“Oh. No, I’m not.” Zoey answered absently; all she could think about was how careless she’d been to let it slip that she was unemployed. What if Nick told Mark? She really didn’t want him to know. “Please don’t mention it to Mark, though.”
“You don’t want your cousin to know you’re not seeing anyone?”
“No. That I’m unemployed.”
Nick chuckled. “Okay.”
“Seriously, it’s important to me.”
“I understand and I won’t say anything about it.”
“Then why were you laughing?”
“Because I hardly ever talk to him anyway and when I do, it’s not about anything personal, like our families.”
“You guys aren’t old friends from high school?”
“I suppose some people might refer to us as old, but I wouldn’t call usfriends.In fact, when we were in our final semester, senior year…” He shook his head. “Nah, never mind.”
Zoeyhadto hear this. “Go on, say it.”
“We both liked the same girl. Amber Grant. And we both asked her to the prom.”
Nick had the same taste in girlfriends as Mark did? That wasn’t a good sign. “Which one of you did she choose?”
“Neither. She went with Brent Harris.”
“Smart girl.”
Nick laughed—Zoey liked that about him; he could take a joke. “Yeah. And we were stupid boys.”
“Why, what did you do?”
He coughed into his fist. “I’m not admitting to anything on the record. But I will say before either of us found out Amber had already agreed to go to the prom with Brent, we may or may not have had a shoving match that got a little rough. And there may or may not have been some after-school detention involved.
“And by ‘may or may not,’ you mean ‘definitely,’ don’t you?”
“Definitely. As I said, we were stupid boys. We were idiots.” He shook his head. “But please don’t tell your aunt.”
“Why? Are you afraid the next time Mark comes here, she’ll ground him?” Zoey teased.
“No, I’m afraid she’ll fireme.”
Zoey giggled. “Nah, at worst she’ll forbid her nieces to hang out with ‘those incorrigible Armstrong boys.’”
“Hey, just so you know, your cousin threw the first punch.”
“I thought it was ashovingmatch.”
“It was. But as I said, things got out of hand.”
Zoey understood how that could have happened since Mark was involved. The fact that Nick wasn’t actually friends with her cousin came as a relief but there was still something she needed to address.
“I want to ask you a favor, and I’m being serious, okay?” After he nodded, Zoey said, “I know your intentions are good and I can appreciate that until recently, you didn’t know me. But the next time something concerns you about Aunt Ivy or about her house, could you please let me know, instead of Mark? Or if you’ve already made an agreement to tell him first, could you let me know in addition to him?”
“What are you talking about? I don’t have any concerns about your aunt and if I notice anything that needs to be fixed in her house, she’s the one I talk to about it. I don’t involveanyoneelse in repair or renovation decisions unless a homeowner has specifically requested me to. That’s not the way I do business.”
They had pulled up to a stoplight in front of the hospital and Nick looked over at her, his eyes lit with indignation, his mouth a harsh line. Either he was telling the truth or he was an even better actor than Erik had been. Zoey had to be absolutely sure which one it was.
