His mouth tightened. "Uh-huh."
"And just so you know, Iwould'vetold you if Willow hadn't mentioned it first."
"Right. And now you're gonna mention the rest."
"What do you mean?"
"The part you left out," he said. "I want to hear it."
"But you already did."
"I heard it from Willow," he said. "Now, I'm gonna hear it from you."
"But why? It's the same story."
His gaze bored into mine. "So it's true? She slapped you."
"Yes. But to be fair, that was only after I kicked her."
With a hint of sarcasm, he said, "In the ass?"
Jeez, what kind of maniac did he think I was?"No. In the shin."
"And why the shin?"
"Because she was standing on my foot, refusing to let me leave. And ifIcouldn’t leave, Willow couldn't leave either."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. Unless youwantedWillow to drive off on her own."
"She's eight."
"Yeah, that's my point. And just look at it from my point-of-view. Veronica's standing on my foot, Willow's in the back seat, and I wanted to get the heck out of there."
"So you kicked her."
"Well, yeah, because at this at this point, I figure I've got two choices. I can either shove her away or kick her in the shin. And I figure if I try the whole 'shoving' thing, she might fall down and break something."
Only half joking, I added, "Plus, if she's lying on the pavement, I'd have to back over her to get out of the parking spot."
"Good."
I sighed. "No. It's not good. And besides, it's not like I'd actually do it. I'm just saying, she had me hemmed in, and I was a little short of options. And thelastthing I wanted was to create a giant spectacle."
He gave me a skeptical look. "Uh-huh."
"And yes, Idorealize there was a spectacle anyway. But trust me, it could've been so much worse. And it's not like I had any advance warning."
"Of what?"
"Of her showing up." I made a sound of frustration. "Like, if I'd known what Veronica looked like, sheneverwould've gotten within ten feet of Willow."
He frowned. "Good to know."
I stared up at him. His words said one thing, but his expression said another. Unless I was horribly mistaken, he saw nothing good about any of this.
I could totally relate.