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“Um, can you have him come up here? I’d rather do this in private.”
“Absolutely, I’ll be right back.”
As she left, I rubbed at my face and tried to clear my head. The pain medication had kicked in, and I felt a little woozy from it, but I’d take woozy over pain any day.
A couple minutes later, Riley opened the door again, and a tall handsome man dressed in a police uniform stepped in. He was about our age and towered over Riley by about a foot or more. I felt awkward propped up in bed and craned my neck back to see his face as he stepped beside the bed.
“Ms. Novak, I’m Ethan Winston. How are you feeling?”
“Hello, Officer Winston. I’m doing alright. Pain medication works wonders.” I chuckled as he grinned.
“Yes, it does. Riley and Charlotte told me what happened, but I needed to get an official statement from you since you were injured. Can you tell me how injured you are?”
“It was more of reinjury. I was in a car accident about a week ago, had stitches in my thigh, and the truck bumper struck me in the exact spot and tore a few of the stitches out. Wes was able to fix them.”
“Would you mind showing me the injury?”
I didn’t think twice and flipped back the blanket, exposing my bare thighs to him.
Riley started to laugh. “Wow, we get a peep show, too?”
I shrugged. “What? I’m not modest. He’s a cop. I’m pretty sure he’s seen people partially dressed before.”
The officer snorted a laugh as he glanced back at Riley, and when she averted her eyes quickly, he smirked. Well, wasn’t that interesting. I wonder if there was more going on with those two than just friendship.
After a few more questions and taking a couple pictures of my leg, he wished me a speedy recovery and said goodbye. Riley left with him, and I pushed myself to the edge of the bed, intent on finding clothes so I could go join the rest of the house. I glanced at my phone and saw that it was almost three. The party would be starting soon, and I sure didn’t want to spend it up here hiding.
No way. I wanted to see this family in action. I wanted to hear more laughter, enjoy the atmosphere that was so very different than my own family. I frowned as I stared at my overnight bag.
The door opened, and I went to reach for the blanket, but when I realized it was only Lee, I left it on the bed. While I wasn’t modest, I didn’t need his whole family checking out my lower half.
“Why are you frowning?” he asked as he came to stand in front of me.
“Honestly?”
He rolled his eyes. “No, please lie to me.”
I giggled. “Actually, I was comparing your family to my own. They are like polar opposites.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because you guys are so open with each other. You say I love you and hug one another. I can’t remember the last time I hugged my brother or father. You have birthday parties, and it sounds like you get together often.” I shrugged. “I mean, I see my brother on and off, but it’s usually when one of us needs something, or he wants to get on my case, and I barely ever see my father.” I held my hand up. “Which is fine with me, don’t get me wrong. The two of us in the same room is never fun for long.”
Lee took a seat next to me. “I know you said your mother got a better offer, but why didn’t you go with her? Would you have been happier if you had?”
I laughed. “Oh, I’m sure I would have been, but growing up on a yacht and sailing around the world was not the kind of education that I wanted.”
“Wait, what? Your mother lives on a yacht?”
“Yes, she’s a chef, and she was hired by a rich tycoon to be his private cook. They spend about half the year on his boat and the rest of the time going from one mansion to the other around the globe.”
His jaw hung. “Are you serious?”
I nodded. “At first, I thought it was kind of cool, and then I missed her a lot, but I got used to her not being around. I always looked forward to her postcards though. She used to send them a couple times a month from places she visited, but I haven’t gotten one in a while. Now she sends me short texts with pictures.”
“Wow.” His brows came down low on his face as he stared at the floor. “When is the last time that you saw her?”
“The day she left, I was ten. She said she always wanted me to visit her, but the few times she asked me to come, it didn’t work out. Either I’d have something going on at school, or she’d have to cancel at the last minute.”
