Free Slow Dancing on Price's Pier by Lisa Dale Page A

with this if he knew how to take a hint. “Garret? Why don’t you tell Irina what you’re doing today?”
    He answered without hesitation. “Playing mini golf,” he said, and he flashed his big, charming smile. “Have you ever played mini golf?”
    Irina nodded.
    â€œDo you like it?”
    She nodded again.
    â€œI bet you’re not very good at it though,” he said. “Your mom never was.”
    â€œI’m good at it!” Irina said, and she let go of Thea’s hand. “I’m awesome at it. I’m the best in my school!”
    Thea glanced at Garret, thankful—and trying not to remember the night he kept hiding her golf ball under windmills and fiberglass stones. “Irina, why don’t you go use the bathroom before you get in the car?”
    â€œBut I don’t have to go.”
    â€œTry,” Thea said.
    Irina dragged herself in the direction of the small unisex bathroom. Thea’s heart ached for her daughter. What kind of family didn’t see each other? And what kind of parents could communicate the duties of parenthood only through a messenger like Garret? If Jonathan didn’t get in touch with her, personally, soon, she would get in touch with him.
    She glanced at Garret, the blue of his eyes so sharp and disarming. She crossed her arms. “So, are you really going mini golfing?”
    â€œWe are now.” He flipped open his phone, stared at the screen. “Excuse me,” he said.
    â€œOh. I just remembered. I have something for Sue—” Thea hurried over to the locker and retrieved a silver pen from her bag. When she returned to the front of the counter, Garret wasn’t on the phone. He was watching, waiting for her.
    â€œWhat’s this?” he asked, taking the pen and turning it in his hand.
    â€œSue left it when we had lunch the other day. If you could give it to her when you see her, that would be great.”
    He scoffed. “You had lunch with my mother.”
    â€œWe always do.”
    He shook his head. “Not anymore, you don’t.”
    â€œJonathan knows about it,” she said. “He’s fine with it.”
    â€œJonathan doesn’t know what’s good for him right now.”
    â€œAnd you do?”
    â€œThea—you’re not a part of this family. Jonathan left you. You’re not attached to us anymore.”
    Thea felt her eyes burn. “It’s not that easy.”
    â€œWhat’s not easy about it?” he asked. “Jonathan needs his mother right now. His family. You owe it to him to steer clear.”
    She stared at him, and for the first time, it occurred to her that she had no idea who he was anymore. Though she hadn’t seen him in ages, she’d assumed that the deep fundamentals of his being would still be recognizable. She thought she might still know him and understand him if only because of how close she’d been to him years ago. But now she saw that maybe she’d been wrong—that he’d changed so much that he was no longer the same person in any way. When she looked at him now—the strong bones of his face, the familiar shape of his hands and fingernails, the unaltered blue of his eyes—she was no longer looking at the boy she’d once loved.
    â€œAre you really such a monster?” she asked.
    He was quiet for a moment. She thought his voice would be mean, cruel, when he spoke again. But it was not. “Are you?”
    Irina came back from the bathroom, dragging her feet, and Thea put on a cheerful smile. “Did you go?”
    She nodded.
    Thea bent down and tucked a strand of her daughter’s pale brown hair behind her ear where it had fallen out of her ponytail. “You’re going to have a great time.”
    â€œHow do you know?”
    â€œI asked the coffee grounds in my cup this morning.”
    â€œReally!” Her eyes brightened. “What did they say?”
    â€œThey said