Having drinks that night with Price, I remembered that, like those long-ago competitions with Greg, I had bet Marcy that I wouldn’t bring Price home. After laughing through two-thirds of dinner, I thought this might be a bet I was willing to lose. There was something totally magnetic about Price, and it was like everyone around him was attracted to it. It wasn’t unadulterated good looks. It was something more than that.
He was perfect for me, and it had taken only a few hours to figure that out. We could get married and blend our families and be totally happy together—except for one thing: Andrew’s harsh words had shaken me. But I guessed this was what the aftermath of a breakup was like.
Price was saying, “I have this work trip in Valle Crucis next week, and I’d love it if you could get away and come with me.”
I smiled. “September is the perfect time in the mountains.”
He nodded. “Gorgeous weather. Not too hot, not too cold.”
“Don’t you think it’s sort of early to go away together? I mean, I have practically no dating experience, but aren’t there rules about these kinds of things?”
He took a sip of his wine and grinned. “Oh, you mean because we haven’t slept together yet?” He winked. “I was planning on remedying that tonight.”
I laughed. “Oh, you were, were you? But see, here’s the thing. I know about the three-date rule, and this is most definitely only our second by my calculations.”
He leaned over and took my hand. “But, see, here’s the thing. Drinks and jail count as…” He picked up my hand and put up one of my fingers, then another, then kissed them.
Swoon. “Well then, I can’t argue with that.”
He looked shocked. “That worked? Where’s the waitress? Let’s get out of here!”
I smacked him lightly on the arm. “No, it did not work. Where is this trip?”
“The Mast Farm Inn in Valle Crucis. Maybe in one of those private cabins.”
I made my most delighted face. “I’ll have to check with Greg to make sure it works for Wagner’s schedule, but, sir, I kindly accept your invitation, if you don’t think it’s a little much to go away with a woman you’ve met twice.”
He nodded and said seriously, “Who has a violent criminal as a sister.”
We both laughed, but it crossed my mind that he wasn’t totally wrong. Shehadstabbed someone. With scissors.
Price took another sip of wine and said, “Gray, you’re beautiful. How anyone could let you go, I’ll never know. Truly, you’re all I can think about.”
And just like that, happily ever after, the sequel, was under way.
diana: an institution
I didn’t know if Gray was trying to punish me or help me, but it was very clear that she was avoiding the guesthouse. I’d seen her pull in and out of the driveway three or four different times, and she hadn’t come to check on me once. Oh, I’d get her back for this.
“This one?” Trey asked, holding up a Sanitary Fish Market T-shirt.
I could feel my mouth gaping. “Now, you listen here. The Sanitary is an institution.”
He dropped the T-shirt into a garbage bag. “It has cigarette holes in it.”
“Well, yeah. I had to put my cigarette out on Larry one night when—”
“No. Done,” Trey said. “Do you hear yourself? These aren’t happy memories to cherish. We should burn these things in a fire so no other unsuspecting person gets harmed by their negative energy.”
I crossed my arms and sat down on the couch across from the closet, pouting. To his credit, Trey had hung in there with me for fourteen T-shirts so far. He’d only let me keep the last one, and that was because I convinced him that the girls and me had actually gone to a Wilson Phillips concert and that had nothing to do with some guy.
Trey turned to me. “Diana, I don’t think I can,” then he sang: “?‘hold on for one more day.’?”
We both laughed, but then he got serious. “There’s no room for your horrible past in your fabulous new future.”
Then he pulled out a J-B Weld T-shirt, and I almost forgot I was pregnant. But I remembered in the nick of time and didn’t throw myself on it. Instead, I grabbed one sleeve and Trey was holding the other. “I won’t let this one go!” I shouted.
“Oh, yes you will,” he groaned.
