Signs Point to Yes

by Sandy Hall

  Lying isn’t wrong if you’re doing it to help someone else, she told herself.

  She was about to turn off her light and go to sleep when she heard the water in the bathroom running and then the sound of bare feet padding past her bedroom. Margo was still awake.

  Jane heaved herself out of bed and down the hall, knocking lightly on Margo’s door.

  “Come in.”

  “Hey,” Jane said, leaning against the doorjamb.

  Margo sat on her bed with her laptop open in front of her. She patted the spot next to her.

  “What’s up? Bad dream where Mom was chasing you with college applications while breathing fire?”

  Jane laughed. “No, nothing like that. I need some advice. But it would mean that I have to tell you a big secret.”

  “Another big secret? Bigger than being afraid of college?”

  “Yeah, and this one isn’t my secret.”

  “Whose secret is it?”

  “Teo’s.”

  “You sure you want to betray his trust?”

  “Well, that’s the thing. He doesn’t know that I know, and I could really use someone to talk to about it.”

  “All right. What is it?”

  “Teo’s been looking for his dad, and he doesn’t know that I know, but I might have found him.”

  “Seriously?” Margo asked.

  Jane filled her sister in on the research she’d been doing, showed her the college brochure with the picture of Mateo Rodriguez and told her about the e-mail she’d just sent.

  “Jane, this is a really big deal.”

  “I know.”

  “Do you think it’s a good idea to keep looking?”

  “I’m so close.”

  “I don’t know, Janie. It doesn’t feel like any of your business.” Margo wasn’t sure she could come up with any other way to say it, but she really wasn’t sure Jane should get involved.

  Jane sighed. “I know, but I want to help. He’s been so great this summer and…” She paused, unsure of how to explain the next part. “He tried to kiss me the other night at the party.”

  “No way! Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Because there were bigger things going on. And it was sort of embarrassing for him, because he missed. Like, he leaned over and fell off his chair.”

  Margo shuddered. “I just got a serious case of secondhand embarrassment.”

  Jane nodded and scrunched up her nose. “But something is happening between us. And I want to give this to him. This news.”

  Margo was torn. “Fine, but just be careful.”

  “I will be,” Jane said, standing up and walking to the door. “Thanks for not telling me not to do it, though.”

  Margo nodded and smiled and hoped this wouldn’t come back to bite her sister in the ass.

  Chapter 14

  Jane’s smile was the first thing Teo noticed when he got home from work on Monday afternoon. He was relieved that she wasn’t annoyed with him and that even though he’d barely left her side on Saturday night, she would still smile when she saw him.

  He hadn’t worn out his welcome.

  Or completely and entirely humiliated himself with the missed kiss.

  “Hiya,” she said. She was cleaning up crumbs on the kitchen table, and the sun was streaming through the window in such a way that it threw her profile into sharp relief. Teo had this weird feeling like they were playing house, but he shook it off.

  “Hey,” he said, picking his way through the crumbs on the floor to stand next to her.

  “Welcome to the madhouse.”

  “You have a…” He paused to pick a Cheerio from her hair.

  “Yeah, it’s been one of those days. I had this brilliant idea to let the girls make their own edible necklaces, and it kind of ended with a whole lot of mess.”

  “I’ll help.” Teo turned around and got the broom and dustpan out of the closet.

  “Thanks,” she said. “I owe you one.”

  “Nah.”

  “Yeah,” she said in the same tone as his.

  “You were really nice to Drunk Teo on Saturday night. You could have left him, abandoned on the edge of the beach, to fend for himself. But you didn’t. And therefore, since you helped me clean up my mess, I’ll help you clean up yours.”

  “You really weren’t a mess on Saturday,” Jane said, shrugging. “You were actually kind of, um…”

  Teo looked over at her from where he was sweeping.

  “You were kind of adorable,” she said, hiding her eyes behind her hand.

  “Really?”

  “Really.”

  “Huh,” Teo said, concentrating on his sweeping for a minute, staring at the floor. “So I have to ask.”

  “Yeah?” Jane said.

  “Where exactly are my sisters? What did you do with them? I feel like they should be here helping you clean.”

  “Oh. Them. They were helping me, but that’s how the floor got so messy, so I released them from their duties and they’re in the basement.”

  “Makes sense.”

  “They really were making the whole process harder.”

  Teo leaned on the broom handle. “I can totally imagine that.”

  Jane opened her mouth and then closed it, turning back to intently scraping smashed Twizzlers off the table.

  For the rest of the week following the party, Jane always seemed to have something on the tip of her tongue—something she wanted to say but couldn’t for whatever reason.

  Teo almost asked her about it several times. But how do you even ask a question like that? He couldn’t begin to get the phrasing right, never mind actually say the words “Is there something you want to tell me?”

  On Saturday afternoon when Jane texted to see if Teo was around and if he wanted to take a walk, he felt a crackle in the air, like something was about to change. He was ready.

  He waited for Jane on his front steps, and she came around the corner a minute later.

  “Hey,” Teo said. “It’s nice to see you off duty.”

  Jane laughed. “It’s nice to see you off duty, too.”

  “We do seem to spend a lot of time at each other’s places of employment.”

  They walked for a few minutes without saying much. Their hands brushed a few times, and Teo thought about twining his fingers with hers more than once, but he wanted to hear what Jane had to say before he did anything like that.

  “So is this a social visit or something else?” he asked.

  “Ah, well, I guess it depends on how you look at it,” Jane said. “I was kind of waiting for today, when I knew we could hang out without the girls around, to talk to you.”

  She pulled a folded-up piece of glossy paper out of her back pocket and handed it to Teo.

  “What is this? Is this a college brochure?” Teo asked, holding it like it was some kind of rare, ancient artifact.

  “Yes.”

  “Why would you bring a college brochure on our walk?” he asked.

  “Well…”

  “Is this where you’re going to school?” Teo asked. He mentally prepared to be excited for Jane, even though the college was in northern Virginia, nowhere near any school Teo was planning to apply to. He would miss her.

  “No, it’s not where I’m going to school. The jury’s still out on that,” Jane said.

  “About where to go or…?” Teo trailed off.

  “About if I even want to go,” Jane muttered.

  They had walked to the elementary school playground without really meaning to, so they took a seat on the merry-go-round.

  “Why wouldn’t you go to college?” Teo asked, genuinely flummoxed by the idea. He’d been dreaming about escaping to college his entire life.

  “I don’t know. It’s a long story.”

  “I’ve got time,” Teo said, leaning against one of the bars.

  “But that’s not what we’re here to talk about,” Jane said, perking up. “And I didn’t bring this brochure to show you the school. I wanted to
show you this picture.” Jane’s hands were visibly shaking when she took the pamphlet from Teo and opened it up, pointing at a small picture in one corner.

  Teo read the caption beneath the picture three times before the significance of it sank in.

  “I think I found your dad,” Jane said.

  “Why would you think he’s my dad?” Teo asked, staring at the picture. Even without closely examining it he saw the resemblance, but he didn’t want to admit that to Jane. The smile on the man’s face was like a punch in the gut.

  “I don’t know.”

  Teo shook his head and huffed out a breath.

  “Wait, I do know,” Jane continued. “Because he went to high school with your mom and he used to live in New Jersey. He has the same last name as the dad listed on your birth certificate.”

  “How do you know anything about my birth certificate?”

  Jane stood up, crossing her arms.

  “Let me start over. I saw a search on your computer one day when the girls were playing hide-and-seek. I thought they were in your room. A couple of windows were open on your computer. I didn’t even mean to look at it, your search for how to find your biological parent, but it was hard to miss. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I wasn’t snooping, I swear.”

  “What?” Teo asked, narrowing his eyes.

  “You’ve been so nice this summer; I wanted to help you with this. I thought I could find him. Once I saw him in this brochure, I had to do a little digging, but I finally found him in Illinois.”

  “I don’t understand how this is any of your business.”

  “I thought you wanted to find him. And you mentioned that you feel left out,” Jane spluttered.

  “I can’t believe you did this. That you brought this to me.” He was yelling, and Jane cringed away from him. Teo crumpled up the paper and threw it in the dirt.

  He stood and loomed over her, and Jane backed up a step. He stared at her, but she didn’t stare back. She looked like he had slapped her. This wasn’t his fault, and it wasn’t fair of her to look so abused.

  “I didn’t really do anything,” she said. “I looked at your birth certificate. I asked my mom a couple of questions, but she didn’t know anything about your dad. Or at least she pretended not to know anything. Then this guy basically fell into my lap. I did some more searching. I knew where to look—”

  “Oh, yeah, you didn’t do anything,” Teo said, interrupting. “You didn’t go through our stuff; you didn’t snoop on my computer. You didn’t talk to your mom?” Teo’s temples were pulsing. The more he thought about all the ways Jane had broken his trust, the angrier he felt.

  “I did do all that. But I wanted to help you. You’re always helping me. I thought I could do something for you. To thank you.”

  Teo rubbed his hands over his face. “How dare you?” he bit out.

  “I’m sorry. I thought you’d be happy. I wouldn’t have done it if I had thought you wouldn’t be happy.”

  “You wouldn’t have done it if you had thought at all,” Teo spat out. “But thinking isn’t always your strong suit.”

  Her chin quivered. He had crossed a line and he couldn’t go back. Maybe he didn’t want to go back.

  “Shit, Jane,” Teo said.

  “No, shut up. Just shut up. I said I was sorry. You don’t have to do anything about it. It’s not like I contacted him on your behalf.”

  “Thank God for small favors,” Teo said.

  Jane gave him a dirty look. “I thought that’s what you wanted. I thought you would be happy.” A tear rolled down her cheek, and Teo felt himself choking up at the sight of it.

  “You have no clue what I want.”

  “But—”

  He couldn’t do this. He couldn’t listen to her for one more second. So he ran.

  He ran as far and as fast as he could. He kept running until he barely recognized where he was, until he’d lost all track of time.

  And then he ran home.

  On his way there, he considered asking his mom about his dad. Maybe it was time for answers. Real answers. Not some theory Jane Connelly had cooked up.

  But it wasn’t something he and his mom had ever talked about.

  He stopped running to catch his breath. He was only a few blocks from home now, and he needed to calm down. But every time he tried to collect his thoughts, they would spiral out of control again.

  Because when he was a kid, Teo had asked about his dad, and his mom had always told him that they were fine alone, that they didn’t need anyone else. Teo had believed her for a long time. At least until Buck came into the picture and it became apparent that they hadn’t been fine, just the two of them.

  Until Buck came into the picture and renovated their house.

  Until Buck came into the picture and they stopped speaking Spanish.

  Until Buck came into the picture and suddenly there were little girls all over the house, with their princess dresses and My Little Ponies.

  He took that last one back because he really did love his sisters. It was Buck he had a problem with. Buck and his mom—they were the ones to blame for how he was feeling. And Jane, for bringing this to his attention and making it an issue. Jane had no clue what she was doing, but that didn’t make her innocent.

  Teo punched a stop sign because it seemed like a better idea than going home and punching Buck. But punching a stop sign was a terrible idea, and it hurt like hell.

  He stumbled home, thankful when he got there that no one was around. There was a note on the table—the whole family was at the pool, if he wanted to join them.

  He went up to his room and threw himself face-first onto his bed. He had never been so pissed off in his entire life, and he had no clue what to do about it.

  Chapter 15

  Jane spent the rest of the weekend debating whether or not to quit her job.

  She tried to drown her sorrows in fan fiction, but not even the latest Doctor Who/Anne of Green Gables crossover could soothe her.

  The scene with Teo had been that bad. She couldn’t imagine ever having to see him again, never mind having to talk to him, to be civil.

  He had every right to say what he’d said—it really wasn’t any of her business—but that didn’t mean Jane needed to go back for more. If Jane had taken a few more days to think about telling him, if she hadn’t become so excited when an e-mail came back from the college in Virginia telling her that Mateo Rodriguez now worked in Illinois, maybe things would be different.

  If only Jane had listened to Margo and taken her warnings more seriously.

  But all Jane could see was Teo’s smiling face when she told him she had found his father. She kept imagining the moment in her head, and it went nothing like what had happened at the playground.

  As soon as she’d seen the dawning realization on his face as he read the caption, she knew she’d made the wrong decision. But at that point there was no way to stop it. By the time she knew she’d made a mistake, Teo already understood what was going on.

  Over the past month, Teo had become one of her favorite people. Without Ravi around, he was awesome. He was fun and reliable, always willing to hang out. It was obvious to Jane that part of it was Teo’s nature: He hated being alone. So, sure, maybe he was using her, but Jane didn’t mind. She didn’t exactly have friends beating down her door, either. There were worse people to spend time with than Teo Garcia. Losing him as a friend was the worst part of this misunderstanding. Even worse than losing whatever might have been happening between them.

  There had to be some way to fix this.

  On Sunday night, Jane spent hours with her trusty Magic 8 Ball. She had a long list of yes-or-no questions about this shitstorm with Teo, and she asked every single one of them, even if they were sort of redundant.

  “Does Teo hate me?”

  It is decidedly so.

  “Will he hate me forever?”

  Better not tell you now.

  “Will Teo ever forgive me?”

  Outl
ook good.

  “Should I text him and apologize?”

  Reply hazy, try again.

  Jane refocused on the question.

  “Should I text him and apologize?”

  Reply hazy, try again.

  Jane groaned in frustration. She really wanted an answer to this question. Apologizing was something she could do right away. Maybe it would make her feel better to contact him on her own terms.

  The fourth time the ball told her Reply hazy, try again, she decided to move on to a different line of questioning.

  “Did I make a huge mistake?”

  Without a doubt.

  “Can I make it up to him?”

  Yes, definitely.

  “I wish you could tell me how to make it up to him,” she said to the Magic 8. It was great for answering questions but terrible at giving advice.

  Monday arrived faster than it usually did, as if Jane had blinked and it had gone from Sunday afternoon directly to Monday morning.

  When Jane arrived at the Buchanans’, Teo had already left for work. She knew she would probably see him in the afternoon, so she prepared herself all day, but then he never came home.

  The guilt she felt about their fight hung over her head like a rain cloud. The first few days that week, Teo was out of the house when she arrived and didn’t come home until after she had left.

  On Thursday, Connie got stuck in traffic, and Jane was still at the house when Teo came through the back door.

  He froze.

  “Hey, wow,” Jane said. “I didn’t think I’d get to see you.”

  He stared at her.

  “I’m happy to see you. I know neither of us is much for confrontation, but we should talk.”

  He crossed his arms.

  “I just want to say how sorry I am,” Jane continued.

  He raised his eyebrows, and they stood there looking at each other as the seconds dragged by. Jane’s discomfort grew unbearable, and she had to look away.

  “I don’t really know what else to say if you don’t say anything back,” she mumbled at the floor. “I really am sorry. I don’t know how to make you believe me.”

  When she looked up, he was gone, walking quickly into the living room and up the stairs, where he knew Jane wouldn’t follow, no matter how much she wanted to.