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“Stop,” Miranda said. Her gaze on me, she took the flyers from her mother. “Let’s go to my room to talk.”
“Mira,” Grace said in a warning tone. “I wouldn’t if I were you.”
“I’ll handle Daddy if he gets mad.”
“I wouldn’t push it with your father, young lady.” Grace’s flawless sun-kissed skin paled. “He’s not as manageable as you assume.”
“I’ll be okay, Mother.”
“I hope so,” Grace said, her voice fading as Miranda dragged me inside the house. “I don’t want to end up alone by myself in this big house.”
“Don’t mind my mother. She can be dramatic.” Miranda pulled me across a marble foyer as expansive as the dance floor at Winston’s.
Crystal balls hanging from thick chrome wires lit up the space. To my right, I glimpsed multiple black leather seating groups arranged around floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked the lake. But Miranda didn’t slow to let me take it all in. I got the impression that she wasn’t as confident about managing her father as she pretended to be.
Up the glass-lined dark wood stairs that seemed to float in the air, we climbed, with her leading me. At the first landing, Miranda turned and strode past more floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked the grounds at the rear of the house that extended to the lake, but she didn’t slow to let me savor the view. I only caught a quick glance of the multiple decks and fountains, a pool, and a boathouse outside.
It was a far cry from Southside. My favorite boots looked as out of place traversing the gleaming hardwood floors as I felt.
Miranda led me up another set of stairs, then turned to the left again. Only this time we passed the windows and entered a wide corridor with rows of doors on the exterior side of the house.
“Daddy had his people design the house.”
“What does your father do?” I asked as she led me to the last door at the end of the long hall.
“He’s a real estate attorney. My mother was one too. That’s how they met. Now she manages all his charity projects. He wants Martin and me to get law degrees too.”
Coming to a door that was open unlike the others, she stepped inside, and since she still held my hand, I entered the room too. Her room was as big as the whole upstairs level of our subsidized apartment. Releasing me, she shut the door.
“Wow,” I said, my eyes wide. “Your house is spectacular.”
“Daddy wants it that way, and not just the house. His wife and children are supposed to be awe-inspiring too.” She moved to look out the shuttered windows. After a quick glance around at the room that was decorated in a modern black-and-white color scheme like the rest of the house, brightened with a few pops of light pink, I joined her.
“Your room overlooks the drive,” I said.
“Yes, all the rooms on this side of the house do.”
“That’s how you saw me.”
Her mouth flattening, she turned to face me and nodded.
“You still have feelings for Collin.” The words spilled out before I could stop them.
“Yes.” Her gaze turned pleading. “But don’t look at me like I’ve suddenly grown two heads. I know it’s over between us. He never looked at me like he looks at you.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything. It wasn’t meant to be. We’re too different.”
Miranda shrugged a slender shoulder. In a plain T-shirt and jeans, she was dressed like me. But as understated as her outfit was, I knew the cost of it was probably more than my mother’s monthly salary.
She gestured to her room. “This is where I live, but this isn’t me.”
But it was. Only someone who had all that wealth could so easily dismiss it.
“I told Collin the same thing,” she said, “but he just looked at me like you are.” Her delicate brows drawing together, she sighed. “Come sit with me.” She gestured to the two black egg chairs perched in front of her massive bed.
“Okay.” I sat on one, moving the fluffy pink pillow to the side. She did the same, sitting in the other chair.
