“Amanda? Really?”
Her brow furrowed. “Do you know her?”
I winced. “I sort of went on a date with her.”
Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. “You did not. When? How long did you date her?”
“No, no, no. Wrong idea. I didn’t date her. We went out one time a few years ago. My aunt Louise set us up.”
“Why didn’t you go out again?”
“If I remember, it felt a lot like a job interview. She asked me my annual salary.”
“That’s rude.”
I nodded. “Yup. But that’s what I get for agreeing to an Aunt Louise date. Anyway, do you know her?”
“She was in the painting class I took last summer.”
“So she definitely knew Edwin. Did you notice anything going on between them?”
She paused and pressed her finger to her lips, like she did when she was thinking. “Maybe? He did seem to pay her a lot of attention. But I assumed it was because…”
“Because what?”
“This is going to sound bad, and I don’t mean it that way, but she wasn’t a very good painter. So it seemed like he was spending a lot of time working with her because she needed the help. Like, so much help.”
“Or maybe because he was interested in her. Or they were already boinking on the side.”
“Boinking?” she said with a laugh.
“You know what I mean.” I made a circle with my thumb and forefinger and used my other hand to stick my pointer finger in and out.
She laughed harder. “Nice visual. Thank you for that.”
“In case I’m not being clear, this is the dick.” I held up my pointer finger. “And this is the—”
She smacked my hands. “Stop. I know.”
I chuckled. “All right, so renowned painter, and married man, Edwin Morris might have been having an affair with one of his students. Interesting. Also, disgusting.”
Penelope’s face fell. “I know. It’s very disappointing. I hope those ladies were wrong.”
“Yeah, adultery is fucked up.”
She raised her eyebrows. I was careful with my language at school, so she wasn’t used to hearing me swear.
“It is,” I said with a shrug.
“You’re right. Very.”
“So the drunk guy was their son?” I asked, needing to move on so I didn’t start staring at Penelope’s very full mouth.
“Yes, Michael. I’ve never met him, but he looks so much like his dad.”
“Man, he was not okay. I saw him stumbling around that loft, and for a second, I thought he was coming toward you.”
“I’m glad he wasn’t.”
