“Five years!” she repeated, impressed. “My goodness. You must know each other very well by now.”
“Not particularly,” I muttered, thinking that Dex had barely stopped by my desk. Mostly he had been emailing, texting, or short calls dictating what he needed and when it was to be delivered.
I opened my mouth to stop Mom, but she was already gaining speed. “Lucy is so responsible. She used to organize all her sisters’ projects in school. Remember the bake sale, Jane? She made color-coded charts.”
“Mom,” I tried.
“She had a spreadsheet for frosting,” Mom fondly recalled.
“Mom!”
“She even scheduled bathroom breaks." She had a chuckle of amusement.
Dex looked faintly entertained. “That sounds accurate.”
Braxton leaned forward, grinning. “You color-code frosting?”
I stabbed a carrot. “It was one time. I was ten.”
“She still uses spreadsheets for everything. She built one for my entire firm’s deadlines,” Dex added mildly.
“That’s called being efficient,” I said through my teeth.
“I called it being terrifyingly organized,” Braxton added.
Mom clasped her hands in delight. “You see? Even her bosses think she’s perfect.”
“I never said perfect. Lucy is effective,” Dex amended.
“Same thing,” Mom decided.
“Could we please stop talking about me while I’m here?” I rhetorically asked, certain it would continue anyways.
Across the table, Braxton chuckled. “Sounds like you miss her, Dex.”
My pulse skipped. “Miss is a strong word.”
Dex met my gaze. “Accurate, though.”
I dropped my fork. The room went quiet for a heartbeat. Jane’s jaw fell open. Mom looked like she might faint from excitement.
“Miss her, do you?” she asked, leaning forward, her eyes bright.
Dex took a measured sip of water. “Professionally.”
“Of course,” Mom said, trying and failing, to hide her grin. “Well, sometimes work partnerships turn into something more.”
“Not this one,” I blurted, too fast. “We are very... separate.”
“Separate buildings,” Dex added.
“Separate worlds,” I muttered.
“Separate philosophies on how to store files,” he said, and the corner of his mouth twitched.
I glared. “You alphabetized rather than filter by project due date, Dex. No jury would side with you.”
Braxton’s laughter broke the tension, warm and genuine. “I can see why you two worked well together.”
