“What?”
“I can’t do physical stuff with you.”
“A level of connection will be inevitable—we’re pretending to be in a relationship. Which was your idea, I might add. You came to me. You wanted to do this and now you’re acting all put upon about it.”
“Well, I … underestimated some things,” she muttered.
“I can accept a truce,” he said.
“Great,” she said. “Truce.”
“All right, so now we have to focus on the fact that we are about to stare Danielle down for two hours.”
“How often do you see her?” she asked.
“In what capacity?”
“As …family. I mean, I got the impression from last night that it’s definitely complicated.”
“Yeah. It’s complicated. It might be easier if we were totally estranged, but we aren’t. It’s more a weird, uncomfortable kind of competitiveness. I think she doesn’t love the notion that her mom had sex with my dad. Because honestly, if you know my mom, that’s kind of an insane thing. She is the most buttoned-up … I dunno, she fits with them, you know? She doesn’t make any sense with mydad. She doesn’t make any sense with me. I’m completely and totally the odd one out.”
“But you do see them.”
“Sometimes I go over for Thanksgiving. Christmas. Other holidays. I never lived there.”
“Oh. So you never really see her and this is the first time, and I’m traumatizing you.”
He laughed. “No. I went over on Memorial Day for barbecue. Didn’t do Fourth of July this year. So I guess it’s been about four months since I’ve done anything with the family? But we all stood around and made polite conversation. Things are a little weird now that Danielle and Michael are together. You know, the Michael who isn’t our brother.”
“That was truly a bonkers decision on her part,” she said.
“It was. And now that I am related to Millie, the whole thing is even weirder, names aside.”
“Right.”
“I never wanted to be part of that family,” he said.
“And you don’t like them.”
“No. Especially not Danielle and Mike. My half brother, I mean. Though I don’t like him either.”
“So you’re not in contact with them but …”
“It’s just very complicated.”
She left it at that, because she didn’t know what else to say.
“Can you swing by Scallywag’s? I put in an order for a dispenser full of coffee, and one with hot water.”
“Sure.”
She felt she was pushing the limits of his goodwill. Last night’s confrontation had been intense and unpleasant. She wanted to put it behind them, but even when they had nice moments of conversation, they hit speed bumps where they just clunked and quit moving forward.
They got the beverages and cups, then made their way to the library, where they began to set up the station. Millie came out with the table and chairs, a pop-up tent and also some balloons, which Jessiethought was a nice gesture. They were getting all the food set out when Danielle pulled up in her white SUV. Michael was with her.
She looked at Millie to see if she was upset by his presence, but she didn’t seem perturbed in the least.
Then she looked at Flynn. His face was as smooth and implacable as ever. But there was a level of intensity in those green eyes. Intensity that made her stomach tight.
