In the Age of Love and Chocolate by Gabrielle Zevin

can’t live there either.”
    “I’ll go back to Gable’s apartment with you to get your stuff and Felix’s, if you want.”
    She laughed. “I’m about to sound terrible. I know I’ve already asked you for so much. But would you … would you mind going alone? I don’t want to bring Felix back to Gable’s parents’ place. Everyone is so upset. I don’t want him in the middle.”
    At that moment, Theo came into the living room. “I will watch the baby,” he said, “and then you both will go.” He must have been eavesdropping.
    He walked over to the couch and scooped up Felix from my lap. “See. Los niños, they love me.” Felix was grabbing Theo’s mustache, which he had grown in the months since he’d moved to New York.
    He offered Scarlet his hand. “We have not met. I am Theo.”
    “Scarlet,” she said. “And he’s Felix.”
    “Ah, the best friend. I am Anya’s boyfriend.”
    Scarlet looked at me. “What? Since when do you have a boyfriend?”
    “He’s not my boyfriend,” I said.
    “My English is not perfect,” Theo said. “I only mean I am a boy and I am her friend.”
    “I don’t understand,” Scarlet said. “Is he your boyfriend or isn’t he?”
    I sighed. “Who needs such labels? We should leave if you want to do this tonight.” I turned to Theo. “Also, Scarlet’s going to be your new waitress.”
    “Wait? What?” Theo said. “You are not bad to look at, but do you have any experience?”
    “I’m a fast learner,” she said with a smile.
    *   *   *
    Scarlet unlocked the door to Gable’s parents’ apartment. “Maybe they won’t be home,” she said.
    We went inside and no one was there. Scarlet told me to pack up the bedroom while she packed up the nursery. I threw her clothes into a suitcase and her makeup and jewelry into a box. I was nearly finished when I heard the door to the apartment open.
    “Scarlet?” a woman called. I recognized the voice as Gable’s mother.
    “In the nursery,” Scarlet replied.
    I set the suitcase and the box by the front door and went to wait just outside the nursery door. I thought there could be trouble so I wanted to keep close.
    “You can’t take our grandchild away!” Gable’s mother yelled.
    “I’m not taking him away. I would never do that. But we can’t live here anymore. It isn’t good for anybody. And it doesn’t make sense now that Gable is gone.”
    “Gable will come back,” his mother said. “He’s upset.”
    “No,” Scarlet said, “he’s not coming back. He told me he wasn’t, and I believe him.”
    “Gable is a good boy,” his mother insisted. “He wouldn’t leave the mother of his child.”
    “He did,” Scarlet said. “It’s been a month.”
    I was mildly shocked that Scarlet had waited an entire month before she’d told me about Gable leaving.
    “Well, you can’t take my grandson,” Gable’s mother repeated. “I won’t let you. I’ll call the police.”
    I went into the nursery. “Actually, she has every right to take your grandson.”
    “What is she doing here?” Gable’s mother was no great fan of mine.
    “Scarlet is the mother, and the city doesn’t automatically recognize grandparents’ rights,” I said.
    “Why should I believe you?” Gable’s mother asked. “You’re no lawyer. You’re some trashy girl who owns a club.”
    “The reason you should believe me is because trashy girls like me have hard lives.” I got right in Gable’s mother’s piggish face. “I’ve bounced around family and juvenile courts since I was a kid, and I know everything about everything when it comes to who gets custody of whom.”
    “It’s all your fault!” Gable’s mother yelled at me. “If you hadn’t poisoned him—”
    “I didn’t poison him. He ate bad chocolate. And your son was a terrible boyfriend, so it comes as no surprise that he’s a terrible father and fiancé. Come on, Scarlet. We’re leaving.” Gable’s mother was blocking the door so I moved her out of