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A mirthful giggle escaped Cole, but she didn’t give up on the question. “Didshe do cocaine in high school?”
“We drank at some parties. Mostly beer—and donottell your mother I told you that. But as far as I know, she never touched cocaine until she got to LA.” Danny neglected to mention the few times he’d scored them some pot.
Cole gave him a level look as if she wanted to press the issue, but she elected to move on. “How did you find out about her drug problem? And what did you think?”
“People around here would tell me when they heard things about her. And I’d see things on the news now and then. Made me sad to see it.” He shifted in his chair. “I’d go to church and just pray that I didn’t see any awful headline about her OD-ing.”
He sighed heavily. Cole’s questions were bringing up a lot of old feelings he’d locked away a long time ago. He shifted in the chair again, unable to find a comfortable position, and the chair groaned in protest.
“Any more questions?” He hated that his voice sounded tight and irritated. He did want to help Cole with her paper, but he was ready to wrap the conversation up. He hadn’t anticipated how raw talking about Lauren would make him feel.
“Why did the two of you break up?”
Danny felt the color drain out of his face. “Like I said, we fought about going to Los Angeles or staying here. I got mad, and I said some things. Mean things I regret. And don’t ask me what.”
“I won’t. Just one more question. Please? If you were going to tell Lauren one thing today—if she were right here in front of you, right now—what would you say to her?”
A few hundred answers flew through his mind, and he discarded all of them. They were all way too personal, too intimate. “I’d tell her I’m happy for her, for her success. She chased the dream and she caught it. Not everyone can say that.”
Cole turned the recorder off. She came around the table and gave Danny a big hug. “This was awesome, Uncle Danny. Thank you so much. My project is going to turn outamazingthanks to you.”
Danny stayed in the den long after Cole left, lost in his own thoughts.
ChapterFour
Lauren rapped the brass door knocker. Carolyn’s husband, Greg, answered, but couldn’t even get a hello out or invite her in before the twins came careening down the hall dressed in their dinosaur pajamas, screaming for their Auntie Lauren. She dropped to her knees and wrapped the boys up in a bear hug.
“What are you guys still doing up?”
The twins, who were five, started talking over each other. Lauren managed to gather that their mother said it was okay for them to stay up late to see her, and that they’d been playing dinosaurs. Then they both roared at her like T-Rexes.
After she disentangled herself from the boys, she gave Greg a hug.
“I’m liking the beard on you,” she said.
He rubbed his furry chin. “Thanks. Jury’s still out. Carolyn should be ready in a second.”
On cue, Carolyn sashayed down the stairs in a short, sassy navy dress with thin straps and matching heels with a smattering of gold glitter on them. She gave a little spin. “What do you think?”
“You look totally hot.” Greg gave her a gentle swat on the behind as she walked by. Carolyn laughed and blushed.
Lauren elbowed her brother-in-law and tossed out a conspiratorial wink. “I promise I’ll bring her home drunk and silly for you.”
Carolyn said goodbye to Greg, kissed the twins and told them to behave, and hurried out to Lauren’s car. She gave the deep red Lexus an admiring look. “Yours? And do I want to know how much?”
“Leasing. And no, you probably don’t.”
“This is nice,” Carolyn said as she got cozy in the plush leather seat. “So, where are we going?”
“Where are we— Seriously? Where do you think?”
“You got us into Blue Ruby! You’re the best!”
With traffic, it took them nearly an hour to arrive at their destination. But with Carolyn’s happy chatter filling the car, Lauren hardly noticed the time go by. She guided the Lexus up to the curb, and a valet in a snappy uniform rushed over. He recognized Lauren immediately and assured her that he’d personally take care of her car.
Carolyn looked a little daunted at the line, which stretched down the block, but Lauren gestured for her to follow. As they walked to the front, people started to grumble until they saw who it was. The hushedthat’s Lauren Stonefollowed them up the line.
Blue Ruby’s main doors were azure glass and next to them, a mountain of a human was squeezed into the security chair. By his side, a man skinny enough to fit inside one of the bouncer’s pant legs surveyed the crowd. In one hand he had a tablet and the other brandished a stylus like a wand.
