“I can’t believe I had no idea you were pregnant,” Wes fretted, putting a pillow under her feet. “You weren’t even taking any vitamins. This is a terrible start to parenthood. What if the baby comes out with three heads or something?” Satisfied that her feet were properly taken care of, Wes handed her a bowl full of raw spinach.
Liz made a face.
“It’s so adorable it’s almost sickening, isn’t it?” Dana said in my ear, jabbing me in the ribs. “Drink?”
“I’m not drinking with you anymore. The last time, I ended up agreeing to be set up on a blind date. The woman turned out to be one of the Svenssons’ love interests, and they almost killed me.”
“I was doing you a favor,” Dana insisted as she mixed a vodka tonic. She squeezed the lime into the glass and handed it to me. “You need to get back out there. The more you practice talking to pretty women, the more accessible and attractive you’ll seem.”
“Why does everyone care if I date someone?”
Dana sighed. “You are turning into some sort ofBeauty and the Beastparody. When I came over here last week to visit Wes, you were just standing at your condo window, hulking and sulking.”
I glared at my drink. “Why don’t you take your own advice?”
Dana laughed. “Please. As if I want anything to do with any of the little boys running around Manhattan with their expensive sports cars and overpriced scotch.”
“There’s always Gunnar Svensson.”
“Gross. No.”
“But you kissed him on Christmas Eve!” I protested.
“It wasn’t a real kiss. It was a drunk-friend kiss.”
“There are other Svensson brothers.”
“My dad would flip his shit if I started dating one of the Svensson brothers. They hate each other. And I doubt one of the Svenssons would date a Holbrook anyways.”
“They like Wes.”
“Because my brother is a bit of an idiot. They find him easy to manipulate. As we all well know.”
I looked away.
“It wasn’t your fault,” Dana told me.
It was the same thing everyone in my family told me. But ithad beenmy fault. Wes wouldn’t have known. I had been in the military. I did cryptography. It was literally my job to recognize patterns, rout out spies, and then eliminate them. And yet I had let Rhonda worm her way into my family.
I tossed back the rest of my drink. My cousins and brother were play fighting, their dogs bouncing around them, their girlfriends giggling. I felt like such an outsider.
“I need to go,” I told Dana, setting the glass down. “Market opens in Japan soon.”
“Don’t forget, you have to be at my wedding-planning meeting tomorrow!” Liz called out as I tried to sneak out.
I froze. “Why?” I said in horror.
“You’re the best man, aren’t you?” she said.
There was another worried look from Wes.
“Of course,” I said, jaw tense. “But that doesn’t make me the wedding planner.”
“Wes is going out of town a lot over the next few months before the baby comes,” Liz pleaded, “so I need you there to make sure that he’ll like what we pick.”
“I’ll like anything you pick out,” Wes told her, gazing at her softly.
I tamped down the jealousy and bitterness, forcing my expression to remain neutral. “Yes, Liz, anything you pick is fine.”
