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Well, it doesn't take a genius to narrow down the suspect's list here. It's not like my father's a manwhore with tons of women coming and going from his place. But why would my dad's longtime girlfriend do something like this?
After the fire, I never talked about Phillip with anyone.
I just couldn't bring myself to do it.
So why would she lie, why would she go to such lengths to discourage a man she didn't even know from pursuing me?
Okay, I need to slow down here, my brain is flittering all over the place like a damn hummingbird on crack.
There's no point in asking myself why she did it if I don’t know what she actually did do and I'm not even sure if we're really talking about her at all.
"Can you describe her to me?"
Phillip scratches the back of his head. "Um, sure. Thin, tall, well at least for a woman anyway. Early forties. Brunette… with blue eyes, attractive if you're into the whole femme fatale thing."
Damn, that totally sounds like Fay.
"Would you be able to recognize her if you were to see her again?"
"I think so, yes. She had a pretty distinctive tattoo on the side of her neck. I could easily see it because her hair was up in a ponytail."
"A dragon tattoo?"
"Yeah."
I groan. Covering my eyes with both hands.
"Princess, who is she?”
"Fay Corvine. My dad's girlfriend. Back then they had been going out for a little under a year."
Phillip grunts a soft 'fuck' under his breath. "They still a thing?"
"Yes."
"So she's like your stepmom or something."
"Not exactly. I mean, they date. Casually. They are exclusive as far as I know, but they don't even live together. I think it would take more to consider her my step-anything."
"Makes sense. And she's nice to you? Are you guys friends?"
"Not really. She's polite and friendly enough but keeps her distance, we never bonded. Not that I've had occasion to be around her much to be fair. I haven't been back in Briarsville once since I moved. We have met a couple of times over the holidays, but not that frequently. Mostly, my dad would fly to see me on his own, or with Belle accompanying him. She's my other best friend. You don't know her."
"Belle Sidney? Oh, I know her."
I frown at him and he shrugs with a chuckle. "Small town. So, back to yourquasistepmother or whatever she is… do we have any idea why she would screw with us like this and well, essentially, break us apart before we even started out as a couple?"
"Not a single one."
He shuts the car off and turns his body to the side until he's fully facing me. "Okay, Rory, I'm getting whiplash here. You never got my texts?"
"Never. And it goes without saying that if I didn't get your texts…"
"Then you certainly did not send the ones I got."
I let go of a shuddering breath. "No."
He squeezes my thigh a little nodding to himself and a pleasant tingle warms my entire body at his touch. “Don't worry, baby. We'll get to the bottom of this. Let's backtrack a little."
