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Beth quoted Proverbs to me, about how a wise woman builds her home, but a foolish woman tears it down with her own hands.
“What does that mean?” I asked her. I had not grown up in a religious home and was not that familiar with Scripture. “How does a wise woman build her home?”
Unexpectedly, Beth laughed. “I think it is more about strengthening the family and not criticizing. Something like that. Us girls were always told to get to work and not to stand around and gossip.”
I liked the idea of strengthening Zoë’s family. But it felt like that meant I could not be a part of it. I didn’t know how much Jade knew about my relationship with Will, but she wasn’t stupid.
I noticed how she would sneak in references to her mother to explain some habit of Zoë’s or attribute Zoë’s interest in fish to her own artistic interests when I knew it probably had more to do with us watching Finding Nemo.
When Will invited Jade to have dinner with us one evening, I told him I had to go out and made sure to be back only once I was sure she’d be gone. I slipped in later, only to find him waiting for me in my room.
“Where were you?”
I shrugged.
“It was weird having dinner without you,” he said. “The conversation tonight was all about energy and angels and what not,” he rolled his eyes. “I really missed you.”
I went up to him and he kissed me. “Meet any angels out there?”
“There was one guy with wings,” I said. “But I think he was heading to some trance party.”
Will laughed and fell back on my bed, pulling me down with him.
“I’m so glad you’re here. Jade is so erratic, so all over the place. I worry she’s filling Zoë’s head with nonsense.”
I said, “When she had a stomach pain the other day, I wanted to give her some aspirin. She said it was probably because her teacher had been mean to her friend and that had given her gastric constriction.”
“She said that?” Will was amazed. “She used those words?”
“Well, she did say conniption, but I figured she meant constriction.”
“Could she have meant indigestion?”
“No, she said Jade explained all about how the muscles pull tight when they are under stress. Or something like that.”
Will laughed and shook his head.
“I think Jade will lose interest in Zoë soon enough and leave for a music festival or an art revival or some huge arty get-together. She’s never been good at sticking around for long in one place.”
“She’s been here for several weeks already,” I reminded him.
“I know,” he sighed. “I wish she’d go away.”
“But Zoë loves her,” I said miserably.
“Only because it is a new thing,” he said.
He pulled me close to him, kissing me and I felt my worries and concerns melting away. Beth’s Bible verses hovered for quite a while in the back of my head, but then Will did something with his tongue, pressing his body against me and whispering wonderful sweet nothings that drowned out any other voices in my head.
He fell asleep in my bed, and I woke him up in the night, telling him to get up.
“I don’t want to,” he said.
“Zoë will find out about us,” I reminded him.
“She already knows,” he complained.
“How do you know?”
