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“They’re nobody,” announced Hannah with a grin. “But their father, I mean, their stepfather—”
“Has money,” Charlie interrupted, throwing a warning glance in Hannah’s direction. “Okay? Our stepfather is rich. But it’s not our money, so it doesn’t matter.” She really didn’t want to start her career in law school with the notoriety of being known as the stepdaughter of the famous billionaire, Steven Gherring.
“Whatever,” said Lance. “Cool limo!”
“Charlie,” said Olivia as she moved across the limousine, squeezing onto the seat between her and Derek. “I’m hoping I can borrow a pair of goggles for the ski trip. Do you have an extra?”
“Sure,” said Charlie. “I’ll bring all my extra’s on the trip.”
But Olivia had already turned her attention to Derek.
EMILY SAT BY SPENCER, fidgeting nervously with her ring. Things were not going well in the quest to help Olivia accept Josh’s proposal. Josh sat in the limousine, staring with undisguised irritation at Olivia’s overt flirtation with Derek. For her part, Charlie seemed miserable. After repeated attempts to break into the conversation, she’d finally conceded defeat, and pulled out her cell phone.
Emily felt her cell phone vibrate. She opened up a text from Charlie.
Help!
Emily turned up empty hands to indicate her lack of suggestions to improve the situation. Hannah was hitting it off with Lance, as he regaled her with stories that had her laughing until tears came to her eyes. Spencer was frowning at Olivia. He’d been doing that a lot lately.
She elbowed him to get his attention, whispering, “What can we do?”
“Someone needs to tell her to grow up and act responsibly. Did you notice she had rum in that coke she drank tonight?”
Emily’s whisper was harsh. “She’s pregnant. Doesn’t she know better?”
“She’s a nurse; she knows perfectly well. It’s one thing to have a moment of weakness and get pregnant, but it’s another thing to knowingly endanger your baby.”
“Are you going to talk to her?”
“I’ll call her out in public if she tries to drink alcohol or even caffeinated coffee at Bubby’s,” he muttered. “Otherwise, we’re going to have a little private chat after Sunday night dinner.”
“Do you have any ideas about getting her to pay attention to Josh instead of Derek?”
“I don’t know what to do. It’s like I don’t even know my sister anymore.”
Olivia’s laugh caught their attention, and she exclaimed, “Derek! You’re hilarious.”
Josh’s face reddened until it seemed certain steam would soon pour from his ears.
Emily received another text.
You’re not helping!!!!
JOSH MANAGED TO SECURE a seat next to Olivia in the restaurant. Although everyone else ordered food, some opting for breakfast while others chose from the delicious assortment of pies, he found he had no appetite whatsoever. He was irritated with all his companions at that moment.
Olivia’s sister, Hannah, ignored everyone else, focusing her attention on Lance. Josh estimated Lance to be a good bit older than her twenty-one years—too much older, in his mind. She was young and innocent, and Lance looked anything but innocent to Josh. Although she wasn’t his actual sister, Josh felt a brotherly responsibility toward her as he did all of Spencer’s sisters. He made up his mind to find an opportunity to warn her about relationships with older men.
Spencer and Emily seemed to be on a health kick, with Spencer specifically forbidding his sister, Olivia, from ordering coffee with caffeine. He’d personally known Spencer to drink large amounts of heavily leaded coffee in the past, so he wasn’t sure why he seemed to feel it was his place to police others on their consumption. Luckily, Josh had already planned to order decaf. In his present mood, he would probably have had a yelling match with his friend had Spencer dared to criticize his coffee choice.
Derek and Charlie were sitting across the table. Charlie was flirting with him like he’d never seen before. She seemed a bit uncomfortable with it, but determined to compete with Olivia for his attention. Meanwhile, Josh’s supposed fiancée was asserting her independence, obviously flaunting her interest in Derek for Josh’s benefit. Josh couldn’t decide which one bothered him most. He was upset with Olivia for her attempt to renege on their agreement. But his stomach was churning while watching Charlie fawning over Derek, casually touching his arm, leaning against him to study the menu, offering him a view of a lot more cleavage than Josh felt was appropriate.
Derek appeared to be thoroughly enjoying the attention, and it was all Josh could do not to knock the silly smile off his face.
“Derek,” Olivia asked, “have you been to see After Midnight? It’s the musical about Duke Ellington.”
“No. Law school doesn’t leave much time for attending
Broadway shows. Too much studying.”
