She claps her hands together in happiness.
“And please don’t forget about Ruby. She will need people like you two in her life.” She sighs. “I love my son, but he’s—”
“He’s Ruby’s father. She ishisresponsibility.” Cori stands abruptly. Annette purses her lips shut. “I’m so sick of everyone bending over backward to look out for him.”
“This isn’t about him, Cori. This is about Ruby,” Annette exclaims. She extends her hand to her daughter, but Cori storms out of the room. I stand to go after her, but Annette speaks.
“Cori resents him.” She looks away. “And maybe that’s our fault, but she’s letting her resentment—”
“She doesn’t resent anyone,” I say in my wife’s defense, but I know it’s not true. Cori hates that little bastard, and I understand why. “And she’s right. Your son is an adult. It’s not her job to parent him or to raise his child.”
“We put a lot on her. She loves us but resents us. That’s the truth, but I’m glad she has you.”
“Why would she resent you?” Annette won’t meet my eyes at my question. She looks down at the bed, takes a deep breath, and opens her mouth.
“It was a difficult time, Daxton. The most difficult time of my life, and we made some bad choices. We asked her for things we shouldn’t have.” She exhales again, but she doesn’t offer any more.
“What does any of that have to do with her brother?”
Silence blankets the room until she says, “That’s nothing for you to worry about. I’ll fix it when I get home.”
“We’ll have to go to Ocean Prime tomorrow.” I pour a glass of wine, but she shakes her head and points to the teakettle. I fill itand turn on the burner. “Who knew Ripley was so picky? How is a guy as big as him a picky eater? Asshole.”
“First of all, he’s not an asshole. Second, I knew it,” Cori says. “But the steakhouse was amazing.”
I stand behind her and rub her shoulders.
“Let’s get in the tub.” I wrap my arms around her and rub myself on her ass.
“Okay. Bring the tea.” I let her go and watch her ass bounce all the way to the bedroom.
Ten minutes later, I position her between my legs, and I have my arms wrapped around her. The tub is huge, but I’m still too tall for it. She leans over the side and sips tea from her mug.
I squeeze her ass.
“I still want to take you to Milan this summer.”
“We’ll see.”
“And when are you going to let me see that business plan?”
“This is our honeymoon. We can talk about that another time. When are we going home?”
We need to go back soon, but I’d rather stay out of Shadow Cove until the issue with the Brennans is settled, which can be weeks or months. I can’t hide forever, and I want to return to a sense of normalcy.
“You know what I want to know?” she asks. “How did you get into this line of work?”
I can feel her holding her breath, and I wonder if this is a test. Does she really want to know more about me, or is this feeding her nosy side? I remember a conversation I had with my mother after she met Cori.
Then
“Son, you do whatever you have to do to get that girl, you hear me? She’s perfect for you.” Mom has her back turned to me while she cooks breakfast.
“But what if she’s just nosy?”
“She is, but she wants you. I can tell. Two things can be true at the same time.”
Now
