Page 3 of All Bets Are Off

“Sistersarethe worst,” Zach readily agreed, causing my heart to plummet. “You should go upstairs, Shortypants,” he continued. “We’re not going to be doing anything down here worthy of poetry anyway.”

I blinked. Then I blinked again. It was obvious he didn’t want me down here any more than Rex wanted me hanging around. And wasn’t that a kick in the sternum?

Before I could muster a response, my mother appeared at the bottom of the stairs. She looked tired, as if she’d already worked a double shift at the restaurant she owned. It was just off the strip and cheaper than some of the other restaurants. That meant she got good foot traffic and made a decent living. It was a lot of work, though, and when somebody called in sick, she had to cover. That’s why she’d worked back-to-back shifts today.

“What’s going on down here?” she asked, glancing between faces.

“Nothing,” Zach automatically replied. “You look lovely today, Mrs. Carter. You could be a model.”

Mom rolled her eyes, but a small smile played at the corners of her lips. “Has anybody ever told you that sometimes less is more, Zach?” she asked.

Zach seemed confused. “I don’t believe I’m following.”

“You’re a charming kid,” Mom said to him. “You have the world at your fingertips. There’s a fine line between charming and smarmy though.”

Rather than be offended, Zach seemed to take it all in. “Would you call my father smarmy?” he asked finally.

Mom looked caught. “Your father loves you,” was what she said finally.

Nobody commented on the fact that Zach had asked an entirely different question.

“Why are you guys fighting down here?” Mom asked, swinging the conversation back to where it had started.

“Your daughter won’t leave us alone,” Rex replied. “She’s sitting in the corner writing poetry like a big old loser.”

“Poetry?” Mom’s forehead creased in confusion, and she darted a look at me. Then she took in the notebook I was clutching, and understanding dawned on her. She knew I had a crush on Zach. I’d denied it multiple times, but she didn’t believe me. “I see.” Her smile popped the dimple I’d inherited from her in her left cheek. “Well, is there any reason she can’t write her poetry down here while you guys play?”

“Because you said we could have the basement to ourselves today,” Rex replied. “That was the trade-off for us not being able to go to that show Rex’s father got us the tickets for.”

“Oh, right.” Mom’s smile disappeared. “The burlesque show.” She made a clucking sound with her tongue, glanced overat me, and sighed. I knew the second her eyes turned pleading that I’d lost. “Can you please go upstairs? I did give your brother the basement for today.”

There was no sense in fighting. I knew it. If asking nicely didn’t work, Mom would simply put her foot down. I was too much of a good girl to fight with my mother when she put her foot down. “Fine.” I was sullen as I stepped around her to head up the stairs. “Whatever.”

Mom made an exasperated sound behind me. She hated it when I said “whatever” over and over again. She said it was a defeatist word and I had to learn how to argue with strength and perseverance. What had I said to that? Yeah.Whatever.

“Oh, don’t be so sad, Shorty,” Zach called to my back. “If you’d stayed down here with us, we would’ve made you recite your poetry.”

I didn’t meet his gaze. There was no point. He saw me as the annoying little sister who never let Rex get his way. I would never be anything but that to him.

My feet were heavy as I trudged up the stairs. When we reached the top, Mom put a hand on my arm. “Poetry?” she asked on an arched eyebrow.

All I could do was shrug.

“I know you have a crush on Zach,” she started.

“I don’t have a crush on him,” I lied, my cheeks catching fire. “Why would you say that?”

Mom held up her hands in surrender. “Sorry. Obviously, I was mistaken.” She glanced back down the stairs, then settled her gaze on me. “He’s not the one for you.”

“Who said anything about ‘the one’?” I was appalled.

“You’ve been crushing on him for two years.”

I narrowed my eyes. “What did I say?”

To my surprise, Mom laughed. “Zach has hard lessons in front of him. I know you can’t see that now, but his life isn’t going to be easy.”

Was she saying my life was going to be easy? I couldn’t follow.

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