No, you look perfect. But maybe you should lift your shirt anyway so I can see your six-pack abs just to make sure.
“If you’re not hungry you can come into the kitchen and watch me eat because I’m starved.”
“Twist my arm. I’ll put another log on the fire.” He smiled. “You can cook me up some bacon and some beans.”
“What?”
“You know…that’s a line from that Tompall Glaser song?”
“Never heard of him. Is he local?”
Boone shook his head. “He was with the Outlaws. Your musical education is sorely lacking, McKay.”
Sierra heated leftover angel hair pasta with basil cream sauce in the microwave. Boone watched as she diced a tomato and grated parmesan. She gestured to the cupboard with her knife. “You wanna grab plates?”
“Sure.”
She divided the pasta in half, and sprinkled cheese and tomatoes on each pile. “Dig in.”
Boone wound a good-sized bite around his fork and popped it in his mouth. “That is fantastic. Eating here is like dining at a fancy restaurant. You should be a chef.”
“I don’t know what I want to do after high school. How about you?”
“I’ve got a good idea.”
He didn’t elaborate.
Sierra wasn’t as hungry as she’d thought and Boone ended up polishing off her plate of pasta too.
“Thanks for an outstanding meal. I feel like I oughta leave a tip.”
“How about if you do the dishes?”
“Deal.” He cleared the plates. When he opened the door to the dishwasher, she said, “Nope. Not that dishwasher. This one.”
Boone frowned. “What’s the difference?”
“That one is Rielle’s; this one is ours. I know it’s weird, but we had to divide the kitchen space and set boundaries after we moved in.” She sighed. “It’s sort of pointless now that my dad and Rielle are sleeping together.”
“Really? How do you know? Did you catch them goin’ at it?”
She rolled her eyes. “No. They’re more discreet than that, except I catch them making out all the time. My dad has never had a girlfriend, which is weird when you think about it.” She’d wondered if he was g*y. And she’d tried several times to let her dad know she’d be fine with it if he preferred men.
“Never?”
“If he was seeing someone in Arizona he never brought her home when I was there.” She rinsed the dishrag and hung it over the sink divider. “My dad’s actually been a lot happier since we moved here. I wonder how much of that has to do with her.” After Rory’s little come-to-Jesus talk, he’d started doing more things with her outside the house. That’d taken some of the sting out of her feeling of isolation, but not all. She felt Boone staring at her and she looked up. “Sorry.”
“Have you asked if he’s practicing safe sex?”
Sierra laughed. “That’d go over well.”
Boone wandered into the great room, inspecting Rielle’s funky furnishings. “So if your dad didn’t date, what about your mom? You said your parents divorced when you were five, right?”
He’d remembered that? “Uh-huh. My mom? She’s a flake.”
He whirled around and grinned. “Hey, so’s mine.”
“Really? Did your mom spontaneously bail to France with her twenty-eight-year-old boyfriend? And she’s lying about her age, swearing she’s just a few years older, when it’s a decade.”
“Have you met her boyfriend?”
Sierra shook her head. “Get this; she told him I’m her sister. If my dad knew that he’d lose his mind. Even when my dad annoys me, he’s always acted like he wants to be around me, not because he has to take care of me.” Not always the case with her mom. Her mom was fun and smiles when they were doing what she wanted, which was most of the time. So it made no sense why Sierra missed her so much, but she did. Especially after she’d called to confront her mom about the package of lingerie she’d sent as a gift. Her mom had cried and apologized and swore she’d make it up to her. And Sierra believed her—even when her dad made cracks about lowering her expectations.
“At least you had one good parent. Both mine sucked.” Boone sat across from her. “My dad was always gone. When I was a kid and now.”
“Have you always lived with him?”
“Nope. I lived with Mom until third grade.”
“Did she get married or something?”
“No. Everything changed when my dad found out…” He clenched his hands into fists and he looked at the floor. “Fuck. Never mind. Forget I said anything.”
Unnerved by his abrupt mood swing to anger, Sierra waited for him to explain, but he stayed quiet, almost closed off. “What did he find out?”
“Just drop it.”
“Were you being abused?”
His head snapped up. “Believe it or not, I would’ve preferred that ’cause I could have fought back.”
“Okay, now after that remark, you’ve got to tell me.”
“I should’ve kept my mouth shut.”
“Boone. Some part of you wants me to know if you mentioned it.”
“I don’t know why I did. It’s just so f**king…embarrassing,” he said softly. “I never talk about this shit. Why do I just spill my guts every freakin’ time I see you?”
“Because we’re friends.” She scooted next to him. “Because everyone needs someone to talk to and you can trust me. I promise whatever you share with me will stay between us. So tell me. Please.”
Another moment passed. Boone didn’t look at her when he said, “My dad found out that I couldn’t read.”
Her heart squeezed hard at his confession.
“I was eight years old and I couldn’t read a single word. My mom played dumb, but the truth was she was either drunk or high and she didn’t give a shit, hell, she didn’t know where I was half the time. Dad felt guilty, which made him mad, so he caused a big stink with the Moorcroft school board, railing against lazy teachers just passing me when I was illiterate. He had no idea I was a problem child and the teachers couldn’t wait to get me the hell out of their classroom.”
“How did he find out you couldn’t read? Did your mom tell him? Or did you?”
“My Aunt Carolyn figured it out when we were at a West reunion. God. I wanted to die because I knew I was stupid and then everyone else would know it too.”