Starcrossed

she’s working at the store tonight, so that will have to wait. Your dad’s going to be here in about fifteen minutes, so if there’s anything you need to brush or wash first,” she said, finally turning around to inspect the windswept girl standing in her kitchen wearing clothes that were about four sizes too big for her, “I’d do it quick,” she finished with a knowing smile.
    Helen looked down at her grass-stained feet. She tried to run a hand through her hair, and squeaked with pain when all the short hairs on the back of her neck got yanked out. Ariadne laughed.
    “You look like you’ve been dragged through a bush backward. But I can fix that.” Ariadne stood up, pried Helen’s hand away from Lucas’s, and dragged her out of the kitchen.
    Helen couldn’t believe how many knots were in her hair, but eventually Ariadne managed to tease them out with some anti-frizz lotion and a straight comb. Then Helen washed her feet, tied her hair back in a ponytail, and threw on some flip-flops that Ariadne loaned her so fast she was halfway down the steps before she realized that they were too big on her and she could break her neck.
    “What the hell are you wearing?” Jerry said as soon as he saw her. Helen burst out laughing, partly because her dad had said exactly what she was thinking, but mostly because of the dumb-ass look on his face.
    “It’s a loaner. My track uniform was all sweaty. Hey, they’re huge, but at least they’re clean,” Helen said, gesturing down to the gigantic T-shirt and the rolled-up sweatpants.
    “Oh. Well, you look . . . comfortable?” he said suspiciously.
    “Next time I’ll wear a ball gown,” Helen promised. Still laughing with her dad, she turned and noticed that half the Delos family was watching them, apparently amused.
    “I see what you mean,” Castor said to Lucas, and the two of them shared a look that Helen didn’t understand before he turned to Jerry and smiled warmly.
    “It’s nice to see you again, Jerry,” Castor said, coming forward with his hand extended for Jerry to shake.
    “And you, Castor. I intended to be the first to suggest we all sit down to a meal together, but your wife seems to be a step ahead of me,” Jerry said graciously.
    “Welcome to my world,” Castor replied with a laconic smile, the two men already enjoying each other’s company.
    The introductions were as brief as possible, considering they included so many people, and Jerry handled them like a pro. He’d run a local store for almost twenty years and he was accustomed to remembering people’s names and adjusting to even the most eccentric of personalities. Helen watched him respond in just the right way to make one person smile, another laugh, and yet another stop and think. She was proud of her dad, not just because he was clever and funny, but because he knew when not to be.
    It also helped that Lucas’s family had similar tastes, both in conversation and in food. Jerry ate up a storm and gently leaned on Noel until she confessed that she had been a chef in her pre-mom life, years ago, when she lived in France. Noel even admitted that she had made a few stealth trips to the News Store. She generously declared Kate’s sea salt, rosemary, and créme fraîche croissants to be a work of crazy genius. Jerry beamed with pride, as if Kate was the buried treasure that he had been lucky enough to dig up. Helen elbowed him.
    “I see you blushing,” she whispered to her dad.
    “Yeah, and you’re not. Why is that?” he asked back.
    “No reason to,” she said, a traitorous glow starting to grow on her cheeks.
    “Uh-huh,” he said, not buying it. “Is this the part where I’m supposed to be the concerned parent and demand that you tell me exactly what’s going on between you and Mr. Superfantastic over there?”
    “No. This is the part where you mind your own business and eat your dinner,” Helen said, sounding exactly like a mom.
    “Good! Another bullet dodged,” he said with a smile, and asked for seconds of Noel’s potatoes au gratin.
    The rest of the evening went along as well as Helen could have hoped, until the end. Helen chatted with Jason, joked around with Ariadne, and even spoke briefly with Pallas about his job as a museum curator. Up to that point, Pallas had seemed cold, even hostile toward her, but as soon as they started discussing painting, he seemed to open up a bit. Helen was no expert, but she knew enough about art to keep the conversation