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The happy warmth that had suffused my insides turned chilly, as though I had downed a gallon of ice water in one gulp. “Itisyour business. We’re sleeping together.”
She was quiet for a moment. “The thing is, I thought you said you would be with your parents all day. I must have misunderstood.” Suddenly she looked weary. She rubbed her temple as though she had a headache.
“You didn’t misunderstand anything. That was the plan. But when we got back from Asheville, my dad was having a rough time. He was getting agitated, and I wasn’t helping things. Mom wanted him to rest, maybe take a nap. I thought I’d grab lunch before seeing if Suzie needed anything. That’s when I ran into Sofia.”
She nodded slowly, her gaze searching mine for…what, exactly? I didn’t know. I squeezed her arm. “Nora? What’s on your mind?”
She shook her head. “I’m sorry.”
What the hell was she apologizing for? I stared at her, baffled. “For what?”
“For this.” She waved a hand vaguely in the direction of herself. Like she fully believed she was the problem here. “You shouldn’t have to explain. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“You didn’t, either.” I studied her, perplexed. What wasn’t she saying? “Anyway, you should know that if you ever tell me you’re going to spend the day with your parents, and then I find you eating lunch with some hot guy who’s definitely not your dad, I’m going to want an explanation. I wouldn’t be a jerk about it. I wouldn’t flip a table or yell at you. But I’d want you to tell me why. That’s normal.”
She squinted at me. “Normal. Huh.”
She was still holding something back, I could feel it. I scanned her face, searching for clues. She looked unsettled somehow, a little hesitant, like maybe she still had questions. I waited, willing to answer whatever she tossed at me, but she didn’t ask.
I put my hands on her hips and gently moved her closer, needing the contact. “Are we okay?”
“We’re fine.” She wiggled free of my grasp. “We should get back. Suzie will be wondering if I fell in the toilet.”
I nodded, stepping back so she could go first. I leaned against the stucco wall and watched as she threaded through tables to reach Suzie, Kate, and Emma.
She didn’t look back once.
Chapter 15
Nora
Everythingwasfine.
I sprawled on my fainting couch, staring in the direction of the crown molding without really seeing it. With one hand, I idly scratched Brandon behind the ears. I was home from work now, having somehow made it through the rest of the afternoon without letting myself think too much about lunch.
Specifically, about seeing Michael eating lunch with Sofia.
That wasn’t worth thinking about. Because everything wasfine. Michael had explained. I hadn’t misunderstood. His plans had changed, that was all. Totally understandable, given the state of his dad’s health. He had expected me to be at work, not at the restaurant with Suzie. How could I be suspicious about him not being where he said he would be when I also wasn’t where I said I would be?
Everything he said made perfect sense. No missing puzzle pieces here. No plot hole to fill.
So, no, it wasn’t worth thinking about. Still, it had slithered through my mind, pulling my focus from work tasks, which consisted of listening to interviews with clients and typing summaries into the computer. It was like a cloud crossing over the sun, darkening my world for only a moment before letting the light shine through again.
But now I was home, without work to distract me, and the dark thoughts were doing a whole lot more than slithering through. They were sinking their claws in, trying to poke holes in his story. Strangely, it wasn’t working. Michael’s story refused to pop.
Maybe because he was telling the truth?
Hmm. It was something to consider, anyway.
I rolled onto my side so that I was face to face with Colonel Brandon. “I’m an idiot,” I told him.
He licked my nose in response, which I took to mean he loved me anyway.
“The thing is, it all makes sense. So I should stop thinking about it, right?” I asked him. “He had planned to spend the whole day with his dad, but his dad needed a break. They probably both did. I was at work—so he thought—so there was no reason to tell me his plans had changed. I’m not the boss of him, you know?”
Brandon nudged my hand to encourage more scratching, which he clearly deemed more important than my existential crisis. He had a point, I had to admit. My crisis was ridiculous. Iknewthat. But I still needed to work through it anyway, and the way I worked through things was talking about it. Ideally, I would talk about it with Suzie, who could talk back, unlike Colonel Brandon. But talking to Suzie about whether I could trust her brother was out of the question. So Colonel Brandon it was.
“Anyway, he ran into Sofia just by happenstance. It’s not like he planned having lunch with her.”
