Page 64 of Feast

By the timethe pizza was due to arrive all the towels had found new homes, the books were lined up in stacks three deep in front of the fireplace—alphabetically, of course—most of the boxes had been broken down, and Maddie was sprawled face down on her newly liberated couch.

“I didn’t realize I had so many books,” Halley mused. “I might need to order a second bookcase.”

“How could you not realize?” Maddie mumbled, her voice muffled by the pillow she had her face planted in. “You packed all the boxes. You even numbered them, and created a master list with the contents of each.”

“It didn’t seem like a lot,” Halley said. “I can put them on either side of the fireplace. The bookshelves, I mean. They’d look like built-ins.”

“Whatever.” Maddie wanted to check the time, but that would mean moving, and she wasn’t sure she was capable. “What time is it? Is the pizza here yet?”

“Not yet,” Halley said, and snorted when Maddie let out a wail of despair. “Calm down, it hasn’t even been an hour.”

“I’m going to die of starvation,” Maddie complained.

“You are not. Just think of something else and you’ll be fine.”

“I can’t think of anything else.”

“Okay, I’ll help. I heard you did Spence’s taxes last weekend.”

Since her face was still smashed in the pillow, Maddie didn’t have to hide the wince. “Yep.”

“How’d that go?”

“Fine. He’s only been in business for a few months, and he keeps good records. It only took a few hours.”

“That’s nice, but I meant, did you fuck him again?”

“Oh. Um. No.”

“Liar.”

Maddie lifted her head to scowl at her sister. “Excuse you.”

“Excuseyou,” Halley countered. “I’ve known you for twenty-nine years, Madison Elizabeth, and I know when you’re lying.”

“Thirty years,” Maddie said helpfully. “You’re thirty.”

“Shut up. Why’d you lie?”

Maddie sighed and rolled to her back. “I don’t think he wants anyone to know about it.”

Halley frowned, lowering herself to sit cross-legged on the floor. “Really? How come?”

“You know that’s not going to be so easy in a couple of months, right?” Maddie pointed out.

“You know you’re changing the subject, right?” Halley countered.

“Fine. I don’t know why,” Maddie mused. “And he didn’t actually say that, it’s just a vibe I got. Though he really didn’t want Heather or Dad to know.”

“That seems reasonable to me.”

“It is,” Maddie allowed, frowning. “But if they found out somehow, it wouldn’t be the end of the world, you know?”

Halley nodded. “Awkward, but not catastrophic.”

“Right. But I got the impression he thought it would be.”

“That’s interesting.” Halley looked thoughtful. “I know they’re close, Spence and Heather. Dad told me Spence’s dad took off when he was born, and Heather’s parents were older, so it was basically just the two of them.”

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