Juliet's Law by Ruth Wind

grandmother.
    â€œMy teacher had a toothache.”
    â€œOh, that’s too bad.” Helene scooted over to let the little girl, with her long dark braid, into the booth beside her.
    As Glory scrambled in, adjusting a tiara tucked with bobby pins into her hair, she happened to glance up and see Juliet. “Princess!” she screeched. “What are you doing here?” Before Juliet could answer, she whipped herhead up to her grandmother. “How do you know the princess?”
    â€œThis is weird,” Desi said.
    Juliet liked it. She liked it even more when rumble-voiced Josh strolled up to the table and gave her a nod. “How are you, Princess?”
    She smiled. His eyes were as warm and kindly as she remembered from yesterday. “Not bad. How are you?”
    â€œGlad to see you. This little girl—” He took a breath. “ Believes, you know?”
    Juliet nodded. “It’s okay.”
    He caught sight of Desi’s bandaged head. “What happened to you?”
    â€œLong story.” Desi stood up, vacating the spot next to Juliet. “Sit down, Josh. I’m going to go wash my hands.”
    â€œI’ve got to get to the dojo in a few minutes—a home-school class is coming.” But he sat down anyway, the long, solid weight of him warm against Juliet’s side. His hands were as big as saucers, and he folded them together in front of him. He wore no jewelry on them. Juliet thought they were extraordinarily beautiful, the sinews and lines, the graceful length of his fingers, the oval nails.
    In her fluting voice, Glory said, “Princess, do you want to come sit by me?”
    Juliet looked away from Josh’s hands. “Honey, we have to run some errands in a few minutes.”
    Her radiant face dimmed. “Oh.”
    Juliet leaned forward. “I’ll be finished in an hour or two. I can come see you later, if you like. You can show me your red shoes.”
    â€œHey! That’s a good idea! Grandma, can you take meto my house in a couple of hours so I can show the princess my shoes?”
    Helene grinned, her eyes crinkling into angles. “I can do that.”
    â€œOkay.”
    â€œWhat happened to Desi’s head?” Josh asked.
    â€œShe…uh…fell down.”
    He flipped a butter knife end to end on the table. “Claude somehow mixed up in it?”
    â€œYeah.” Juliet glanced at Helene. “Your mom was there, too. You can hear more about it later.”
    â€œI’m not deaf, you know,” Glory said. “I know about grown-up fights, too. My mommy had them all the time.”
    â€œNobody is keeping secrets, Glory,” Josh said. “But even if we were, you are a little girl, and little girls don’t need to know everything. We like to keep things nice for you.”
    Glory sighed, long-suffering, and with a harrumph, leaned her cheek into her hand.
    Juliet chuckled. “I like your tiara,” she said. “And I can’t wait to see your shoes later.”
    â€œMe, too.” She suddenly perked up. “Hey! Princess, do you know how to curl hair?”
    â€œSure. You want your hair curled?”
    â€œYes,” Glory said emphatically. “Natasha in my class always has her hair curled and my daddy doesn’t know how.”
    Josh put one hand beneath the table and squeezed Juliet’s hand lightly. “Thanks,” he said very quietly.
    â€œNo problem.” She pulled free delicately, and Desi came back to the table.
    â€œReady?” her sister asked, putting sunglasses on her head.
    â€œI am.”
    A woman in a yellow jacket moved by the table and gave Desi a long, hard glare. Desi stared right back. When the woman continued toward the cash register, Desi and rolled her eyes at Juliet. “The dentist’s wife,” she said when the woman had gone outside. “She hates my guts.”
    â€œBecause?”
    â€œBecause she’s one of