“Are you calling her fat?” Katy asked, as if I was the worst person in town.
“What?” My eyes widened, and I pushed my arm out further, making Katy stumble. The situation grew more troubled by the second. “Shit, no.”
“Then whatdidyou mean?” Cassandra asked from the small stoop. She took the last bite of her toast and then wiped her fingers off on her jeans, little crumbs falling to the ground.
“I just meant,” I started and struggled for what to say, “that I’m sure you’d rather have an ice cream cone. Right, babe?”
I’d heard my brother call Tabitha babe to get himself out of trouble more than once, and if that’s what it took to get me out of the current state of affairs, I was totally for it.
Cassandra glanced back at her brother’s house. “What about the cat?”
“She’ll survive,” Katy said, shaking her head. “Let’s go get an ice cream.”
I turned my gaze to Katy and hardened my expression. “You are not invited. Don’t you need to get back to the bed-and-breakfast?”
“I don’t think so,” she said, tapping her finger against her tooth again.
Hmmm. I nodded. “Yes, I think you do.”
“Ohhhh, yeah. You’re right, I do. I’m supposed to be working right now, but I wanted to get more exercise. You two have fun,” Katy said, taking a few steps backward. I watched until she’d made it to the sidewalk and turned toward her home.
“Riley, I want updates later,” she called when she passed the driveway.
I spun back to Cassandra. “She doesn’t need updates.”
4
CASSANDRA
Riley accepted my crinkled napkin and then tossed our trash into the bin on the edge where the public beach met the sidewalk. We shared small talk on the way to get ice cream until I immediately busied myself with stuffing my face full of the delicious treat. But now as we headed toward my home with nothing to stop our conversation from continuing, my nerves spiked.
I’d hit it on the head and maneuvered the way things went. I still didn’t want to answer some questions from Riley just yet, even if I was sure he needed to know the answers.
“Do you enjoy working with your brother?” I asked as soon as we stepped out onto the sidewalk.
Riley’s smile grew as if remembering fond memories. And dammit, I should’ve looked away because I missed his smile. “Yeah, he’s a decent boss. Still has a giant ego,” he said in a spirited way.
I laughed, and for a moment we fell back into the playful selves we’d been once upon a time. I bumped my shoulder against his upper arm because of our height difference as we crossed the street.
Also, dammit, Riley had not been so buff when I left Pelican Bay. He’d definitely been working out while I hung out at home watching Netflix and eating Oreos. I wanted to bump him again just to find out how much muscle he’d added in the last few years.
Somehow, I gained control of myself before I did it. Thankfully.
Rather than drool over him, I brought back a few more memories. Like why did Katy make me listen to his Aunt Mary explain why she had called me a whore in first place? It looked extra uncomfortable for Riley as well, so I had to assume he didn’t know what she’d planned.
No point in bringing that up again, so I turned my questions to nicer conversations. “Does Ridge still put you in a headlock when you annoy him?”
Riley threw his head back and shrugged, staring at the sky. “You remember that?”
Yes, I remembered that. I’d never forget it. “It’s still my best Thanksgiving Day memory.”
Thanksgiving dinner our senior year. My parents were having a big fight—per usual—and my father left on Wednesday, sending my mother into one of her infamous drinking binges. I spent the holiday with the huge Jefferson clan during one of their rowdy meals.
They were the family I always wanted. The boys acted as if the house was a wrestling cage match, and I could hardly believe we made it the entire afternoon without a single broken lamp. By then, Ridge was in the military, and he totally won every disagreement, but it didn’t stop his brothers from antagonizing him at every chance.
“How do you like Tennessee?” Riley’s question caught me off guard, and I tripped on my own two feet on the uneven sidewalk as we’d grew closer to Henry’s house.
“How did you know I moved to Tennessee?” I asked without answering his question.
