transfer.”
He raised his eyebrows at her, fairly: it was an off-color joke; she wasn’t sure where it had come from.
“He seemed calm. Wendy was—Wendy. He had the most meager amount of stuff, Matty; it was so—like his entire life fit into a couple of bags. And when we left the Danforths’ house—Hanna was crying, but Jonah was just—resigned. Like he’d done it a thousand times before. Which I guess he has . It just struck me how little I know about him.”
“No kidding,” Matt said archly. His tone jarred her.
“I don’t mean that in like a sinister way,” she said. “I just mean that he’s had so many experiences that I can’t even— I don’t mean he’s dangerous or anything.”
“I’m not necessarily saying he’s dangerous, Viol, but he’s—I mean, he’s a wild card. You know nothing about him.”
“Hanna had nothing but good things to say.”
“And yet weeks ago you discredited her as a flaky granola weirdo moving to Ecuador because the spirits moved her.”
“Well, she is, but…” She cleared her throat, sipped her drink. “He’s coming over for dinner sometime soon when Wendy has plans.”
Matt froze, then closed his eyes and exhaled. “Violet.”
“She just sprang it on me—Wendy did, and I couldn’t…”
“You couldn’t what ?”
“She’s— You don’t understand how she—what it’s like when she—”
“What? Manipulates the hell out of you?”
“She’s taking him in, Matty. And I just felt bad, leaving him like that, like I was just dropping something at the dry cleaner’s.”
“But Wendy is the solution,” he said, as though speaking to a small child. “You didn’t want him to get shoved back into the system. But it’s not fair to Eli and Wyatt to force a stranger into their lives in this way. Have you given any thought to that? It took Wyatt six months to adjust to a new cereal bowl; we can’t just expect him to accept out of nowhere that he’s got a new half brother. And what if things don’t work out for him? What if this isn’t a good fit and he has to find an alternative? What kind of impact will that have on our sons, springing a new family member on them and then having him disappear?”
“Kids adjust to new siblings all the time. I was about Wyatt’s age when Liza was born.”
“This isn’t us having a new baby, Violet. How do you plan on explaining this to them?”
“Well, there may be some literature on—”
“On introducing your secret teenage child to your toddlers?” he said meanly. “Never mind the fact that it never occurred to you to ask me if I’d be okay with him meeting them.”
“It’s not as though we have all this time for conversation lately,” she said, a cheap shot. “Matt, this just happened. She just did this. I’m sorry if you feel out of the loop, but I just— This got dumped in my lap and I’m trying to deal with it the best I can and I don’t have a chance to run every single thing by you before I do it.”
“Wendy didn’t just do it. You agreed to dinner.”
“She put me on the spot.”
“And you’re putting me on the spot. It’s not like you to make impulsive decisions like this.” He cupped his hands around his tumbler, staring into it. He shook his head once, quickly. “I barely recognize you lately.”
Instead of saying me either, she said—another sentence formed and uttered of its own accord: “There was always a chance of him reentering my life.”
“This isn’t about him reentering, Violet. That’s already happened. This is about you making responsible decisions that won’t completely bulldoze our family. You can’t just play the Wendy’s Wendy card whenever you decide to do something—”
“Something what?”
“We’re your family now, Violet. The boys have to come first.”
“They do come first.”
“Until your sister opens her mouth, and then suddenly it’s a free-for-all.”
“It’s one dinner, Matt.”
“That’s not how this
He raised his eyebrows at her, fairly: it was an off-color joke; she wasn’t sure where it had come from.
“He seemed calm. Wendy was—Wendy. He had the most meager amount of stuff, Matty; it was so—like his entire life fit into a couple of bags. And when we left the Danforths’ house—Hanna was crying, but Jonah was just—resigned. Like he’d done it a thousand times before. Which I guess he has . It just struck me how little I know about him.”
“No kidding,” Matt said archly. His tone jarred her.
“I don’t mean that in like a sinister way,” she said. “I just mean that he’s had so many experiences that I can’t even— I don’t mean he’s dangerous or anything.”
“I’m not necessarily saying he’s dangerous, Viol, but he’s—I mean, he’s a wild card. You know nothing about him.”
“Hanna had nothing but good things to say.”
“And yet weeks ago you discredited her as a flaky granola weirdo moving to Ecuador because the spirits moved her.”
“Well, she is, but…” She cleared her throat, sipped her drink. “He’s coming over for dinner sometime soon when Wendy has plans.”
Matt froze, then closed his eyes and exhaled. “Violet.”
“She just sprang it on me—Wendy did, and I couldn’t…”
“You couldn’t what ?”
“She’s— You don’t understand how she—what it’s like when she—”
“What? Manipulates the hell out of you?”
“She’s taking him in, Matty. And I just felt bad, leaving him like that, like I was just dropping something at the dry cleaner’s.”
“But Wendy is the solution,” he said, as though speaking to a small child. “You didn’t want him to get shoved back into the system. But it’s not fair to Eli and Wyatt to force a stranger into their lives in this way. Have you given any thought to that? It took Wyatt six months to adjust to a new cereal bowl; we can’t just expect him to accept out of nowhere that he’s got a new half brother. And what if things don’t work out for him? What if this isn’t a good fit and he has to find an alternative? What kind of impact will that have on our sons, springing a new family member on them and then having him disappear?”
“Kids adjust to new siblings all the time. I was about Wyatt’s age when Liza was born.”
“This isn’t us having a new baby, Violet. How do you plan on explaining this to them?”
“Well, there may be some literature on—”
“On introducing your secret teenage child to your toddlers?” he said meanly. “Never mind the fact that it never occurred to you to ask me if I’d be okay with him meeting them.”
“It’s not as though we have all this time for conversation lately,” she said, a cheap shot. “Matt, this just happened. She just did this. I’m sorry if you feel out of the loop, but I just— This got dumped in my lap and I’m trying to deal with it the best I can and I don’t have a chance to run every single thing by you before I do it.”
“Wendy didn’t just do it. You agreed to dinner.”
“She put me on the spot.”
“And you’re putting me on the spot. It’s not like you to make impulsive decisions like this.” He cupped his hands around his tumbler, staring into it. He shook his head once, quickly. “I barely recognize you lately.”
Instead of saying me either, she said—another sentence formed and uttered of its own accord: “There was always a chance of him reentering my life.”
“This isn’t about him reentering, Violet. That’s already happened. This is about you making responsible decisions that won’t completely bulldoze our family. You can’t just play the Wendy’s Wendy card whenever you decide to do something—”
“Something what?”
“We’re your family now, Violet. The boys have to come first.”
“They do come first.”
“Until your sister opens her mouth, and then suddenly it’s a free-for-all.”
“It’s one dinner, Matt.”
“That’s not how this
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