AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"Now that we’ve finally found a private moment," she murmured, stepping close to speak in a conspiratorially low voice.
They stood on the opposite side of the yard as her and Candace’s children, who were playing tag. Don and Candace had just carried leftovers inside.
"She’s a hair stylist," Amanda said, not looking at Drew as she spoke but keeping her eyes on Natalie, Lucy, and Felix.
He blinked, totally confused. "What? Who is?"
"Piper Holliday." Her lip curled with contempt as the name hissed its way from her lips. "I googled her. She works at Styles R Us." Her blue eyes turbulent like the ocean just before a hurricane, she added, "That’s where Jeffrey gets his hair cut."
Drew swallowed, trying to focus. But at the mention of Mia’s roommate, her face popped into his mind. He’d be old and gray before he forgot the first moment she turned from watering her flowers and met his gaze. His heart palpitated just thinking about it.
But, no, they weren’t talking about Mia. The roommate, he reminded himself. Focus on the roommate.
"She cuts his hair?" he asked his sister.
Amanda bit her lip. "I don’t think so. His hairdresser’s name is Darla. But at least this explains how they met."
He nodded and didn’t plan on asking, "Does Mia work there too?" but the words spilled from his mouth before he could check them.
His sister nailed him with a perturbed look, her eyes narrowed and lips pressed flat with disapproval. "How should I know? I don’t care about her."
He cleared his throat and glanced away. "So … what? You didn’t google Mia when you thought she was dating Jeff."
Sighing as if his question was the stupidest thing she’d ever been asked, Amanda said, "I didn’t know Mia’s last name."
Right. Come to think of it, he didn’t know Mia’s last name either.
"I didn’t discover much else about her," Amanda continued, returning to the Piper subject. "But I found some newspaper article online about her graduating high school eight years ago."
That would make her what … twenty-six, twenty-seven. He wondered if she was the same age as Mia. Mia certainly looked younger. She had such a fresh, smooth face. But there’d been something ancient in her eyes, like something had prematurely aged her. He wondered what could’ve been so awful as to wear her down like that.
"Think you can coax any information out of the roommate. Out of this Mia woman," Amanda said. "Since you’re so in love with her."
He lifted his face as the mention of Mia. "Mandy," he started.
"You can act interested in her while spying on her worthless roommate."
He frowned. Act interested? There would be no acting involved.
"She’d probably go out with you," Mandy continued. "I mean, she came to your house to give you addresses for houses for sale. That right there says she’s interested."
"You think?" he couldn’t help but ask. His sister scowled at the hopeful note in his voice. He cleared his throat, needing to redirect the attention from Mia. "You know what. I’m not doing it. You need to talk to your husband, Mandy. I refuse to use Mia like that."
She opened her mouth to comment, but a female voice called from behind him. "What’re you two gossiping about over here by yourselves?"
Drew looked up to find both Candace and his father approaching. Candace smiled—as she usually did. His dad didn’t look so pleased. But he was the type that would follow his second wife into the grave if he had to … which, by the expression on his face, looked to be the case.
"Mind if we join you?" Candace asked.
"Not at all," Amanda answered, making Drew question which woman perfected the cheerful act better.
It made him wonder how many times his sister had grinned at him, when in fact she was probably sobbing inside. He studied her while she and Candace exchanged pleasantries, talking about motherhood. She didn’t look at all like the woman he’d been talking to thirty seconds earlier, like she might burst into tears any moment.
"So, Drew …" His father sidled up to him and shoved his hands into his pockets, jingling the change inside. "Evie seems real pleased with her poses."
Drew had to fight to keep from rolling his eyes. He doubted his father could’ve come up with a lamer topic to discuss. "We’ll have to wait ‘til the proofs are done before knowing if she’s going to like them or not," he answered. It was probably a rude thing to say, but he’d been unable to stop himself.
"Oh, I’m sure she’ll love them," Candace spoke up, dropping her conversation with Amanda to break into the men’s discussion to keep the tone polite, no doubt.
