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“Like you have it all figured out,” she muttered.
“More than you.” Jeremy had forked a huge wad of saucy pasta into his mouth, then met her churlish stare with his own as he’d chewed.
“You’re an animal, y’know?” she declared.
He shrugged.
“Enough,” Pescoli intervened. “This is dinner time. Family time.”
Bianca’s head snapped up so fast that her oversized bun wobbled. “Right. The three of us.” Using her fork, she made a circular motion to include them all. “We don’t need any more.”
“Tell me that when you want to get married. Or have a kid,” Pescoli rejoined, thinking of the baby again. “Or Jeremy does. Families evolve, Bianca. That’s why we count Michelle as part of ours. And now Santana will be.”
“Awesome,” Bianca said sarcastically. “So what if Jeremy and Heidi get married? Huh? What about that kind of evolution? Will she be part of the family?”
“They’re broken up and Heidi’s in California,” Pescoli said.
“Like that means anything,” Bianca muttered.
Pescoli’s gaze flew to Jeremy, who was suddenly paying his undivided attention to slicing a meatball. “Right, Jeremy? You and Heidi aren’t together anymore.”
“We’re friends,” he mumbled, not meeting his mother’s eyes. “She’s in California,” was his unsatisfactory answer.
Pescoli saw Bianca’s smirk and wondered what she’d missed.
Thinking her mother wasn’t looking, Bianca slid part of a meatball from her plate toward the floor where Cisco gobbled it up. “Heidi’s thinking about coming back to Montana to go to college after she graduates high school in San Leandro.”
“Is that true?” Pescoli asked as Sturgis stretched out of his bed and wandered over to the dining area.
Jeremy dropped his fork and glared at his sister. “Maybe.”
“Hasn’t she applied to University of Montana?” Bianca put in sweetly.
Pescoli’s stomach lurched. “Jer?”
Jeremy snapped, “Pre-applied.”
“What does that mean?” Pescoli asked.
“It’s an option. That’s all. She’s still got family here. One of her sisters is going there.” Jeremy tried hard to act as if nothing was the least bit out of place.
Pescoli tried to sort out what it all meant. She’d hoped that Heidi Brewster was out of her son’s life. Beautiful and manipulative, Heidi had twisted Jeremy around her little finger for the past several years. When the decision was made to move from Montana to California, Pescoli had prayed that the two teenagers’ fascination with each other would fade away.
“Why didn’t I know about this?” she asked, only vaguely aware that Sturgis had seated himself next to her chair.
Jeremy turned to face her. “Because I knew you’d freak, Mom, and it looks like I was right.”
“I’m not freaking.”
“Don’t worry,” Bianca interjected. “Jeremy and Heidi aren’t married . . . yet. They just can’t stand to be away from each other. Besides, it’s not really a big deal. Families evolve, you know.”
Pescoli had wanted to wipe the “gotcha” grin off her daughter’s face and send her to her room. Instead, she’d forced herself to remain calm. “Glad you understand. So, Santana and I are getting married and we’re all going to move to the new house. Better start thinking about what you want to pack. And please, don’t feed Cisco from the table. It makes him worse. Look, even Sturgis is getting into the act.” At the mention of his name, Sturgis wagged his tail.
Like the lingering scents of garlic and tomato sauce from last night’s dinner, the argument still hung in the air. This morning, Pescoli had left the house before either kid had bothered to get up and thrown herself into her work rather than dwell on the problems with her ever-growing family.
Heidi Brewster? Her daughter-in-law? No way. Angry at the thought, she bit into the energy bar. As she plopped the last bit into her mouth, she heard rapid footsteps in the hallway and Alvarez nearly slid into her office.
Pescoli looked up sharply.
