“I didn’t mean it like that,” Finn corrected, but the trouble with backpedaling is that you can’t see where you’re going. “I just meant—”

“It’s okay,” Zadie said. “Romance novels aren’t for everyone.”

Finn sat forward and leaned her elbows on the table. “What do you like about them?”

Zadie hadn’t thought much about it, so she took her time answering. “Because I like the idea that two people can have all the odds stacked against them, but they figure out a way to make it work, because their love for each other is more important than all the other bullshit.” Then she added, “I’m not stupid. I know that’s not how real relationships work, but that doesn’t make it any less satisfying.”

Finn picked up the book and started flipping through the pages. “Can I borrow this?”

“Sure. I’m done with it, anyway.” It felt good to chat like this with her sister. She was reminded of the nights she used to read to Finn when she was young. Finn would nod off to sleep mid-story, and soon it was just Zadie reading The House at Pooh Corner to the owls.

“If you like it, I have a whole stack of others,” Zadie said.

Finn held up The Fisherman’s Desire and waggled her eyebrows. “Are they all as hunky as this guy?”

“Hunkier.”

The girls paid the bill and left the tip on the table. “Goodbye, Luanne,” Finn said, patting the armadillo on the head on their way out. As she stepped out into the parking lot, shielding her eyes from the desert sun, her phone buzzed in her back pocket; eight missed calls and three voice mails, all from Kathy. “Hey, I need to make a call.”

Zadie nodded and headed back to the car to give her sister privacy. She didn’t need to ask who Finn was calling.

Finn sucked in a breath and tapped on her foster mom’s icon on her phone. Kathy answered on the first ring. “Finn?” Her voice was shrill.

“Hey.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I’m fine. Did you get my note?”

“I did. After we called half the neighborhood.”

Kathy didn’t get angry that often, so Finn knew she had screwed up. “I’m sorry. I should have put it somewhere more obvious.”

“What you should have done is tell us you were leaving early, not sneak out in the middle of the night. Your dad about had a heart attack.” Kathy normally caught herself when she started to refer to Steve as Finn’s dad, but she was too upset to notice.

Finn felt herself shrivel inside. “He didn’t get my text?”

“He forgot his cell at the office.”

“Oh … I’m sorry. It was stupid. I was stupid.”