Owen and I looked at each other like we were sharing the same disappointment over this interruption.
“What do you mean are we coming? We were here waiting foryou,” Owen replied, pivoting his torso to look back at Simon.
We rose to our feet and wrapped ourselves in towels.
“Does Owen have a girlfriend?” I asked Simon after we dropped off Nicole and Owen at their homes.
“What’s it to you?”
“Just asking.”
“You’re not just asking.” Simon looked at me through the rear-view mirror. “Ri, when you’re older, I’ll set you up with any of my friends, except Owen.”
“Who said anything about setting up with any of your lame friends?” I pitifully defended myself.
Simon snickered.
“I was just curious. But now I’m curious about what you said,” I managed to say in a more dignified tone.
“As much as he’s my best friend and all, he’s not for you. And he doesn’t plan on staying here. So don’t get any ideas into your head.”
“I don’t have ideas in my head, Simon.” It was mostly true. I was interested in Owen like any red-blooded girl would be, but I knew he was out of my league, out of my reach, and off-limits.
“Good,”Simon sealed.
IRONICALLY, NONE OFthose other friends of my brother’s had stuck around. The only one who did was Owen. Despite the canyons of differences between them.
6
Owen
“NO, I’M FINE, MAN.Drop by anytime. It’s your sister’s place, too.”
“We try not to impose on Walter, so she usually comes over here.”
“Walter loves seeing the girls.”
“Especially their noise.” Simon laughed. “Unlike me, if he gets tired of it, he doesn’t have to take it.”
I pulled over. “Okay, I’m here. Send my love to Nicole and the kids.”
“Good luck at the appointment. Let me know what he says,” he signed off just as I reached the large facility in Santa Barbara.
It had only been seventy-two hours since I arrived, and Simon was already apologizing for not seeing me yet. I kept reminding him—he was a busy family man with a demanding job in the city. I wasn’t expecting him before the weekend anyway.
Simon was one of the few constants in my life. Walter, too, in his own way—though he still resented me for not being a constant in his.
My parents ceased being that a long time ago. My dad opened an RV business with his second wife, and though it failed in the UK with my mom, it thrived in Florida.
My mom had remarried and moved to Spain, into a house I bought her. She loved bragging about my success, loved the money I deposited in her account every month, but never once offered to help, not even when I was injured.
Simon had. Just like the last time I had surgery, he was ready to drop everything and stay with me for a few days.
He was the brother I never had. Which made keeping a secret from him all these years a heavy burden to carry. Rio that night—the only secret I’d ever kept from him. And since he hadn’t torn me a new one yet, I figured she never told him either.
I hadn’t seen much of her since we took Walter to the pool.
Climbing out of this rented Range Rover Autobiography was easier than Rio’s ridiculously tiny car, but my knee still screamed with pain that reminded me why I needed to be here.
