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“Mark? He’s definitely a big part of the problem. But that may improve soon.”
“Why? Are you going to go out with him?”
While that thought had crossed her mind, more than once, the more she thought about it she knew it wasn’t the right thing to do. No, what she was about to tell her sister was pretty pathetic and Caroline had to hold back a reaction that was half amusement, half disgust. Not because what she was about to say was funny, but because it was sadly ironic. “He already thinks I have a boyfriend.”
Meg laughed out loud. One of her full, involved laughs, and Caroline was wondering if she should be insulted. “Oh ,that’s perfect. You didn’t tell me that last night. Who’s the lucky guy?”
“Umm... well . . . ” Oh what the hell. She didn’t have to tell her sister all the details. “Believe it or not, it’s Josh.”
Her sister froze in place. “Wait. What? Did you say Josh? Our Josh?”
“The one and the same.”
Meg put down the knife and walked around the island. She was quiet... never a good sign in Caroline’s opinion, and when she took a seat right next to her at the island, Meg drew a deep breath and one side of her mouth turned up in a wry grin. “Okay,” she said calmly. “From the beginning. How did this happen?”
“It’s not a big deal.”
“Maybe not, but I sense a good story. Give.”
“Why?”
“I want details.” Meg folded her arms and tossed her mane of blonde hair. “Then I’ll decide if it’s a big deal or not. I told Mom not to let you move into the city.”
She was back toControl Freak Meg.Wonderful. Just what Caroline wanted.
“Meg, I’m a grown woman and a professional engineer. If I can keep a skyscraper from falling down, I think can make my own decisions.”
“Caroline, we worry about you. You’re going to have to get used to it.” Meg didn’t budge. She fixed her gaze and stared. “Are you going to tell me?”
“Tell you what?” Turning toward the door, Caroline saw they’d been joined by their mother. Great. She needed one more person ready to tell her what to do.
Caroline wished mom and her sister would just back off. Since she was thirteen they’d tried to control her every move, telling her where to go to school, whom she should be friends with, how she should run her career—and giving way too much advice on her love life. She knew they cared, but it always felt more like she was being ganged up on rather than helped.
“Nothing,” Caroline said, answering her sister’s question about her new love life..
“Stop,” Meg said. “Just tell us.”
Caroline knew she wasn’t going to get out of this so she gave them the basics. That was all. “I was out after work Friday and Mark was hitting on me. Josh ran interference and took me to dinner. Mark can draw whatever conclusion he wants.”
“Where were you on Friday?” asked Mom.
Caroline shrugged. “I don’t know. Some bar in Midtown.”
Her mother rolled her eyes. “Caroline, really? Bars?”
Now she was going to get a lecture about staying safe in the city and finding a husband and moving home and working in a smaller firm on the island. No way was it going to happen. She didn’t want to live in the suburbs yet. And as for finding a husband, she’d love it, but she’d be happy with a decent guy to date.
“Where did you eat?” Meg asked.
“We picked up a pizza and went back to his place.” She could see from Meg’s face that that was already too much information. She shouldn’t have said anything. Josh was out with Jason and Molly, but when he arrived, Meg was going to be all over him. Then Caroline thought about that for a second. Maybe it wasn’t a bad thing. He could use a hard time.
“You went to his loft?”
“Whose loft?” Her mother was lost.
“Josh’s loft,” Meg said with concern. Her and Jason’s marriage may have been rock solid, and the relationship with Josh was better than it was when they first got back together, but there was still a lot of tension because Josh had a relationship with his parents. Meg couldn’t get past how they tried to steal Molly from her, and even though Josh helped in getting the whole mess straightened out, Meg was still working on trusting him.
“Josh Campbell?” Mom asked. Meg nodded like she’d just tattled on Caroline for missing curfew.
