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‘That I’m a frustrating enigma with no sense of humor.’
She frowns on my behalf. ‘I think you’re funny.’
That surprises a laugh out of me.
‘Aunt Alice!’ Mary swings high, then back low, her legs working in tandem. ‘Thomas!’ She lets go of the chains with one hand to wave, causing Alice to grab my hand – hard.
I wave with my free hand, then tuck Alice’s hand and mine into my coat pocket. Keeping it there even after Mary grabs hold of the chain again.
24
THOMAS
‘Do you know why I love romance novels?’ Alice peers at me over the edge of her phone. We’re in the living room. Me sitting at the end of the sofa, Alice laying down next to me, her feet in my lap.
It’s what we’ve done the past three nights since the infamous gallery excursion. With my mother deciding to go on a dating spree with every ineligible thirty-year-old bachelor in the city, Alice has taken to cooking dinner – this time a carb load that included chicken, rice and two cans of condensed soup – then Alice and I put Mary to bed and retreat to the living room to read.
Dipping my chin down, I look over my reading glasses at her. ‘Why is that?’
Alice giggles, the one glass of wine she had at dinner, from a bottle my mother left for us, making her tipsy enough that I no longer question the convenient blanks in her mind from Vegas.
I frown, realizing that I’ve stopped questioning a lot of things about that night that I shouldn’t have in the first place. Like how all my clothes were neatly arranged by the side of the bed or how the rings—
‘Sex.’
I cough out a laugh, the newspaper in my hands creasing.
Alice beams, as if getting me to laugh was her goal.
Over the past few days, I suspect she and Mary are keeping a running tally on who can get me to laugh the most.
Mary just might have the edge, because one, after work while Alice cooks dinner, I’ve found Mary’s efforts to make me color ‘are-bit-tear-lee’ amusing rather than perturbing. And two, I like to do other things with Alice rather than laugh.
Case in point. ‘Sex, hmmm?’ I shake out my paper to fold it. ‘And here I thought it was the romance.’
Her sly smile jump-starts the warm-up to us eventually burning off the calories from dinner. ‘Oh.’ She feigns innocence. ‘Actually, what I was going to say before you sidetracked me with those sexy reading glasses of yours, is that my favorite thing about romance novels is that they’re happy.’ She gets a glazed look that I’m not sure is 100 percent cabernet related. ‘And the absolute best part is when there’s an epilogue into the future featuring them doing something simple like eating dinner or gathering around the Christmas tree with their growing family.’ She blinks a few times, the pinch between her brows forming, as if wondering why she’s suddenly getting emotional.
Knowing what I know about her childhood, I get why the epilogue would be her favorite part. But I can’t speak to that even if I wanted to. While things are exponentially better between my mother, brother and I now that Father is in jail—though the same can’t be said for Liz—I don’t think myself capable of more than this temporary truce Alice and I have forged over the last few days.
I’m smart enough to know Alice and Mary will be better off without me. They just need the security I can give them until they’re able to move on.
‘Sexy reading glasses?’ I toss my paper aside, content to distract her – and myself – the best way I know how.
Grabbing one foot, I raise it to move it behind me, making room to shift between her legs. I may not be good with words or promises that don’t involve contractual obligations but I can… I pause, body turned toward her, a sudden realization distracting me.
I still haven’t shredded the papers Alice signed. They’re in my desk drawer, right where I put them that day in my office, buried under an ever-growing pile of drawings from Mary.
I’ve been distracted. Lawyers and investigator reports, working with Human Resources on the new employee handbook, the unexpected hours I spent with Alice creating the mock-up display. Unexpected tasks on top of work responsibilities, that honestly, I haven’t been doing the best job of keeping up with.
I’m dropping the ball. Making small mistakes that I knew I would if I ever let myself be derailed by my fascination with Alice Truman.
‘Thomas?’ The concerned tone in Alice’s voice brings me back to the moment. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘Nothing.’ And it is nothing. I’ll simply do it tomorrow. Stay late to ensure I’m caught up on everything as we near the retail season change.
‘Are you sure?’
Sliding my hands up the inside of her legs, I push them farther apart. ‘Yes.’ A delicious blush spreads across her cheeks. ‘You know what my favorite part about romance novels is?’
