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“I loved the beach.”
She averted her gaze for a moment with a shy smile. The insults she and Cody traded as affirmations of love made more and more sense. A way to receive and give praise for people unused to receiving it.
“I told you Cody got into a fight. A full-on brawl, really.”
I nodded. “Someone he was in love with?”
She squirmed, looking uncomfortable. Not the reaction I expected from the teasing joke.
“Not exactly. More like… someone I thought I was. Or could have been.” She frowned as she readjusted her position on the bed, looking more angry than sad.
I disliked either option.
“It’s a long story in that it happened over a long time. But what actually happened happened wasn’t all that long, but it was….” She trailed off, rolling her lips inward before finishing. “Devastating. And I probably can’t tell this morning’s story without telling some of that story first. And it isn’t flattering.”
I nodded, silently encouraging her to continue.
“Before I met Cody, I had one close friend. AJ.”
I couldn’t stop the grimace on my face. “That moron from Monday? The dealer?”
“That’s him,” she confirmed, also grimacing.
I wanted to have her back up and explain to me how everyone was connected on the Coast, especially at Fortuna, but now wasn’t the time. Liem could probably draw me a diagram later. He seemed to know everyone’s business.
“AJ’s dad, Terry, has worked at Fortuna for a long time. Longer than I’ve been alive and at least as long as Grandmother has been a regular there. Whenever I’d come with Grandmother on her gambling weekends, she’d put me in the casino daycare during the day. Casino employees used the same daycare, so, in a way, AJ and I grew up together.” She tightened her robe around herself with one hand, scrunching it up to her neck.
She went on. “There had never been anything between us but years of friendship. Friendship that only survived because of proximity, but I didn’t understand that until I was older. Twenty-two years old, in fact.” Her following laugh was self-deprecating. “I was so invested in that friendship that I’d volunteer to go to Fortuna with Grandmother as much as possible, especially after my mom passed, purely on the hopes of seeing him. He was a couple of years older, a popular kid who was almost always surrounded by friends, and I craved his attention. And as I got older, his approval.”
She mindlessly fussed with her hair for a minute before continuing. “When he came back from college to work at Fortuna, he was the one who helped me with the Lady Luck act.”
I didn’t think I could think less of him, and I had a feeling I was about to lower my opinion even more.
“Leading up to last Christmas, after I turned twenty-one and was legally able to do more hands-on things in the casino, we had a really successful run of Lady Luck shows. Management was thrilled, Grandmother praised the shows, and the regulars loved it. The attention….” She swallowed, looking guilty. “I loved the attention. Even with the blindfold on, I felt seen in a way I hadn’t in a long time. It was almost like being part of a family.”
My hand twitched, wanting to touch her, to comfort her. As if feeling my concern, she raised her gaze to the phone, but didn’t quite meet my eyes.
“There was a Christmas Eve show. Holidays haven’t been my favorite since living with Grandmother, and getting the Lady Luck act perfected was the best distraction I’d had in years. It gave me purpose. That show was our best turnout yet.” She was speaking more quickly now, hurrying to get the words out. “A lot of people are lonely on the holidays, especially retirees. It was quite a group once you threw in the young professionals and families. The tables were just hot enough to keep everyone excited, but enough people were putting their winnings back into the casino that everyone was satisfied.”
She dragged a hand down her face. “If there’s one thing I know after fighting it out with Cody, it’s that what happened with AJ that night and the next day wasn’t…. Ugh, it made more sense when he said it, but it was something like, the way I shut down instead of just dealing with it. That was the real issue. AJ is a lot of things, but he isn’t really a liar, because you know what he said right before Cody tackled him? ‘She came on to me.’”
She swallowed thickly, shame coating her cheeks in blooms of red.
“Bree. Please look at me. I have a truth too.”
Her gray eyes met mine.
“He’s both a moron and an asshole.”
She laughed, and the tension that had made my skin feel too tight immediately relaxed. “Yeah…. Which reminds me of what Cody said this morning too. I didn’t speak up. AJ left the next day without a thought, and I got a whole bunch of space and a lot of time too. But I didn’t talk. I didn’t process it, and I could have. I may not have parents, but I have a Cody. And Jeanne too.”
“The gardener? The pregnant one?”
“How in the world do you know that? I didn’t mention that when I was talking about the magnolia leaves, did I?” she asked, narrowing her eyes.
“You did not,” I answered, containing my smile, but only just. “And I think it’s a stretch to say you were talking about the magnolia leaves. You called and shouted about it. I don’t even think you said hello first.”
Her eyes widened. “This conversation has been a dumpster fire.”
