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I pouted.
My mom laughed at the childish gesture. “Oh, Ria. What would Grandmother say –Mary Mary quite contrary...You can be a hothead when you want, can’t you?”
“You think I shouldn’t have laid into him? Am I in the wrong?”
“I don’t know. It sounds like you both contributed a lot of mess to the situation... but you were both doing what you thought was right. And you were both protecting your families. Did you notice that similarity?”
I felt like a fool. I hadn’t.
My mom laughed at the look on my face. “You and your Grandmother aren’t the only ones with good intuition. I’m just a bit quieter about mine.”
“Don’t compare me to Grandmother.” I said it moodily, but couldn’t hold back a small smile.
“Why are you smiling?”
“I’m just... I’ve been so angry at Forest. And in one sentence, you just made the bulk of my anger evaporate.You were both protecting your families. How did I not notice that?”
“Love and hurt can make us blind to the truth. When you get as close to someone as you did to Forest, your intuition about them is always filtered through your own worries aboutyourself. You lose the ability to see the bigger picture.”
I blinked. “Mom, do you want to consult for my business?”
She laughed.
“I’m serious, you are so wise. I am but a rookie compared to you.”
“Thanks, Ria. I’ll let you know if I ever feel like making some easy money showing billionaires pictures of kings and queens.”
I gasped in mock outrage and swatted my mom gently on the arm. She wasn’t just intuitive like me and Grandmother were. She could also be just as cutting when she wanted to. A dark horse indeed.
At that point, the burner phone started ringing from my handbag. I glanced over it.
My mom looked over at it, too. “Do you need to answer that?”
I thought about it. “Yeah, I think I do, actually. Back in a minute.”
My mom nodded. I grabbed the phone and took it to a private corner of the safehouse where I couldn’t be easily overheard by security or Mrs Jamroz’s nosy, entertainment-starved boys.
“Hello, who is this?”
It was Helli. “Ria, can we talk?”
FOREST
For the second time in a week, I told the tale of my fake relationship to an audience of two. This time, they literally had popcorn.
When I finished, Juniper and her mute neighbor Billy applauded.
I smiled darkly at the two of them. “Hope that was worth the popcorn, Billy.”
He nodded with great enthusiasm, slid a ten dollar note into Juniper’s outstretched hand, waved, and departed.
“Youchargedhim for that?”
“He likes gossip. I have friends with interesting lives. It’s a good partnership.”
“This your new job?”
“I told you, that’s soap-making. Come on, let’s get you set up in the guest bedroom. I suppose I can’t charge you for the stay since you paid the rent and all.”
