She makes one of her comical faces.

Oh crap, I’ve got to get out of here fast.

Comical face always precedes serious shit about to tumble out of her.

I roll my eyes. “You are so funny, Mom, I forgot to laugh. I’ll see you in the morning.”

I’m almost to the studio door.

“There’s a full box on condoms in my nightstand drawer, Kaley. You don’t have to ask. Just take some if it’s something you need.”

I freeze with my hand on the knob.

Fuck, I can’t just walk out on that one, not when she worked so hard to get it out. I turn back to face her. She’s just sitting there, all concerned and junk, nervously staring at the piano and rubbing her index finger on the middle-C key.

Chrissie can’t even look at me.

Her cheeks are cute-cute pink.

Inwardly, I groan.

“That is definitely too much information, Mom. And I so don’t want to know why you have them.”

Her face shoots up and her bright blue eyes lock on me. “I’m sorry. I know that was awkwardly put…and not a very good way of easing into…what I mean to say is, you and Bobby—”

Oh fuck, she’s rambling, and you have got to be kidding me, Chrissie. Really, now? When I’m almost eighteen?

I go back to the piano and kiss her on the head. “No, Mom. It was fine. You’ve said all you need to say. But no sex talk. No safe sex talk. No you-should-wait-for-sex talk. No sex talk of any kind. Can’t do it. Nope. We’re good with the location of the family condoms. I’m out of here.”

*  *  *

Zoe can’t stop laughing. “Family condoms.”

My cheeks hurt from smiling. “You should have seen my mom’s face. I felt so bad for her. She really did try.”

“It’s so ridiculous.” Zoe’s gaze starts to sparkle. “I think you should have stayed for the sex talk. I mean, think of who your mom’s been banging for the last twenty years. I bet she’s a wealth of knowledge. An untapped resource. Definitely better than Yotti.”

I shudder. “Gross, don’t say things like that about my mother. I don’t know how you and Yotti just talk about everything like it’s normal that you do.”

“Ah—because it is.”

“Well, it isn’t in our family. And it would have been awful. Chrissie could hardly say the word condom.”

“Probably because they’re a new invention in Chrissie’s universe. Maybe now that she’s discovered them, she’ll stop having kids.”

Zoe busts out laughing again.

I glare at her. “That was mean.”

Zoe pouts. “Don’t be pissed, Kaley. I’m just kidding.”

I struggle to hold it in, but laughter bubbles upward anyway. Zoe smiles.

“What do you want to do now?” she asks.

I shrug. “It’s really pathetic how hard it is to figure out what to do when the guys are gone.”

Zoe’s eyes light up. “We could go clubbing. Jake hates to dance. Probably because he sucks at it.”

I crinkle my nose. “Clubbing? I don’t know. It just wouldn’t seem right without Bobby.”

She groans. “You’re not married. You can go clubbing. Jake doesn’t care if I go without him.”

My eyes widen. “Really?”

“Yep.” Then she makes a face. “It means he doesn’t have to go and he’s cool with that.”

“I’ll have to stop at my house to get different clothes. All I have is jeans and shorts at your place.”

I turn off Highway 1 and start making my way through the surface streets of our neighborhood.

“Was Bobby stoked when you told him you could go to Tahoe?”

“Yep, pretty darn happy boy. I’m flying out tomorrow. I still can’t believe that when I called Chrissie to discuss flight details she was still cool with everything.”

Zoe pouts. “I wish I could go.”

I lift a brow. “Are you ever going to tell me what got you put on restrictions with the coolest parents ever, Ian and Yotti?”

She crinkles her nose. “Jake stayed over by accident. He didn’t mean to. He fell asleep and my dad saw him in the morning nude and in my bathroom.”

“Oh shit.”

“Exactly. I can’t go anywhere with anyone but you, Kaley, for the entire winter break.”

I glance at her. “Do you want me to stay and not go to Tahoe?”

She beams. “No. It’s OK. But it’s really sweet that you offered.”

I turn into my driveway. “I’ll stay if you want me to.”

“Nope, that’s OK.” Zoe frowns. “Whose car is that and what the heck kind of car is it?”

A sleek, foreign sport car is parked where the Mercedes had been.

I pull my keys from the ignition. “I’ve never seen a car like that before.” I make a face. “But I’m pretty sure it’s Alan’s.”

“So everything is good. Right?”

I slouch back in my seat. “Good? I don’t know if it’s good. My mom’s not talking to me about it. And I’m not prying because Bobby’s right. It’s their shit and it’s better that I stay out of it.”

 Zoe nods in approval. “My mom says whenever I hear them fight all night that my only job is to be happy. Which is totally confusing, because I can’t be happy when they’re fighting and when I am happy she grounds me. Like she did over Jake.”

We both start laughing again.

I open my door. “Do you want to wait here, I’ll just be a sec, or do you want to come in?”

Zoe unbuckles fast. “Definitely in.”

When I step through the front door, Ethan barrels into me, wrapping his arms around my legs. I set down my keys on the console table and lift him up onto my hip.

“What’s wrong, little buddy?”

He lifts his face from my shoulder. “Is Aarsi still here?” he whispers fiercely.

My eyes go wide. “Her car is gone. I don’t think so. Why?”

“I don’t want her to catch me. Don’t want to go to Grandma’s with Krystal and Eric. Want to stay with Mom.”

I kiss him on the cheek and set him on his feet. “I think you’re safe. You don’t have to hide anymore, Ethan. Where’s Mom?”

He stares up at me. “In the studio.”

I frown. “Still?”

He takes off without answering me and disappears down the hall.

“God, he’s so cute,” Zoe says.

“He looks just like my grandpa Jack.”

Zoe looks around the house with her nose slightly lifted in the air. “Something smells good.”

“Lourdes must be cooking. Are you hungry?”

Zoe nods enthusiastically. “That popcorn didn’t do it. I could definitely eat.”

We go into the kitchen to find Lourdes hard at work.

“Hi, Lourdes. How long until dinner is ready?”

She arches a brow. “Ethan has already eaten. I did not know you would be here for dinner. You will have to wait. I’m busy now.”

I peek into the oven. “Wait? Why? There’s braciole.”

“That is not for you, mi niña. You want braciole you tell me you will be here. I am not a restaurant. That is for Mrs. Harris and Señor Alan. A special dinner for them. You wait until I’m done. Then you can cook yourself a grilled cheese.”

I give her the wide puppy-dog eyes. “But it smells so good. And braciole is my favorite.”

Well, that worked brilliantly.

She doesn’t even look at me. She stares intently at the tablet beside her, chopping vegetables somehow without chopping herself.

Her eyes shift to me briefly. “It is Señor Alan’s favorite, too. That is why I make it. For him. Not you.”

Zoe chokes back a laugh, but my cheeks burn. Fuck. I’ve only been gone five hours. Everything feels totally out of whack again.

I sink down heavily on a barstool. “Where is Alan, anyway?”

She points with her chin. “He is in there.”

Zoe’s eyes glow impishly as she leans in to me. “He’s in the cabinet? Way to go, Chrissie. She’s got him hog-tied now.”

We both laugh.

Lourdes rebukes us with her eyes. “Señor Alan is in the nursery. He has been there all evening with Khloe. I have been watching. It is why I am cooking him braciole tonight. A man who does not love his children is not a real man. Even if they are as cute as Señor Bobby, you should not sleep with them unless you are positive he will love his children. Remember that, chica. Much happens in a woman’s life beyond her control. But a real man always loves his children.”