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“A… what?” she demanded. “That’s ridiculous! So, like, people can’t be divorced? What is this, the 1900s?”
I winced. “Please remember some of us were born way back in the 1900s, m’kay? But I don’t disagree with you. It’s a ridiculous policy. It’s not that people can’t be divorced, exactly, but they do require families to devote a certain amount of time to the school or whatever. It’s part of their school culture. And I agree that it’s a good idea in theory, but—”
“But there are single parents who don’t have time to do that stuff. Single parents who are working three jobs or whatever—”
“Exactly.” I nodded. “Or in your case, a single parent who’s working one very demanding job.” She rolled her eyes, but I pressed her on it. “Your dad makes a lot of money, Jacey, but he works just as hard as any other single parent who’s trying to support a household. He’s just fortunate enough to have the money to pay someone to help out.”
“I guess,” she allowed.
“Your dad loves you girls more than anything. And that’s why, when the dean made the assumption that I was your dad’shusbandinstead of his employee, your dad went along with it. Because he knows how badly you want to attend Mountbatten.”
“Oh my god. Really? He did that for us?” She blinked. “Wait, but he didn’t even talk to you about it first?”
I shook my head. “He couldn’t. Not in the moment. He talked to me about it the other night. After pizza. And I… I agreed that we should get marriedon paper. It’s not a real marriage, with… dating o-orfeelings.It’s more like a business arrangement. A temporary thing. And in the meantime, I get to be on his health insurance at work, and I’ll stay here for a while after I graduate in December so I can save up to start my own business.”
Jacey nodded, though she still looked troubled. “The app that you’re making.”
“Right. This way, I don’t have to get a full-time job and pay for rent somewhere else. I’ll get to be with you guys while I’m saving up.” I shrugged. “It’s not something we ever would have considered if it weren’t for the school’s policy, but it seemed like a decent plan. We planned to keep it all private. Not a lie, just… not sharing that things had changed behind the scenes.” I grimaced. The rationalization sounded lame coming out of my own mouth, and Jacey was way too smart not to call me on it. I hurried to add, “But it looks like that’s not going to be possible. A lot of the parents figured it out. People love gossip.”
She tilted her head to one side. “More like people loveyou. And Dad, obviously. But, like, they want to know because they care.”
Huh.“I guess that’s true,” I allowed.
She stared down at her fingernails, where last week’s bright nail colors were chipped and mangled. “So… now what are you going to do?”
“Well… part of that depends on you, I guess. It was one thing for us not to tell people about the marriage, but it’s another thing for people to know we’re married and for us to have to pretend to be a couple when we’re in public. Thatwouldbe lying. And now that you know, you’ll have to keep that secret, too, which isn’t a position your dad or I wanted you to be in. The alternative, though, is to come clean and find a new school. What do you think?”
Jacey studied me for a long moment, defiant and hopeful at the same time, and I could almost see her brain churning as she tried to come up with a solution. “Do you like him?” she blurted finally.
I frowned. “Your dad? Of course I like him. He’s wonderful.” Then the true meaning of her question hit me. “Oh! Do Ilike himlike him. I… well. I didn’t even realize he was gay until three days ago, Jace.” Not that I’d let that stop me from fantasizing. A lot.
Her eyes narrowed. “That’s not an answer,” she pointed out. “Because if you do like him, Brody, maybe you could try it. Just for a while. Just to see. You’re both gay, and you both care about each other. You’re young, and you’re cute. Sorta.”
“Stop. You’ll make me blush,” I said wryly.
Jacey laughed. “And Dad’s old and boring, but not, like,reallygross-looking, right? He’s smart and successful, and his jokes aren’talwayscheesy. And he makes good pancakes. And I know it’s annoying that he leaves his dirty cream cheese knife on the edge of the sink like he’s going to make another bagel—which he never does—and he leaves empty water bottles rolling around in his car all the time, and he works way too much, but he always listens when you talk to him about that stuff, Brody. So maybe you couldtryto like him that way.”
I laughed weakly. She had no idea. None.
“’Cause if youdidlike each other,” she said softly, “then it wouldn’t really matter how your relationship started. It would be real, and no one would be lying at all.” She swallowed. “And then, you’d stay with us always.”
“Oh, sweetheart.” Impulsively, I grabbed her hand. “I’ve told you—it doesn’t matter if I work for your dad or not, you and your sisters are always going to be my special girls. Your dad would have to barricade the door to get me to stop seeing you—”
“I know. But it won’t be the same, will it?”
I opened my mouth, then closed it again. It wouldn’t, and I couldn’t pretend otherwise.
Jacey shrugged, then nodded resolutely, pulling her hand away. “Okay, so if you’re asking for my opinion or what I feel comfortable saying, I wanna tell everyone you’re married. Cleo, Mia, Aunt Gwen… everyone. I wanna say, ‘My dad and Brody are husbands now, and Cleo, Mia, and I are really hoping it’ll work out for those crazy lovebirds.’ I want to wish it so hard it comes true. Because if it doesn’t work out, Brody,” she added gently, “it’s not gonna hurt more when you leave because you’redivorcingthan it would if you were leaving because you got another job. Me and Cleo and Mia already handled our parents’ divorce, remember?”
“Yeah. I do.”
“And Mom already got remarried and divorced again, and we handled that, too. It wasn’t the same because we only knew Elias for maybe three weeks of that time—remember when they took us to New Zealand on theLord of the Ringstour a few years ago?”
“I remember,” I agreed.
I remembered Grant complaining about the girls going on a tour of a movie they’d been too young to even watch. I remembered he’d spent the three weeks of their trip working extra hours at the hospital just to keep himself distracted. And I remembered that when hehadcome home, he’d fallen asleep on the sofa with the TV playing old Doris Day movies, and I’d covered him with a blanket while wishing desperately he’d make a move on me while the girls were out of the country… but he hadn’t, damn it.
Even after all this time, even after getting freakingmarried, he hadn’t.
