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He looked around the room and then at me, tugging on the ends of my hair. “Not exactly.”
Feeling my skin redden, I glared at him. “I’m being nice because you were nice to me once and we’re at Ethan’s grandmother’s funeral, but I will not date you.”
Rowan’s face contorted. “Of course not. Look, Meredith,” he put his hands on my shoulders, guiding us away from the table of food, “I’d say we’re friends now, eh?”
“Meh,” I grunted, crossing my arms.
“Meh,” he mocked, smiling at me, “is enough for me. So be my friend and just pretend to be more than that so we can win this contest and fix my image.”
I watched Rowan, waiting for him to tell me he wasn’t serious or that he was at least half pretending to not consider me in any of his idiotic plan. Nope. Just blue eyes, muscles, and that stupidly handsome face.
“You’re really that arrogant.” I didn’t have the energy to give him my classic rolled eyes, so I took my plate of cake and walked away from him.
It was easy to get lost in that old house, but after a few wrong turns, I found Aubrey helping Ethan’s mom and aunt in the kitchen. When I offered to help, Ethan’s mom gave me a hug and told me not to fuss. Apparently, his grandma wouldn’t have wanted a guest to lift a finger, but I helped anyway between bites of cake.
Guests who weren’t family or traveling from out of town filtered out by sunset, leaving a small group of us in the enormous house. Aubrey and I were on the back porch overlooking the Puget Sound, watching Ethan’s young cousins who fell asleep an hour prior. She pushed the porch swing with her toe every few minutes to keep them asleep.
“Thank you again for coming,” she whispered to me, rolling her head onto my shoulder.
“I love you two.”
“You know,” she whispered, “on the topic of love, Ethan about died when he saw that headline about you and Rowan.”
“I’m still slowly dying,” I grumbled, annoyed this was her topic. “I told you it was one picture. You made me take care of his cat, and now the universe is screwing me for it.”
Aubrey giggled, covering her mouth. “If you gave in to fate, you could have more than the universe screwing you.”
“Shut up!” I shrieked, flying up when she suggested that. “I can’t believe you, Aubrey.”
She shrugged, still smiling at me. “His ex spent too many tequila bottles telling me every detail. Sounds like you’ll be just fine.”
I sealed my eyes as I tried not to gag. “I think,” I uncovered my mouth and shook my head at Aubrey, “I want a divorce from you. This is not friendship. It’s treason. I’m going to bed.” A throw pillow hit me as I left the porch with Aubrey’s giggling wish for sweet dreams following.
“Oh, Meredith.” Ethan’s mom crossed the hallway as I stepped inside. “Thank you again for coming. It’s wonderful to see Ethan’s other family love him so much.”
“He’s hard not to love,” I agreed, smiling at her. “I’m off to bed, though. Aubrey’s still out there.” She turned from me to address someone who hugged her before going onto the porch.
“Etta,” she called behind me. I turned to see Ethan’s great aunt carrying a folded quilt in her arms, her wrinkled mouth still painted with bright red lipstick. “Are you heading upstairs?” When great aunt Etta nodded, Ethan’s mom pulled me in for a hug and a quick kiss on the forehead. “Could you take Meredith upstairs? It’s a maze up there.”
The two women refused to believe I could navigate by myself. Etta even marveled at knowing I lived and worked in a city.
“I’ll show you,” great aunt Etta offered, smiling at me. Her slippers squeaked against the hardwood floor as we reached the staircase. “Hold the railing, dear,” she advised, “it’s a bit wobbly on the landing.”
“When I was your age,” she told me as we mounted the third flight of stairs, “I worked in an office, too. Won my first car by suing the pants off that bastard boss of mine.”
“What?”
“Oh, yes.” She patted my arm, returning my gaping smile. “My sister, bless her soul, told me to do it. Get him where it hurts and then tell his wife about it. That’s what she said.”
Etta stopped outside of a closed door and I reached for her bony shoulder. “I’m so sorry she’s gone,” I whispered. She patted my hand in return, winking at me with her red lips quivering.
She opened the door for me, and I’d stepped into another world. It was a beautiful room, what remained of it at least. Along one wall was a pile of boxes overflowing with clothes. Two wooden doors opposite the bed were closed. They softened the enormous bed with down blankets, but Etta handed me the quilt she carried upstairs.
“It gets chilly, even though it’s summer. She’d tell me to take it just in case.”
I started to reply when a door inside swung open. Screaming, I covered my eyes as I turned around. Etta was red as a tomato, her skin rivaling her own lipstick, while she fumbled with the doorknob.
“Heaven on earth,” she muttered, flustered. I was as desperate to get out, but I couldn’t exactly knock great aunt Etta out of the way.
