"Are you cooking dinner tonight?" Dad asks.
Asshole.
Jade kisses Cooper on the head and takes off.
I know her car is old, but it grinds and groans like a disgruntled old man when she pulls out of the driveway.
"Is that car going to make it?" I ask.
"It has to," Coop answers, and pops a grape in his mouth.
Dad takes chicken out of the fridge and tosses it on the counter in front of me. I stare at it and then look at the kid, who shakes his head.
Fuck me.
"Where's Mom?" I ask.
"It's her busy season, you know that."
Right. You would think being a TV chef would lighten her everyday load, but it doesn't, especially this time of year.
"What are you guys doing Friday night?" Cooper asks.
"Tap dancing," I answer.
"I don't want to go to Pam's," he says.
"Who's Pam?" I ask.
"Jade's mom," Dad answers, pulling out his phone. I don't miss the chip in his voice. There's a story there, but he doesn't expand. "Sorry, kid."
"Why do you need to go there?" I ask.
"Mom has a date."
If that's not a dig, why does it feel like one?
"That's weird," Dad says.
"That's what I said." Cooper sighs and points to the chicken, "So what's for dinner, Gramps?"
Dad laughs, and I toss him a dirty look.
"Why is it weird your mom has a date?" I ask, hoping I sound nonchalant and not like I'm digging.
"I dunno the last time she went on one," Addie says, popping up out of nowhere and sliding onto the stool beside me. "What's it been, Coop? A few months?"
"At least," he answers.
"When's the last time you went on a date?" I ask Addie.
She plucks a grape from the bunch and says, "Last week."
"What about you?" Coop asks.
How long has it been since my last proper date? One that I hoped would turn into something it didn't?
"I'm not sure, a year ago maybe?"
