“This was a mistake.”
I had to say it first. If Trey were forced to say it, he would be kind and regretful, and I didn’t think I could survive either his kindness or regret.
But if I said the words first... Well. I might escape with my pride intact, at least. Trey wouldn’t be thrust into the role of villain because I’d chosen to romanticize a one-night stand. If I acknowledged it first—“This was a mistake”—maybe one day in the future, the hopefully distant future, months or years from now, we’d be able to face each other over the Thanksgiving table without me wanting to kill us both with a fork.
He was a good person. Even if, at this moment, I wished he were dead. One mistake with me shouldn’t cost him his relationship with my entire family.
And maybe, please God, oh, maybe he would disagree with me.
He didn’t.
He looked relieved, as if I’d lifted a burden from his shoulders. “Is that how you really feel?” he asked quietly.
I shrugged. “How should I feel?”
He dipped his head to look into my face, his eyes dark and concerned. “Then... we’re good?”
My throat tightened. He loved my sister. I was, at best, his second choice.
“Don’t worry, Trey.” I managed a smile. “What happens in Paris, stays in Paris.”
I waited until I was in the bathroom to cry, silent, ugly tears in the shower.Stupid, stupid, Easy Amy.
All those years stuck playing the princess because my sisters didn’t think I could act. I deserved a fucking Oscar.
Took you long enough,” Phee grumbled when I got to Oak Hill.
I paused in the open bay doors, my eyes adjusting to the cavernous dimness. Phee sat on a brocade chair surrounded by piled shelves and furniture, like a dragon guarding her hoard.
I picked my way toward her. “I missed you, too. And it’s only been ten days,” I added.
“Two weeks. I expected you on Thursday.”
It was Saturday.Suck up, I reminded myself. Phee was going to be so impressed with my can-do attitude and sunny disposition that I’d be hunting for a workroom in Brooklyn before you could sayfall collection.
I bent to kiss her cheek, ignoring Polly’s halfhearted growl. “You get what you pay for, Aunt Phee. So far, you haven’t paid me anything.”
“You haven’t done anything.”
“I’ve been busy. I can’t just take off from work for three weeks. I had to find somebody to help Flo.”
“I hired help, too, while you were gone.”
I widened my eyes. “A professional organizer?”
Her lips twitched. “I don’t need an organizer. I hired Alec.”
The teen was stacking cartons in a corner.
I grinned at him. “Brave man.” My sister had the best stepsons. “You done with school now?”
“Until August.”
“Crappiest summer vacation ever.”
He shrugged. “I don’t mind.”
Maybe he didn’t. Jo was busy with her deadline, and Eric with the restaurant opening in three weeks. All Alec’s friends were in Fayetteville, his older brother away on a soccer scholarship at the University of Maryland.
