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smiled at her warmly. She was trying to start a conversation, as Kiera had

been oddly silent since she got to her parents’ house over an hour ago.

“It’s good,” Kiera said. She ducked her head and pushed her food around

a little bit more.

“Just good?” Kiera’s dad prompted. “Usually you tell us about the

exciting treasures you found during the week. There must have been

something that stood out.”

“And usually you tell me that you can’t make a living selling antiques

and that I should be doing something more worthwhile with my time and

money.”

Kiera’s mom shot her dad a look. Her dad shot one back. Kiera nearly

groaned. She hadn’t meant that to come out rude. More like a joke, but it

sounded more than a little biting.

“Well, antiques are generally hard to market and a mall is a big deal. We

were just worried you were taking on a lot,” her mom tried to qualify.

“We were just worried about you,” her dad agreed.

“I hired someone over a month ago. She’s great. Everyone loves her.”

“Oh?” Kiera’s dad resumed eating while her mom waited for whatever

was coming next.

“Yeah. She’s actually a lesbian.”

“What?” Kiera’s mom’s fork clattered against her plate. She picked it up

in a hurry. “Oh, well, that’s…that’s nice for her.”

Kiera nearly groaned. Nothing like screwing up everything she’d

rehearsed trying to say. She wanted to laugh at herself for all the hours

she’d spent trying to think of a way to talk to her parents and how badly she

was mucking everything up. She had never meant to blurt out that she’d

hired someone and she was actually a lesbian. What kind of a thing was that

to say?

“Yeah…” Kiera mumbled. “Do you…what do you think about that?”

There. At least it was out, even if she wanted to close her eyes and crawl