Page 325 of Dark Love

“I’m not really a teacher. But the best way to learn is by sitting down and writing until the words convey what your heart wants to say.”

She blinks twice. “Cool! I’m going to be a writer. Dad, can I go tell Fire that I’m going to be a writer?”

“Take these to your nonna first.” He holds out the flowers and the tray of brownies.

She doesn’t need to be told twice. Hope runs off, leaving us alone again.

Again, I’m standing at a stranger’s door in awkward silence. Why isn’t there a hole I can jump into and disappear?

“Is there any way I can convince you to reconsider giving me your number? I’ve been trying to explain that to my daughter for months. I’d even considered moving to some isolated island where there were no boys until she turned thirty.”

“No chance at all. But I’d be happy to drop by if she needs a refresher or has any other questions. Sex and love can be confusing when you’re a teenage girl.”

“Girls don’t have a monopoly on confusion.” A small smile tilts up the side of his lips.

“Could have fooled me.” We both know what he said is true.

“What if I find your number on my own and call to ask you out?”

“I’m not interested.”

“In me or in dating at the moment? Because I’ll have you know, I’m a patient and persuasive man.”

Am I interested in him? There hasn’t been a single spark. Not one little inclination that we have a chance of going anywhere. “I’m not interested in either, sorry. Friends are all I’m up for at the moment.”

“Do friends get brownies?” He pops the last bit of the one he stole into his mouth.

“On occasion.”

“Deal. But you better come in and have some dinner first.” He steps back.

It’s going to be a long night.

***

The food was so good, I might be falling into a coma. Mom is a good cook, but nothing like these people. Cooking is an art form around here. One that I actually understand. They might have to roll me out of here soon, but until they do, I’m just going to sit here and let the food digest in their park that’s pretending to be a backyard.

“You aren’t going to date my father, are you?” Hope plops down in the chair next to me.

Ahhh. So that was what the invitation was all about. “No. I’m not.”

“What if I tell you he’s a wonderful guy and stupid rich?”

The billionaire thing wasn’t a joke, was it? “I already know that he’s a wonderful guy. He loves you very much. And Hope, you need to learn this right now, because if you wait until you’re older, it’s a lesson you’ll learn the hard way. Money doesn’t matter when it comes to love. And if it does, you’re not really in love.”

“But on television—”

“On television, elephants fly, and mice can plot to take over the world. Regardless of what society tells you, if the only reason you ‘love’ a guy is because he’s rich, you don’t love him at all. What is all of this really about?” I search her face for answers she probably doesn’t even understand.

“I’m going to go to college soon, and my dad is going to be all alone.”

Ahh. “He’s hardly alone with all this family around him.”

“It’s not the same. Since I killed my mom—”

“Excuse me! What did you just say?”

“I didn’t shoot my mom or anything. She got cancer and chose to have me instead of getting the treatments that might have saved her.”

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