smiled at her warmly. She was trying to start a conversation, as Kiera had
been oddly silent since she got to her parents’ house over an hour ago.
“It’s good,” Kiera said. She ducked her head and pushed her food around
a little bit more.
“Just good?” Kiera’s dad prompted. “Usually you tell us about the
exciting treasures you found during the week. There must have been
something that stood out.”
“And usually you tell me that you can’t make a living selling antiques
and that I should be doing something more worthwhile with my time and
money.”
Kiera’s mom shot her dad a look. Her dad shot one back. Kiera nearly
groaned. She hadn’t meant that to come out rude. More like a joke, but it
sounded more than a little biting.
“Well, antiques are generally hard to market and a mall is a big deal. We
were just worried you were taking on a lot,” her mom tried to qualify.
“We were just worried about you,” her dad agreed.
“I hired someone over a month ago. She’s great. Everyone loves her.”
“Oh?” Kiera’s dad resumed eating while her mom waited for whatever
was coming next.
“Yeah. She’s actually a lesbian.”
“What?” Kiera’s mom’s fork clattered against her plate. She picked it up
in a hurry. “Oh, well, that’s…that’s nice for her.”
Kiera nearly groaned. Nothing like screwing up everything she’d
rehearsed trying to say. She wanted to laugh at herself for all the hours
she’d spent trying to think of a way to talk to her parents and how badly she
was mucking everything up. She had never meant to blurt out that she’d
hired someone and she was actually a lesbian. What kind of a thing was that
to say?
“Yeah…” Kiera mumbled. “Do you…what do you think about that?”
There. At least it was out, even if she wanted to close her eyes and crawl
