Chapter 76

Daisy talked about how she’d realized she didn’t like boys the way Jo did.

“Not very many people like boys the way that girl does,” her mom said.

“Yeah, but I’m really not interested.”

“I had an idea.”

“You did?”

Her mom shrugged, her palm full of a scoop of chicken. “I saw the recommendations on that video website.”

Ice filled Daisy’s veins. “You saw that? I deleted those!”

“When I saw that they were gone, I figured you didn’t want to talk about it.”

“I wasn’t ready yet.”

“Come on. Stand over here. Wrap up the pasteleswe’re not using with plastic. Real tight.”

Daisy did as she was told. The cooking ritual made her feel safe, even when everything else was uncertain. She wrapped, and her mom set up the water to simmer the pastelesthey’d be eating that night.

“So you’re okay with it? You’re not upset? You don’t have questions?”

Her mom took a deep breath. “I’m not upset now, no. Your father and I talked about it after we noticed the website.”