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“And New York? Was that good, too?”
I follow her down the hallway to the kitchen, where Charlie’s laying on a blanket watching the television. Well, not actually watching because the kid’s only three months old. But his head is facing in that general direction as some animated dogs sing a tune that kind of makes my ears ache.
“Yep,” I say. “All good.” She doesn’t want to hear the details. Meetings, spreadsheets, complaints, resolutions. I spent the last seven days running my ass off to get everything done.
I really need to duplicate myself.
“Is Myles home yet?” I ask her.
“No. He’s still at the office. You want me to call him?” she asks.
“It’s good. I’ll catch up with him later. I just wanted to let you know I’m back safely in case you see the lights go on in the bungalow.”
She grins at me. “I’m glad you are. I like knowing you’re there.”
This woman is heartwarming. No wonder my brother snapped her up.
“Oh,” she says. “I have something to give you.” She leans over the kitchen counter and rifles through some papers, pulling out a small envelope. “Your invitation to next week’s ball.”
I take it from her and pull the card out. It’s embossed with gold. Expensive. “I’d forgotten all about that,” I murmur.
“You can still come, can’t you?”
I smile at her. “Of course.” Myles thinks it’ll be a great way to meet prospective investors. He's probably right. The venn diagram of people with money to invest and people who go to expensive charity auctions is a very tight one. It’ll mean flying again next Friday because I have meetings in New York the day before, but it’s do-able. I make a mental note to get my tux dry cleaned.
“Good. Because it’ll be boring without you.”
“Don’t let Myles hear you say that,” I tell her, but she’s right in some ways. I know how to have a good time, whereas he always finds it harder to relax. I spent most of our childhood being sociable enough for the both of us.
“Are you planning on bringing a date?” she asks.
I shake my head. “Nope.”
“Oh that’s right. Sophie said…” she trails off, looking alarmed. My chest immediately tightens.
Does she know about what happened between me and Sophie?
“What did Sophie say?” I ask.
“It doesn’t matter,” Ava says quickly.
“Yeah, it does.” I look at her carefully. “What did she tell you?”
Ava swallows and I immediately feel like an asshole for cornering her. But Sophie and I made a pact. We wouldn’t tell anybody.
Has she broken it?
Part of me is annoyed because it was her that insisted. But the other part is annoyed because I don’t want Ava thinking badly of me. I value her opinion. She’s more than a sister-in-law, she’s a friend.
And I don’t have many of those.
“She said that you don’t spend more than one night with a woman,” Ava said softly. “She didn’t mean any harm by it. She was just explaining why you and she wouldn’t be a good match.”
I swallow hard. “She told you that?”
“Yeah.” Ava looks embarrassed.
“I guess you think I’m some kind of Casanova, huh?” I shift my feet, feeling awkward.
