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“My hair is the wrong color,” Marcus said, flattening it down. “A surfer is blond.”
“You need to see real surfers in Hawaii,” Lisa said, troubled. This latest crux with Marcus was disconcerting. “Their hair is as black as yours.”
“Are they natives?” Marcus asked.
“Native Hawaiians are Aboriginal. A long time ago, one of the Hawaiian surfers brought surfing to Southern California, and now there are a huge number of native surfers there.”
“How do you even know this?” Ryan asked.
“My former husband’s brother surfs in San Diego. I got the whole history lesson from him. I don’t want my boys to limit themselves because they’re not blond. That’s ridiculous.”
Letting Daniela take over helping the children dress, she waved Ryan to come down the steps with her.
“These boys are becoming more and more self-conscious about their heritage. Dan has to make an effort to help with this. He’s on his way over, by the way.”
“About this?”
“No, I’m not sure. We’ll soon find out. I’m not sure how helpful it is having you be Dan’s confidant. He’s kind of a troublemaker.”
A tap on the door ended that critique.
“Yikes, bud, you have a lot of Polo on,” Lisa said, faux gasping and waving her hand in front of her face.
“Ugh, it’s aftershave. Can I wash my face in your kitchen sink?”
“Go for it, but hurry before one of the kids has an asthma attack.”
At Lisa’s kitchen sink, Dan washed his face with dishwashing liquid. “Now I smell lemon fresh.”
“What’s going on?” she asked while he dried off with a paper towel.
Ryan was making a fresh pot of coffee, oblivious to the incongruous events taking place in his kitchen. Dan repeated what Adam had shared with him.
“Wait, you told Lily last night you loved her, and today she told Adam,her boss,I should add, that his wife, who had a kid with Ryan here, was also her brother and it was incest.”
“Actually, Adam divulged that juicy tidbit, assuming she must have known already.”
“Why does my name always get brought up in these discussions?” Ryan whined.
“Well, when you play, you pay,” Lisa said. “I’m sure this isn’t the last time someone is going to put two and two together and you and Alison will be suspect.”
They looked at Dan. “So what does this mean for you?”
“I’m pissed,” he said. “Good and pissed. I’m picking her up at one, and we’ll have a talk. It might be the end already.”
“Dan, don’t get carried away,” Ryan said, placing a hand on his shoulder. “You’ve been seeing Lily for how long? This isn’t a reason to end a relationship with someone you’re interested in.”
“I was interested in her before I knew she was hypercritical. With my history, I can’t afford to be with someone like that. I don’t trust her now.”
Ryan handed him a cup of coffee. “Just talk to her about it. You can’t change her, Dan. We take the good with the bad.”
“You sound like you’re talking from experience,” Lisa said, laughing.
“Well, you know what I mean,” Ryan said, winking at her. “You take my bad with the little good.”
“Aw, you’re just fine,” she said, meaning it, then to Dan, “Do you really love her?”
“I did last night,” he said, frowning.
