn’t planning to arrive with an escort on her arm.
The image makes me cringe and convinces me to try calling him again.
“Hello? Who’s that?”
“Dad, it’s me.”
“You, who?”
Okay, it’s true I never call him. “Your daughter.”
“Candace? Is everything okay?”
Aw. “Yes, Daddy. Don’t worry.”
“You never call me unless you need something.”
Okay, that’s true, too. Damn. “I just wanted… to talk to you.”
A silence. “I am at work.”
“I know that!” Crap. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to interrupt. Should I call back later?”
“Nah, it’s okay. If it’s about tomorrow’s party, didn’t your mother tell you we’re coming?”
“She did. That’s not… uh. There’s something else. Uh.”
“Candace.”
I sigh. “Yes, Dad.”
“Spit it out. What’s the problem?”
“No problem. I just, uh. Wonder. If you know.”
This time the silence is tenser. “Know what? Candace, are you with child?”
I blink. “No. And are you seriously using that expression in the twenty-first century?”
No reaction. “So, what’s the emergency, then?”
“It’s Mom. She’s acting weird.”
“And that’s news to you? Look, Candy, I’m glad nothing is really wrong, but I have to go now, I—”
“Did you know she’s been looking for an escort service?”
Dad snort-laughs. “Yes.”
Yes?
“Yes?” I wave a hand in the air and try to pull up my jaw from the floor. “That’s all you have to say? YES?”