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“Really. How old did you think that I was?”
“Twenty, twenty-one tops.”
“Wow.”
“It isn’t your attitude if that’s what you’re thinking. You’re more mature than most. Hell, look at these guys around here. I’d contribute your youthful appearance to great genes.”
Thankful for the subject change, I smile. “Thanks.”
“I have a question. Why the last-minute invitation?”
“Just needed to get away for a while. My life is always about working and nothing more. Stace thought this was a great breakaway for me.”
“How are you two stepsisters?”
“My mother and her father are married.”
“The other ladies feel that you two aren’t very close. Is that true?”
Shrugging, I say, “Not really.”
“Why not?”
“We haven’t quite navigated the waters of that tumultuous relationship with each other’s parents. Stacey was a ‘worldly’ nineteen-year-old just finishing her first semester in college when our parents married. I was a mouthy thirteen-year-old with a bad attitude who only wanted her father back in the house. Because we weren’t around one another much, we didn’t clash so much, but we did clash with one another’s parents. I hated her father, and she hated my mother.”
“Because you had difficulty with the divorce?”
“For me, yes. Not so much for Stacey. Her parents had been divorced for ten years by that point. She was used to being her father’s world and didn’t have to share his attention with anyone else. Her dad didn’t bring women around her, keeping his dating life separate from her.
“So, when she came home during Christmas break and learned her father was getting married with no warning, she justifiably had a fit. Because she took it out on my mother, I also gave her shit for attitude.”
“You two have obviously worked through that.”
“We grew up. She began to see that my mother was a good woman, and they started healing their relationship. Mom begged me to do the same with Graham, Stacey’s dad, but I won’t. He’s an ass who thinks I’m spoiled and has said many disrespectful things about my father in my hearing. I did promise, however, to try to make amends with Stacey. We’ve both worked on that when possible.”
“So, you two are close?”
I sense a curiosity in his voice that has nothing to do with concern about our relationship and perhaps something else. I’m not sure what it is, so I keep talking.
“I wouldn’t say we’re close, but no longer sworn enemies. We have lunches and go to dinner at our parents’ house.”
He nods and looks at me as he picks up a half-full beer bottle. That’s the first time I’ve noticed it there, and I know it must be room temp by now. I can’t imagine it might taste good.
Between that and wanting to get out from under his scrutiny, I push myself up. “I’ll get you another one.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
Wrinkling my nose, I reply, “Warm beer is never good. Besides, I can use one myself.”
He nods and watches me warily as I pass by. Kincaid is smart, and I know he’s not buying my excuse. I can only hope that he’ll let it go when I return.
I want to ask about him and Lauren. Still, asking him questions about his personal life will only invite questions about mine. That’s off-limits. I should have known showing up here as a stranger, people would have questions.
The only thing that I’m grateful about is that Stacey is so self-absorbed that she doesn’t care much about the details of my life. When we meet for lunch or dinner, the conversation is typically about her, her most recent vacations, shopping excursions, who she’s dating, and what newest athlete has been added to her roster. It’s easy to disappear in Stacey’s presence.
I head back into the living room and hand Kincaid his beer bottle. Popping the top off my own, I take the ottoman at the foot of the chair that he’s sitting in. Crossing my legs, I sip my beer and watch him closely.
“What is it that you do for a living?” I ask.
