Danny strode through the door several hours later with a spring to his step and a broad smile on his face. He’d never looked happier, and he surprised the hell out of Mia by giving her an enormous bear hug when he saw her.
Mia pasted a smile on her face, trying valiantly to share in his joy, but their mother’s unforeseen visit continued to play over in her mind like a shitty pop song. It was hard to convey enthusiasm for the Warriors’ latest win when she couldn’t stop picturing Brenda’s devastated expression as Mia slammed the door on her.
But she couldn’t let herself feel guilty about what she’d done. Her mother was a poison that killed everything in its path. She’d never cared about her children, only herself, and they were better off without her.
Mia clung to that reminder as she listened to Danny describe every single play of Friday night’s game. She was tempted to cut him off and tell him about Brenda’s appearance on their doorstep, but she resisted the urge. The best course of action was to keep Danny in the dark and forget that Brenda had ever been here.
“Wow,” Mia remarked when her brother finally stopped babbling. “You’re ridiculously happy about this win.”
He blinked. “Yeah. Right. The win. I’m psyched about it.”
“Do you think the team will make the playoffs?”
“If we keep playing this way, then for sure we will.” He beamed. “You know the Warriors haven’t made the playoffs in four years? And now not only will we get there, but everyone’s saying we can actually win state.”
“That’s because your quarterback rocks.” This time her smile wasn’t forced, but bright and genuine. “So what’s your plan for today? You’re not working, right?”
“Leon gave me the weekend off.”
The shit-eating grin never left Danny’s face, making Mia wonder if he might be on drugs. But no, his pupils looked fine, and he was speaking in coherent sentences. Must be the leftover high from his win, then.
“Ang and I wanted to do something outdoors today,” Danny added. “’Cause it’s such a nice day.”
“Do you need me to drop you guys off somewhere?”
“Naah, Angie’s sister is giving us a ride.” He paused. “We might walk around the harbor, or maybe go to the beach.”
“Sounds like fun.” Mia glanced at the clock on the DVD player. “Jackson’s coming over later, around six. We were going to grab dinner at Tonio’s. Do you and Angie want to come with us?”
“Probably, but I’ll check with her. Her parents might want her to have dinner at home tonight since she was away all weekend.”
There was an odd flicker in his eyes, but Mia couldn’t decipher it. So she just shrugged and said, “All right, well, call me later and let me know.”
“Cool beans.” Danny bounded toward the hallway. “Gonna shower and get ready. Ang will be here soon.”
Mia watched him hurry off. She’d never seen him so jubilant about a game before, which made her wonder if there was more to his happiness than met the eye.
A rush of suspicion suddenly coursed through her veins.
Had their mom somehow made contact with Danny?
Was that why he was in such a euphoric mood?
She prayed that wasn’t the case, but she wouldn’t put anything past her mother. For some reason Brenda was determined to reunite with her children, particularly her son, and she was manipulative enough to use Danny’s teenage naiveté to wrangle her way back into their lives.
The notion was maddening, and it stayed with Mia all afternoon, bothering her so much that it was the first thing she brought up when Jackson arrived at the apartment later that evening.
“Do you think Danny has seen our mother?”
Shrugging out of his black Windbreaker, Jackson wrinkled his forehead, his whiskey eyes reflecting bewilderment. “I don’t think so. Why do you ask?”
Mia chewed on the inside of her cheek, barely returning the soft kiss he gave her as he joined her on the sofa. Not even his handsome face or the ripped arms poking out of his wifebeater could distract her from her troubling thoughts.
“She was here this morning,” Mia confessed.
“Seriously?”
“Yep,” she said flatly. “She just showed up on my door and demanded to be let in. Apparently she went to LA to visit a friend, and, I guess as an afterthought, decided to come see her kids. Oh, and she’s divorced again.”
“From the man she ran off with two years ago?”
“Nope, a different guy. Marriage and divorce number ten.”
“Whoa.” Jackson dragged his hand over his jaw, which boasted a five-o’clock shadow that normally would’ve made Mia’s heart pound. “So what does she want from y’all? Just to catch up?”
“I have no fucking idea what she wants. She claims she misses us, but that’s total bull. She’s been AWOL for two years, not a goddamn word from her. So why now? What could she possibly want?”
He reached out and took her hand. “Maybe she wants to reconnect with her children.”
Mia snorted.