She shook her head. “I have an older sister and an older brother, too. My younger brothers are twins.”
“Wow! You have a big family.”
With a wry chuckle, she opened her menu. “I certainly do. It’s a lot of fun, though. We were always up to some silliness when we were growing up.”
I looked down at the table, fingering my own menu. “I have to admit, I’m jealous. I would have loved to have a sibling.”
When I looked back up at her, Theresa wore that same soft expression of sympathy that she’d had the day before.
“I’m so sorry. My siblings get on my nerves sometimes, but they’re also my good friends now that we’re all grown. If it helps, at least you didn’t have brothers shooting peas out of their noses at dinnertime when you were a kid.”
I snorted as I tried to hold in a laugh.
“They did what?”
Theresa laughed, shaking her head.
“They did that, and several other things that got us into trouble. Shooting shaving cream balloons into the neighbor’s yard, stealing flowers from the crotchety old lady on the corner, driving fast down a bumpy road in town to see how much air they could get…you name it, they did it. Especially the twins.”
I was in stitches by the time the waitress came. She gave me an odd look, but didn’t say anything except to ask our orders.
Theresa ordered a chocolate milkshake, cheeseburger, and fries, while I ordered a Buccaneer burger with fries and a strawberry milkshake.
“So…did they get some air in that car?”
She nodded grimly.
“Oh yeah. I was with them. My head hit the ceiling.”
This comment sent us into more gales of laughter. We were wiping away tears of mirth when the food came. I dug in immediately, not realizing how hungry I’d become after doing so much cleaning. Breakfast seemed like centuries ago.
“Wow, you weren’t kidding. These really are good fries.”
She grinned. “I told you! Deena’s is one of the things I miss most about Woods Crossing.”
“How come you left?”
Theresa pursed her lips as she chewed. She glanced out the window, her eyebrows lowering. I followed her gaze, but saw nothing.
“That’s another long and complicated story. Honestly, I’d rather not get into all of that.”
Shrugging, I turned back to my food, then paused. “Did that chameleon stuff work for you?”
She gave a wry chuckle. “It did.”
I paused with a fry halfway to my mouth, waiting for her to carry on, but she didn’t elaborate.
“What exactly do you use chameleon for?”
Twirling her fork through her fingers, she eyed me. “You really don’t know anything, do you?”
With a frown, I picked up my burger. “I did go to school and graduate, so I’m not totally ignorant…”
She shook her head. “I mean, about your family, your heritage.”
Having just taken a huge bite, I had to chew and swallow before answering. “You keep saying my heritage. What do you mean?”
Theresa frowned, and I again got the feeling that she was dealing with some internal battle.
“There’s so much to tell if you really don’t know anything…”
Closing my eyes, I let out a sigh. “Why don’t we start with my mom? Can you tell me anything about her?”
Theresa stirred her milkshake slowly, staring down into the cup. Her amber eyes finally flicked back up to mine.
“I told you I didn’t know her personally. She was from the Lightwood family, as you know, and my mom always said that she was as sweet as could be. But…there was bad blood between her family and some of the other families in Woods Crossing.”
I frowned.
“Why was there bad blood? What does that have to do with anything?”
Theresa shook her head slowly, her expression troubled. She pressed her fingertips to her temples, then looked up at me and rested her chin on her clasped hands.
“It’s important, but I’m not sure I should be the one to tell you why.”
I let out an impatient sigh. “Like I told you before, it would be nice to know literally anything about my family.”
Theresa chewed her lip as she absently swirled a fry in some ketchup.
