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“Are you dancing the dance by going after the sister?” He asked this carefully, but he might as well have punched me in the face.
My hands balled into fists I kept tucked under my arms. I was not violent by nature, but right now, if my brother breathed wrong, I was liable to draw blood. This, however, was not the time or place for that, and under my sizzling anger, I knew I’d regret taking such action.
“My kid would be heartbroken seeing me toss you down the bleachers. That’s the only reason you’re still sitting beside me. Fuck off with that kind of question, Jeremy.”
He nodded once then turned to the field. He’d heard me and hopefully understood how he’d insulted both me and Clara and would never misstep like that again.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “That was unnecessary. Last night had taken me by surprise. You could have let me in on your personal relationship with her.”
It was my turn to nod. He wasn’t wrong. “It’s complicated, but if I had thought there was something you needed to know, I would have told you.”
He cast me a sidelong glance. “You like her?”
“I don’t know.” I shrugged. “There’s a lot to like about her.”
He turned more fully toward me. “I didn’t think I’d hear you say something like that about another woman.”
“I’m not marrying her, Jer. Get those stars outta your eyes.”
That broke his serious demeanor, earning me a chuckle. “I’m just glad to see you moving on, even if it’s with a surprising woman.”
“Why surprising?” I was finding my hackles were quick to rise when the topic of Clara came up.
“Well, she’s older and, from what I understand, has a child. I would think both would give you pause.”
“Like I said, I’m not marrying her. I want to take her out to dinner where some guy in an ill-fitting suit isn’t drooling on her.”
He slapped his knee. “Poor Trevor. He thought he had a chance.”
I chuffed, letting my arms fall. Jeremy wasn’t my enemy, and I had to remember that when we disagreed. Threatening to toss him off the bleachers wasn’t exactly brotherly behavior.
“I don’t know if I have a chance.”
“Knowing you, you won’t back down.” He tipped his chin toward the field. “That’s where she gets it from.”
Sage ran back on the field to finish out the first half, bringing the discussion to a close. It was a good thing too. I had another week before Clara owed me an answer, and talking about her might have made me lose my patience, which was unlikely to end well.
Something told me Clara Rossi wouldn’t respond positively to being hunted down.
Chapter Eighteen
Clara
Bea nudged my arm. “Are you certain all this sunlight is good for us?”
“Yes.”
“I’m not.” She shoved her oversized sunglasses firmly up her nose. “You know I only blossom at night.”
Shira huffed a little laugh. “That sounded extremely whimsical, Beatrice.”
Bea wrinkled her nose. “Didn’t it? That’s what all this sunshine does to me. It turns me into a different person. Soon, I’ll be skipping through a field of wildflowers. Can you imagine?”
I looked her over and shook my head. “No, I can’t, actually.”
We were at Saoirse’s favorite farmers’ market after having an early brunch. Nellie was happily hanging in her stroller, having a conversation with the handmade rag doll Shira had bought for her from a vendor. Shira, in her pale-blue linen dress, was on the other side of the stroller Bea had volunteered to push.
Shira blended. In my flouncy red dress, jean jacket, and white sneakers, I did too. Bea, on the other hand…well, it wasn’t her blue hair that made her stick out. My friend wore a black babydoll dress, fishnets, Docs, and a black, wide-brimmed hat. Her lips were so deep red, they were almost black too. She looked like she belonged in a hipster bar in Brooklyn, not hanging out at a farmers’ market with a three-year-old.
