Page 123 of Apparently, I’m Trouble

She scoffed. “Mom wouldn’t want me to be dealing with this.”

“No. Probably not,” Rochelle agreed. “But she wouldn’t want you to give up either.”

Then Rochelle surprised me by stabbing a pizza box with her finger. “I swear, if I ever meet the woman who took that picture–”

“Why are you upset about the picture?” Kira asked, frustrated. “It’s not the picture that’s the problem–” she waved her hand at me “–it’s what they were doing in it.”

I sighed heavily, then pushed aside the weight in my gut as Miles and I started opening boxes and pulling out slices, both of us serving Kira before ourselves.

Rochelle ripped off a bite and chewed, then looked at me. “Maybe we should talk about something else. I’m only going to make her mad if I say what I want to say.”

“Say it then,” Kira dared, stabbing her fork into a piece of pepperoni. “I’m already mad, so what’s the difference?”

Rochelle paused. She chewed her slice and swallowed, watching my daughter as she did it.

“This is too dramatic for a family dinner,” I muttered, finally picking a slice for myself and biting into it. Immediately, the taste took me back to eating with Mia on her sofa, and an intense bolt of longing hollowed me out.

I wished she was here. I wished I could’ve figured out a way to make this work for us.

“Look at your dad, Kira.”

“I see him.”

“No, look at him.” Rochelle waved a hand above my shoulder, gesturing to all of me. “He’s exhausted.”

Kira looked away. “I know.”

“He isn’t sleeping. He isn’t eating properly.” Rochelle gripped my sleeve and shook it. “And I’m pretty sure he wore this outfit yesterday.”

“Rochelle,” I snapped. “I’m fine.”

She rolled her eyes and kept going. “And the stubble. Your dad’s never been a beard guy.”

“I know,” Kira repeated softly.

She pointed at Kira with her pizza slice. “He’s miserable.”

I took the slice out of her hands and dropped it on her plate. “I’m not ‘miserable’.”

“Yes,” Rochelle insisted. “You are.”

She was right. I was. But that was my problem, not my daughter’s.

Kira slid her gaze to me carefully, and something Rochelle said seemed to make her look at me differently. For the first time in days, she looked worried about me.

“I’ve never seen him like this.” I thought Rochelle was done then. She took another bite of her pizza, chewed, and swallowed. But then she added, “He’s heartbroken.”

I put my head in my hands and groaned as Kira looked away again, her cheeks flushed like she was embarrassed that Miles was listening to this.

“This is the first time he’s ever really been in love,” Rochelle mused. “And he gave it up for you.”

My head snapped up, and I stared at my sister.

“Rochelle,” I warned.

Kira stared at her aunt, shocked, as my sister said, “It’s true.”

“It’s not okay to put that on Kira,” I barked.