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“It isn’t,” I say quickly. “At least, it isn’t with you, but…well, I think I’m intimidated by the idea of a big family dinner. I have no idea what to expect.”
“Well, you can expect Antony to crack jokes, Nora to go off on someone, and Jude to pour perfect drinks to go with whatever Andrea has cooked up for us. After dinner, we usually shoot pool.”
“Where do you do that?”
“In the billiard room.”
“With the candlestick?” I laugh nervously. “Do you have a library as well? A conservatory? Secret passages?”
“Yes to the library, no to the rest. At least, if there are any secret passages, they’re very well-kept secrets since I’ve never heard about them. There’s a creepy basement if you want to go hunting for clues.”
“Any chance we’ll find a clue about my parents?”
“Not much, I’m afraid.” Nate continues to stroke the side of my face.
“It really is strange, isn’t it?”
“Very,” Nate says, “but if there is anyone who can dig up the truth, it’s Antony. Maybe he’ll even have something to share with you Wednesday night. You are agreeing to be there, yes?”
“Yes, I’ll be there.”
“Great!” He gives me a big smile and another deep kiss. “Now get into the car before you freeze to death.”
He opens the door and helps me inside.
“Have fun counting trees,” he says when I roll down the window, not quite wanting to say goodbye just yet.
“I’m sure I will.” I snicker, then look at him more seriously. “Do you really think Antony will find something?”
“I don’t know, Cherry,” Nate says. He reaches through the window and runs his thumb over my cheek. “None of it makes much sense but I promise—we’re going to figure it out. We’ll find your family together.”
My heart skips a beat.
Chapter 14—Meet the Fam
I sit in my car in front of the Orso family home. It’s a large neoclassical-style house with tall columns lining the porch though it’s not as grand as I feared it might be. It’s certainly an impressive place, but somewhere in the back of my head, I think I was expecting a castle.
Over the past two days, Nate and I had spent every free hour in each other’s company. We had dinner at local restaurants, met each other for coffee, and he even went with me to browse the local library for a new book. When we walked together, he held my hand, and I couldn’t help but notice the stares from the community. At first, it made me extremely nervous, but I found I grew accustomed to it pretty quickly.
Nate insisted on paying for everything. Though I ultimately gave up my protesting, it made me very uncomfortable. I remembered how Melissa basically called me his whore—at least in my own mind—and wondered if that might be what I was becoming.
We had talked on the phone or texted into the late hours, and it was a wonder I hadn’t been late to work. I didn’t care. Every time he touched me or said something sweet on the phone, my heart pounded faster, and the rest of my body simply melted like warm syrup.
He ended our conversations by saying, “Goodnight, Cherice.” Last night he had included a bit about not being nervous about dinner, but that hadn’t helped much.
I continue to sit with the car’s motor running. The semicircular driveway has left me confused about where to park my car. There’s a large garage on one side of the house but no cars in the driveway. Should I just park in front of the door, or should I move around the semicircle to the farthest point? Are there additional guests expected, and will they need a space to park as well? I don’t want to take up the prime spot.
“Might as well park in front of a fire hydrant,” I mutter.
“Are you ever coming out of there?” Nate is suddenly standing right outside the car, looking in at me with his amused, lopsided grin.
“I wasn’t sure where to park,” I say after rolling the window down a little more.
“Just leave it here with the keys on the seat,” he says. “If it needs to be moved, someone will take care of it.”
“Isn’t that a little reckless? Someone could steal it.”
Nate just laughs, shakes his head, and opens my door. I’m not sure if he’s laughing because no one wants to steal a beat-up Civic or because no one would dare steal from him.
