Jude spent another thirty minutes in the store, waiting for the inscriptions to be finished, then paid for her purchases and left.
She drove down to the waterfront and caught the three o’clock ferry. At just before four, she was back on Pine Island, turning onto Night Road.
At home, she found Mia seated at the dining room table, with her laptop open, watching something on the screen.
“I overacted in Our Town,” Mia said miserably. “Why didn’t anyone tell me? USC will hate this.”
Jude went to Mia, stood beside her. “Go to that scene in Streetcar, when you were on the balcony. That’ll blow them away.”
Mia took out one CD and put in another.
“How was school today?”
Mia shrugged. “Mrs. Rondle gave us a pop quiz. So lame. And they announced the winter play. Romeo and Juliet, set during the Vietnam War. I can get the lead, which is cool. Zach is gonna take Lexi home after practice, but he’ll be home for dinner.”
Jude rubbed Mia’s back. “What do you think about Zach and Lexi being together?”
“I bet it’s killed you not to ask me that before.”
Jude smiled. “A little.”
Mia looked up. “It’s scary … and sorta cool, I guess.”
Jude thought about Mia before Lexi, when her daughter had been like a scared, fragile turtle with her head tucked deep inside her shell. Mia’s only friends had been fictional. Lexi had changed all that. “Whatever happens between them, you and Lexi have to stay honest with each other. You have to stay friends.”
“After Zach breaks up with her. That’s what you mean.”
“I’m just saying…”
“I’ve thought of it myself, believe me. But … I think he really likes her. He talks about her all the time.”
Jude stood there a minute longer, trying to figure out how to best bring up the other thing on her mind. Finally, she decided to just do it. “There’s one other thing…”
“What? You want to ask me again if Tyler and I are doing it? We’re not.” Mia laughed.
“I remember the first time I fell in love. Keith Corcoran. Senior year of high school. Just like you. I didn’t know until Keith kissed me how falling in love could be like riding a waterfall into warm water.” She shrugged. “No one talked to me about it. Grandma is a pretty buttoned-up woman. All she ever said to me about love was that it derailed a woman. So I learned on my own and, like everyone, I made some mistakes. And the world is more dangerous now. I don’t want you to sleep with Tyler—you’re too young—but…” She went over to the second drawer beside the stove, opened it. She took out a small brown bag and handed it to Mia. “These are for you. Just in case.”
Mia peered into the bag and saw the word condom printed on a brightly colored box. She gasped and clamped a hand over the bag. “Mo-om. Gross. We haven’t done anything.”
“I’m not saying you’ll need them. In fact, I hope you don’t, but you know me. And I can see that you think you do love him.”
“I don’t need these,” Mia mumbled. “But thanks.”
Jude looked down at her daughter. Touching her chin, she forced Mia to look up at her. “Sex changes everything, Mia. It can be great for a relationship when you’re ready—older—but it can be napalm when you’re not ready. And baby, you’re not ready. Just so you know.”
*