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Helen’s cheeks dimpled. “Why, thank you! Let’s go inside.” She turned back to her daughter. “Your father is in his study, but I’m sure he heard the car.”
The house was beautiful on the outside, but inside it was even more lovely. Light spilled in from large windows to give the high-ceilinged interior an airy feeling. We entered the hall, and as Helen shut the front door behind us, a man emerged from a door farther down the hall. He was tall and dark-haired, slightly above middle age, and he bore a striking resemblance to Jason that floored me for a moment. He was a little thicker around the waist and jawline, with some gray in his hair. Apart from age, the most noticeable difference was that his eyes were blue like Amy’s, whereas Jason’s were the stormy gray that still haunted me every night.
“Baby girl,” he exclaimed as Amy barreled into his arms. She barely reached his chest, and her tiny frame practically disappeared in his hug. After a moment, he released her, and she pulled him over to where we were standing.
“You must be Daphne,” he said, taking my hand, “and Colin.” He shook Colin’s hand, at first giving him a stern once-over, but then he smiled, and Colin relaxed. “I’m Grant, this one’s dad.” He patted Amy’s hair. “It’s good to finally meet you both. How was the drive?”
“Great,” Colin said. “I expected it to be longer, but it was a breeze.”
“A breeze, eh?” Grant laughed. “Well, good you’re here.”
“There are drinks in the kitchen,” Helen told us, “then you can go freshen up before dinner.”
In the kitchen, there was a jug of freshly made iced tea chilling on the island. A plump woman was hanging up her apron in the pantry and turned around as we entered.
“Minnie!” Amy said happily, going to hug her.
“You look good.” Minnie looked her over and nodded approvingly. She glanced at Colin. “Is this him?” she whispered, even though we could all hear.
Amy nodded.
“I like him,” Minnie announced. She studied
Colin for a few more moments. “I’m Minnie, and this baby is precious to me, so you better treat her good.”
Colin chuckled. “Better than I treat myself.”
“Good.” She paused. “I like the accent,” she whispered to Amy before turning to me. “Daphne,” she said warmly. “Amy didn’t say how pretty you were.”
I blushed, absurdly pleased with the compliment. “Thank you, Minnie.”
Amy poured the tea into tall glasses and I sipped the refreshingly cool drink, surprised by how thirsty I was.
“I hope you’ve introduced her and Jason,” Minnie was saying. “She’s a hell of a lot nicer than most of the girls he hangs out with.”
I almost choked on my drink, but Amy was laughing. “She’s my roommate Min, not one of Jason’s harem, and she isn’t interested in him, thank God.”
I smiled weakly, a well of guilt rising in my chest. I still hadn’t come clean to Amy, but the way things were, I’d probably never need to. What did it matter if we had hooked up twice? Especially if it would likely never happen again.
Minnie was peering at me. She made a sound I couldn’t decipher then retrieved her handbag from a stool beside the counter. “I made dinner with your mom, and everything is in the oven and the fridge.” She gave Amy another hug. “Take care now, okay? Enjoy.”
Amy made a face. “You’re leaving already?”
“Yes. Theo and I are bingeing on some Netflix show he loves.” She opened the door. “Oh, and tell Jason thank you for helping Theo with his college applications.”
“I will, and say hi to Theo for me.”
The door closed, and a few seconds later we heard Minnie’s car leave.
“She every bit as awesome as you said.” Colin put down his glass and drew in a deep breath. “And whatever it is they’ve been cooking in here, it smells good.”
“I know right! I can hardly wait.” Amy looked at me. “Ready to go up, Daphne?”
“Yeah,” I said quietly, putting my glass back on the tray. I’d been thinking about Jason again, about the way the housekeeper had seemed to see through my pretense that I wasn’t interested in him. What red-blooded woman wouldn’t want him? He wasn’t just an insanely sexy man, he was also the kind of man who took the time to help the son of his parents’ employee with his college applications.
I waited as Amy quickly rinsed the glasses and Colin went to get their bags from the car, then we went upstairs. Amy showed Colin to the room they were sharing then took me to a room farther down the hall. It was lovely, with a queen-sized bed and a wide window that looked out onto the back lawn and a natural lake that shimmered in the evening sun, reflecting the dense woods on the other side.
“Nice view!” I dropped my bag at the foot of the bed and went over to the window to admire the scenery.
