Chapter 26
Artemis
“Young hearts are like wet clay, easier to shape than to mend. But remember, even a twisted pot can hold a beautiful flower.”
—Eloisa Hobby
Artie slouched lower in the wicker chair, glaring at her mother and Paul, who were making googly eyes at each other across the lacquered table. She wanted to grab her butter knife and gouge her own eyes out. This dinner party at Chez Snooty was turning into a total disaster.
Mom and Paul had just broken the news that they’d been high school sweethearts, and they were dating again. Not that Artie hadn’t gotten a clue when she’d seen them smooching up a storm in broad daylight.
That cut deep for two reasons. One, Dad had only been dead a little over a year, how could Mom move on so fast? And two, that meant if Paul married her mother, Orion, the betrayer, would be her stepsister.
Artie couldn’t just sit by and let that go down without doing something.
Sure, on the surface, Paul seemed like an okay dude—rocking the handsome gardener thing with his tousled hair and awesome tan. But no one could ever replace Artie’s dad. She would rather live in a cardboard box underneath a bridge in Julep with nothing but grackles and stray dogs for company than accept this man worming his way into their lives.
Pure burning jealousy motivated her. She wanted her mother—and Orion—all to herself. When she caught her mom sucking face with Paul, it made her want to puke up her guts right on his too-cool-for-school deck shoes. The last thing she needed was more upheaval in her life. Hadn’t she been through enough crap this year?
She slid a glance over at Orion, who sat hunched, slathering butter on a chunk of sourdough bread. She hadn’t met Artie’s gaze since the girl and her dad walked into the restaurant and joined them at their table.
A fresh punch of jealousy hit her. Mom had a boyfriend and Orion apparently had a friend she liked a lot more than she liked Artie.
Where did that leave her?
First her dad was murdered, crushing Artie’s world. Then their finances imploded because Dad had gambled away all their money and they lost the house, forcing the move from Dallas to Nowheresville, Texas.
Great plan, Mom.
And now, to add flaming insult to already devastating injury, her mom was suddenly all snuggly with her high school sweetheart who’d reappeared out of the woodwork. Heck no. Not on Artie’s watch. This train needed derailing ASAP before it ever left the station.
But major conflicts stood in Artie’s way, threatening her kinetic plan of romance demolition.
First, Paul and her mom were clearly obsessed with each other, making it nearly impossible to break their tractor-beam connection. They kept gazing into each other’s eyes, like they were the leads in some nerdy rom-com, and “accidentally” brushing hands like teenagers. Barf-o-rama.
Heart emojis practically blinked above their heads.
She had to do something fast to smash apart Paul and her mom’s disturbing romantic entanglement before Artie needed dental repair from the saccharine sweetness rotting her teeth.
Gran wasn’t helping. Tonight, she was distracted and weirdly checked out, staring off into space and giving monosyllabic answers. She was usually Artie’s partner in crime, but tonight Gran seemed preoccupied, leaving Artie without a wingwoman.
The waiter brought a plate of escargot drowning in garlic butter. “A complimentary appetizer from the chef.”
Artie made a dramatic gagging sound. “Snails? Are you freaking kidding me right now? That’s straight-up nasty!”
“Artemis,” her mother said and sent her a scathing glare. “Please keep your negative opinions to yourself. We’re having a nice dinner.”
“Escargot is considered a delicacy in France,” said Paul, an encouraging smile on his face.
Gak. She didn’t need this guy on her side.
“Whatever. It’s the same bugs that get squashed by car tires in our driveway.” Artie made a show of pushing the escargot as far away from her as her arm would reach, sliding the appetizer plate in front of Orion.
Orion scooped up an escargot with the serving spoon, pulled it from the shell with a tiny fork, and popped it into her mouth. She locked eyes with Artie as if challenging her and chewed. “Mmm, snails in garlic butter. Yummy.”
Well, that sort of deflated Artie’s whole schtick.
The main course arrived, and Paul and Mom were talking about when they were teenagers. Ancient history. Who cared?
“Remember when we went swimming at Miller’s Pond in the moonlight?” Mom gazed into Paul’s eyes.
From the cat-that-ate-the-canary look on his face, Artie just knew they’d gone skinny-dipping. She gagged.
“Honey, are you okay?” Mom asked.
Hells to the no, woman. You’re flaunting this guy in my face.
Artie shot a look at Gran, who was cutting her chicken into itty-bitty little pieces. What was up with her? She swung her back to Mom, who was staring at Paul like he was crème br?lée and she couldn’t wait to devour him.
Stealthily, Artie grabbed the glass saltshaker and dumped a heaping portion onto her mom’s food when she wasn’t looking.
But as soon as she did it, she felt like a childish brat. Okay, she was mad, but that didn’t mean she got to take it out on other people.
Yikes, she needed to stop her mother from eating the overly salted food. What was wrong with her?
Orion caught Artie’s gaze. What did you do? she mouthed silently across the table, her eyes narrowing.
Artie winced. She hated that Orion seemed peeved with her. But hey, she was peeved with Orion and glared back.
Orion shook her head and curled her lips in disgust.
Artie felt as if the girl had punched her in the stomach. Flummoxed, Artie flung her arm, about to say something profound that needed gestures for effect, but she accidentally knocked her glass of cola off the table.
It hit the floor and exploded in a shower of fizzy caramel liquid, splattering nearby diners.
Orion glared at her.
Artie cringed. Knocking the glass over hadn’t been deliberate, but it probably looked that way to Orion.
The couple at the next table, dressed to the nines and clearly fancying themselves the hottest stuff in town, glowered at her too as they dabbed at the soda splashes dotting their designer clothes.
“Artemis Kathleen, what has gotten into you tonight? Apologize this instant, young lady,” Mom said.
“I didn’t mean to do it,” Artie mumbled.
“It doesn’t matter. You’re amped up and out of control. Apologize to these nice folks . . .” Mom waved at the cola-drenched diners patting themselves dry. “And clean up your mess.”
Feeling like the biggest jerk possible, Artie grabbed her napkin and started soaking up the spill while apologizing profusely to the people whose meal she ruined.
Paul leaped into action, asking the server for a roll of paper towels, helping Artie dab away the soda, reassuring her that accidents happened. He was being so nice, which made her feel even worse.
What was wrong with her?
Looking embarrassed over Artie’s stunt, Mom joined in the cleanup, along with Gran and Orion.
Okay, this hadn’t been her intention, but they were working together to fix what Artie had broken as if they were a real family.
She and Orion were underneath the table, wiping sticky liquid off the floor. Orion leaned in and rasped, “Whatever you’re up to, knock it off, this isn’t cool!”
“You’re okay with this?” With her thumb, Artie pointed toward the table.
“What?”
“Your dad and my mom, acting like horny teenagers.”
Orion shook her head and looked as if Artie was the most pitiful thing she’d ever seen. “You’ve got issues, girl. Sort yourself out.”
With that, she wadded up the cola-stained paper towels and slid away.
Artie too ducked from beneath the table and hopped to her feet. Everyone else had finished cleaning up and retaken their seats.
They were all staring at Artie.
“Sorry,” she said.
Paul smiled. “Let’s just enjoy our food.”
They went back to their meal. Her mother twirled pasta on her fork. The pasta Artie had laced with salt.
“Mom,” she said. “Don’t eat that.”
Her mother paused, the fork halfway to her mouth. “Why not?”
“I dumped salt all over it when you weren’t looking,” she confessed.
Everyone stared at her again.
With a pinched expression on her face, her mother set down her fork. “Why would you do that?”
Because I’m an asshole.
“She’s mad that you guys are dating,” Orion said.
Mom studied her. “Artie, is that true?”
“Not mad exactly.” Artie shrugged and stared down at her plate, unable to meet her mother’s hurt gaze.
“What exactly?” Mom prodded.
Gak. She didn’t want to discuss this in front of everyone.
“Artie?”
She raised her head to see Paul lightly put his hand on Mom’s shoulder.
“Maybe now’s not the time, Moon—er . . . Luna,” he said.
Oh great! They had pet names for each other already.
“It’s all right.” Artie lifted her chin and met Paul’s gaze with a challenging stare. “I can speak for myself.”
“Please do,” he said, looking amused.
His amusement raised her hackles. Then she remembered what Eloisa had told her in Prism Pavilion and breathed the way the quirky older woman had taught her. Almost immediately, she felt her anger ebb. Dang, she should have tried that sooner.
Everyone at the table waited, watching her.
Okay, she started this. Time to finish it.
“Things are changing too fast,” Artie said. “I mean my dad died, we lost all our money, had to sell the house and move in with Gran, now Gran’s about to lose her house and we ended up on this weird purple island where Mom runs into her high school sweetheart. It’s surreal.”
Paul and Mom exchanged glances. Artie couldn’t read the expression they passed to each other, but it was an identical look. As if they could read each other’s thoughts.
“It feels like nothing lasts. You know?” To Artie’s horror, her voice cracked with raw emotion.
“Nothing does last,” Orion said, her bleak words blunt as a hammer. “The sooner you realize that and be grateful for what you do have, the happier you’ll be.”
Well, she didn’t need a lecture from Miss Holier Than Thou Orion, thank you very much.
“Orion,” Paul said. “Artie’s hurting. Let’s give her some emotional support.”
“Whatever,” Orion said. “I have to use the bathroom.” She got up and left the dining area.
Artie didn’t miss seeing Paul reach for her mother’s hand underneath the table and she gave it to him. Comforting each other over their ornery kids?
“May I be excused?” Artie asked.
“Yes,” Mom said. “I want you to know I’m so proud of you for opening up and making yourself emotionally vulnerable. That’s a challenging thing to do, even for grown-ups.”
“Thanks,” she mumbled. Her mother’s soothing words warmed her, but being vulnerable was hard work. Ducking her head, Artie hopped up and followed Orion into the restroom.
* * *
Orion stood rigid at the sink, her arms crossed tightly over her chest, shoulders tense, eyes narrowed to slits. “What do you want?”
“Can we talk?” Artie shifted her weight and stared at the floor, struggling to put her conflicted feelings into words. She didn’t do vulnerability and yet that’s what this required.
“Free country. I can’t control your mouth.”
“I’m confused,” Artie said, being honest and putting her feelings out there. This wasn’t easy for her.
Music piped in through the sound system playing on a low volume. It was the same Grateful Dead song that had been playing in Prism Pavilion about tossing pebbles into still waters and causing ripples.
Was it a sign she should drop this line of questioning and just leave Orion alone? The weird song was both uplifting and sad at once.
“About?”
“You.”
“What about me?” Orion’s eyebrow quirked up as she stared Artie down.
“Why the whiplash? One day you’re running hot and the next day cold. One day you like me and the next . . .” Artie trailed off with a shrug.
“Like you’re not running hot and cold?” Orion threw her hands in the air and looked exasperated. “It’s a little psychotic. What gives?”
Artie exhaled. They were at the truth of it now. Scary as quicksand. “I like the idea of us being sisters, but since I saw them kissing at the lighthouse, I freaked out. I’ve never seen my mom kiss anyone but my dad.”
Orion’s face softened. She uncrossed her arms and stepped closer. “I understand. You’re still grieving your father.”
“I know.” Artie hung her head. “But I’m supposed to be the strong one in the family.”
“Being strong means being brave enough to admit when you’re not okay. Give your mom a chance, doofus.”
Artie angled Orion a sidelong glance. “How did you get so smart?”
Orion quirked up one corner of her mouth. “Being raised on Hobby Island with a bevy of aunties. I have privileges most people don’t, and I’m darn grateful for them.”
“If being brave means admitting you’re struggling and can’t deal, there’s something I need to tell you.”
“What’s that?”
Artie wanted to tell Orion about being jealous over Heart-Shaped Eyewear Girl, but she didn’t think the women’s restroom at La Maison du Chat Noir was the place.
Or you’re just too cowardly to come right out and say it.
“You don’t have to tell me anything, Artie, unless you really want to.” Orion didn’t pressure her. She just waited.
No more pussyfooting. Just spit it out.
“I saw you with that girl.”
Orion frowned in thought. “Um, okay. What girl was that?”
“How many girls do you share milkshakes with?”
“Ahh, you saw me with Suki.” Orion nodded.
“I got jealous. It was stupid. I know it. But we had such an immediate connection and when I saw you looking so cozy with that girl . . . I just . . . well, my feelings got hurt.”
Orion rubbed a palm over her mouth. “You really want to know why I didn’t want my dad to date your mom?”
Artie nodded and watched the muscles in Orion’s jaw clench. Her friend was struggling with something too. “You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to.”
Having her advice reflected back to her brought a brief smile to Orion’s face. “You were brave enough to be honest with me, so here goes.” She took a deep breath and locked gazes with Artie. “I didn’t want my dad to hook up with your mom because if things work out and they get married, we’d be sisters.”
“I know! You don’t think that would be wonderful?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because I have feelings for you.”
Earnestness pushed through Artie. “I have feelings for you too.”
Orion shook her head. “Not these kinds of feelings. Not sisterly friendship feelings.”
“Oh . . .” Artie felt her eyes widen as it dawned on her what Orion was saying. “Oh.”
“Yeah.” Orion studied her, gauging Artie’s reaction.
“Wow. Um . . .” Artie pressed her palm to her forehead. “I’m not . . . I don’t . . . I like guys.”
“I know.” Orion sounded resigned and looked a little sad. “That’s why I called Suki. I needed someone to talk to who understood.”
“Does your dad know you’re . . .” Artie caught her breath.
“Gay? It’s okay to say the word.”
“I know, I know. I just . . . um . . .”
“Of course my dad knows. I tell him everything.”
“So, he’s cool?”
“My dad loves me, no matter what, and he accepts me for who I am.”
“That’s good. That’s great.” Artie’s voice came out too high. She was blowing this. The last thing in the world she wanted was to hurt Orion.
“So, you see, I hoped I might be your first kiss.” Orion shrugged sheepishly. “Just a little fantasy that got dispelled, that’s all. I’m over it.”
“Orion?”
“Yeah?”
“I don’t know what’s going to happen between our parents, but I can tell you one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“Having you as my sister? I should be so lucky. It would be a dream come true.”
“Guess we’ll just have to wait and see how things shake out between the folks, huh?”
“Yeah.”
“So maybe no more sabotage, okay? Let them figure out their own romance.”
“Agreed.”
“Come on, let’s get back before they get nosy and stick their heads in here.” Then Orion draped an arm across Artie’s shoulders and led her back to the dining room.