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“Oops. I’m talking too much, aren’t I?” A toilet flushes. “He looked awfully lonely sitting there. Marco was shocked he came at all. Apparently, he doesn’t normally do that sort of thing, and the weather was especially lousy that night, too.”
“The weather?”
The lock slides and she slips out of the stall, still with that high-wattage smile. “Yeah. Five weeks ago tonight. It was super rainy that evening. Flood warnings and everything. We were lucky anybody showed up.”
The night we met. Has to be. Lonely? Puts his grouchiness that night into perspective I didn’t have at the time.
Annalise washes and dries her hands on a clothlike paper towel from a basket between the pair of marble sinks. Tossing the wadded paper, she squares up to the mirror, adjusting the top portion of her outfit. It’s a rust-colored halter dress, a silky sheath that hugs her perfect figure. As she tucks away a peek of bra strap with one finger, the fiery rock on her left hand makes a bold statement, one I’m certain her husband chose for precisely that reason. She must get gawked at all the time.
She smooths a hand down the dress, then tweaks the diamond pendant at her neck. I also notice the solitaire studs in her ears. I rub the tinyJatop my drab blouse.
Annalise’s constant motion stops for a second. “Gosh, your hair is so pretty, Hollie. Those curls are natural, aren’t they?”
“Um, thanks. Yes.” I glance in the mirror and spy the beginnings of my nightly frizz.If you say so.
She leans right up to the mirror, scooting a tiny thread of hair near her temple back into place. “Boy, do I need a haircut. I didn’t want to do anything to my hair right before the wedding, but it needs something now. It frizzed like a maniac on our honeymoon. I mean, I’m used to that. I grew up on the beach, but my hair loves the dry air in Denver.” She takes a breath, shimmying with glee. “I can’t wait to finally get home and start our new life together.”
“You haven’t been back since the wedding?”
“Nope. We went to Europe. England, France, Italy, Switzerland. Lots of places. Then we spent last week with my parents in Galveston. We flew up last night. Tripp and Avery picked us up from the airport.”
“Tripp?” The guy that skulked into John’s backyard and scared me half to death?
She pauses. “Yeah, he’s my brother. Do you know him?”
Her brother? My mind whirrs. In a handful of quick sentences, I explain how I met him. Annalise’s perfect blue eyes roll up. “I am so jealous. I’ve never gotten to see the Trippster in full-on gangsta mode.”
I can’t help a laugh. “Well, rest assured, he plays the role very well.”
She laughs. “So I’ve heard. Hey, they’re going to wonder what happened to us.”
∞∞∞
I could get used to this.
Being half of a couple. Excellent food. Evenings with friends.
Of course, the agents and their wives are John’s friends, not mine.
But someday?
Not likely. Not with the bunch I dined with tonight. They were great, but they move in different circles than me.
I sigh and John turns, his thumb caressing my hand locked with his on the console. “Everything alright?”
“Of course. Just thinking. The evening was wonderful, John.”
He’s quiet a second, tilting his head. “Yeah, it was.”
“You sound surprised.”
His broad shoulders, sculpted by his well-tailored dress shirt, shrug. “A little, I guess. I don’t go out much.”
Yeah, I kind of figured. “Socializing must be hard when you’re the boss.”
Looking over, he hitches his cheek. “You know it’s more than that.”
I smile. “I know.”
