“Sounds to me like you listened to your gut. Finding the right job is important. It helps define who you are as a person. Why would you want to spend the majority of your time in a place that didn’t feel right?”
She stared at him. “When you say it like that, I feel positively in tune with the universe.”
“You are. Dani, this has to be right for you. You’re not desperate—don’t settle.”
His gaze was steady, his expression kind. She nodded slowly.
“You’re right. I’ll keep looking until I find the right job. Maybe then I won’t regret all the years I’ve already wasted.”
He raised his eyebrows. “You’re too young for regrets.”
“You’d be surprised.” She sipped her latte. “My family owns restaurants. I’ve wanted to go into the business my whole life. My parents died when I was young and my grandmother raised me and my three brothers. There was always something tortured about my relationship with Gloria—that’s my grandmother. It was as if she didn’t really like me.” She paused. “I should probably stop talking now.”
“Not on my account,” he told her. “I’m a good listener.”
She frowned slightly. “Yes, you are. Why is that?”
For a second, she would swear he looked uncomfortable, then he smiled. “It’s a gift. Go on. Gloria was acting weird.”
She smiled. “More than weird. I got my master’s and came home to go to work in the family business. There are four restaurants in all. Two fine dining places, a sports bar and a place called Burger Heaven. She put me to work there, which was fine. I was more than willing to prove myself. But years went by and I couldn’t get her to talk to me about moving up the food chain. Nothing I did made her happy.”
She shook her head. “I finally quit.”
Gary studied her. “There’s more to it than that, Dani. But if you’re not comfortable talking about it, I understand.”
She believed him. He would be okay with her moving on. Yet there was a part of her that wanted to tell the whole story, to share it with someone outside of the family.
“Gloria and I had a huge fight. I demanded to know why she’d been holding me back. She said it was because I wasn’t a real Buchanan. My mother had had an affair and I was the result. She was never going to let me work anywhere but Burger Heaven. She said I wasn’t worthy. So I quit.”
Gary nodded slowly. “She sounds like a very unhappy woman.”
Dani blinked. “You’re taking her side?”
“Not at all. I’m saying that if she raised you and then later refused to see your potential because of who your father is, there are a lot of rules in her life. That doesn’t usually make people happy.”
“I hadn’t thought of it that way. Honestly, and I know this makes me sound like a horrible person, but I don’t care if she’s unhappy. She’s been so mean to me for so long.”
“So you quit and now you’re going to find something you like.”
“I am. No matter how long it takes.”
“What about your father? Are you also looking for him?”
“No.” Dani sipped her latte, then set it back on the table. “I’m afraid,” she admitted. “I’m guessing he didn’t know about me, but what if he did? What if he just didn’t care?”
She wasn’t looking for any more rejection in her life right now.
“Is that enough of a reason not to go looking for him?” Gary asked.
“So far it’s working just fine.”
“He’s your family. What is more important than that?”
Good question, she thought. “So what about your family?” she asked.
“Two sisters, both married. Between them they have seven kids.” He grinned. “I love being an uncle.”
“No kids of your own?”
His expression tightened slightly, then he relaxed. “I’ve never been married.”
He had to be in his mid to late thirties, she thought. While not everyone got married, it was strange that Gary hadn’t. He was a great guy. Kind and sensitive and easy to talk to. The kind of man who…
Duh, she thought, wanting to smack herself on the side of the head. Of course. He was gay.
She looked him over. All the signs were there. His low-key occupation, the perfect grooming, his interest in actual conversation, the lack of any sexual spark.
Relief spilled into pleasure. If Gary was gay then maybe they could be friends. She could use a few more friends in her life.
“I WOULD HAVE COOKED,” Madeline said as Lori stirred the simmering beef and filled a pot of water for the noodles.
“I’ve got it,” she said. “You cooked all week.”
Madeline leaned against the counter. “I cooked twice, we had takeout twice and leftovers once. I’m not overwhelmed with work.”
“You should be resting.”
“You should try to catch your breath,” her sister told her.
Lori set the pasta pot on the stove and turned on the heat. “I’m fine. The whole breathing thing is fine.”
“You looked panicked—like we’re going to be firebombed any second.”
Lori did her best to smile. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Which was a big, fat lie, she thought grimly. Madeline was many things, but stupid wasn’t one of them. Of course Madeline wasn’t anything bad or negative. She was perfect. Physically, mentally, spiritually. She was what the rest of the world aspired to be.
Lori had given up being bitter about that years ago. It was a matter of accepting her sister’s amazingness or live her life chronically cranky. She’d decided to move on. These days all she allowed herself was a little ambivalence.
The fact was Madeline couldn’t help being beautiful and smart and charming. So when Lori had realized she didn’t know how to get her feelings for Reid under control, she’d decided to manage them the only way she knew how. Introduce him to her sister.
He’d been bugging her about it for a while, so she’d decided to give in to him. She’d invited him over to dinner and he’d accepted. She knew exactly what would happen when he walked in the door. It was the same thing that had happened with every other guy she’d ever brought home—not that there had been that many.
He would take one look at Madeline and fall for her instantly. After the third time it had happened, Lori had stopped bringing guys around. Until now.
It would be like ripping off a bandage, she told herself. Sharp momentary pain, but then it would be over. She would watch Reid succumb to her sister’s charms and she would finally be able to squash her own feelings for him.
“It’s not going to happen,” Madeline said quietly.
Lori looked at her. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Interesting, because I know exactly what you’re thinking. You can’t stand that you have a thing for Reid so you’ve brought him here, thinking he’s going to fall for me.”
Lori shrugged. “It’s a good plan.”
“It’s a stupid plan. He’s not going to be interested.”
“You don’t know that.” Lori smiled. “I’ll even put money on it.”
“Did it occur to you that the other guys weren’t as interested in me as you think they were? That by expecting the worst, you pushed them away?”
The unfairness of the accusation really bugged her. “Excuse me? Once they met you, you were all they talked about. Face it, Madeline, you never went through an awkward stage. You grew up beautiful. I had to work my ass off to pass for average. I’ve made peace with that. I have a life I’m proud of. I’m doing the best I can.”
“No, you’re not. You’re hiding. You don’t try because it’s easier not to have expectations.”
Madeline’s words hurt. “Thanks, Ms. Perfect. It’s always exciting to get your professional take on things. Whether you want to accept it or not, the bottom line is, guys adore you.”
“Vance didn’t.”
Two words spoken so quietly that someone in the next room cou
ldn’t have heard them. Lori swallowed, her anger fading to dust.
“Vance is a total loser who is possibly the stupidest man on the planet,” she said.
“Don’t say that,” Madeline told her, her large brown eyes filling with tears. “He was my husband.”
Lori hated that her sister had any feelings left for Vance. The bastard had taken off the second Madeline had been diagnosed. Apparently the marriage vows hadn’t meant anything to him.
Before Lori could figure out what to say, the doorbell rang.
“Your young man,” Madeline teased.
Lori glared at her. “Don’t make me kill you. I’m more than capable.”
“Cheap talk.”
Lori huffed out a breath, then stalked to the front door and pulled it open.
Any ideas she had for a clever greeting flew out of her head when she saw Reid standing on her tiny porch, smiling at her.
The overhead light illuminated his handsome face. His leather jacket emphasized his broad shoulders and narrow hips. He looked sexy, masculine and as out of reach as the moons of Saturn.
“Hi,” he said and thrust a paper-wrapped spray of flowers at her. “I was going to bring wine, but I went on the Internet and it said someone with your sister’s disease shouldn’t drink.”
She stared from him to the beautiful flowers. “So these are for Madeline?”
“What? No. They’re for you. These are, too.” He handed her a box from Oh! Chocolates.
Okay, now she was confused. He’d brought her flowers and chocolates? Her?
“Come in,” she said, stepping back.
“Thanks.”
He stepped into the house, turned and kissed her.
Just like that. A quick brush of mouth on mouth, then he was shrugging out of his jacket and looking around.
“Nice place,” he said.
Lori couldn’t move. She also couldn’t think or breathe or very possibly stay alive much longer.
He’d kissed her. Kissed her. As if…As if…Damn, she didn’t know as if what, but it was weird. They didn’t kiss. Well, there had been that one time, but since then, nothing. They weren’t dating. This wasn’t a date. Did he think this was a date?
Before she could begin to function again, Madeline walked in the room.
“You must be Reid,” she said, crossing the room looking tall and beautiful and oh so delicate. “I’m Madeline.”
“Hi. Nice to meet you.”
They shook hands.
Lori braced herself for the lightning strike. Oddly, Reid looked away from her sister.
“I was telling Lori this place is really nice,” he said.
“Isn’t it?” Madeline smiled. “Lori and I grew up pretty poor. We lived in a double-wide until we moved out. We both vowed to have a real home of our own. I wanted a trendy high-rise condo, but Lori always said she wanted a house where she could own the ground it stood on.”
Lori cringed in embarrassment, but Reid nodded. “Makes sense.” Then he actually turned his back on Madeline and looked at her. “You’d hate my place. I live on a houseboat. No land at all.”
She didn’t know what to say or how to respond. He was talking to her. Her and not Madeline. How was that possible?
“I, ah…” She began and then pressed her lips together. “The, ah, houseboat sounds very nice. Everyone loves being on the water, right?”
He grinned. “Liar.”
She blinked. Was he teasing her?
Life was suddenly very confusing. She glanced down at the flowers.
“I should get these in water,” she said and ducked into the kitchen. Maybe if she left Reid and Madeline alone the sparks would fly. Only he followed her and watched as she tried to reach a vase on a high shelf and then gently pushed her aside to grab it himself when she couldn’t stretch that far.
“Zeke and I have been talking,” he said as he handed over the glass. “About ways to salvage my reputation.”
“Who’s Zeke?” she asked.
“My accountant. I fired Seth—he handled things like bookings and endorsements, and there aren’t going to be any of those anymore. So we talked about what I could do to improve my image. He mentioned a big benefit. What do you think?”
She filled the vase with flowers and set them into the container. As she had no knack for arranging, she was officially out of ways to occupy herself. She turned to him.
“It’s a gesture,” she said. “Don’t you think people are going to see it as such? You need to do something more. Something with a little staying power.”
As soon as the words were out, she wanted to call them back. Or disappear into the floor.
Staying power? Why those particular words? They were too close to what that reporter had said about Reid in that awful article.
“What I meant…” she began, only to have him grin at her.
“I know what you meant. Something more significant.”
“Right.”
“You weren’t talking about my ability to—”
“Not at all,” she said quickly. “I’m sure that’s…”
He waited, his eyebrows raised.
“Fine,” she mumbled.
“Better than fine.”
“Right. Spectacular.”
He grinned. “Exactly.”
“I LOVE EVERYTHING about this house except the lack of a dishwasher,” Madeline said when they’d finished dinner and cleared the table. She’d sent Lori off to rest and Reid had offered to help with the cleanup.
“It’s original,” Madeline continued. “Very forties. She bought that old stove from a place that restores them. She’ll let me keep a microwave on the counter, but heaven forbid one of the precious cabinets be taken out to make room for a dishwasher.”
He looked around at the brightly colored kitchen. The walls were yellow, the cabinets white, the tiles red and white with splashes of yellow.
“This suits her,” he said.
“I agree.”
He reached for a dish cloth and grabbed the first plate she put in the rack. “I thought you’d look different.”
“Sick, you mean?” she asked.
“Something like that.”
“That will come. Right now most of the symptoms aren’t visible. I have some bruising on my torso—a sign that my liver isn’t working well. I’ll look worse as the disease progresses.”
“Should I not be asking about this?”
“I don’t mind talking about it,” she told him. “It’s a part of my life now.”
And her death. He’d never known anyone who was dying before. Gloria was old and had come close to death, but this was different. Madeline was still in her early thirties.
“You seem calm,” he said.
“Some days.”
“I don’t think I’d be calm.”
She smiled. “You never know what you’re capable of until it happens. I was in shock and didn’t know what to do. Lori handled pretty much everything. She came to the doctor with me, asked all the right questions. My husband left and she’s the one who bullied the attorney to make sure I didn’t get screwed.”
“He left because of you getting sick?”
“Oh, yeah. It was charming.”
“I’m sorry,” Reid said, feeling awkward.
“Me, too. At least we didn’t have kids. Leaving me when things got tough was bad enough, but leaving them…” She rinsed a glass. “Okay, this is officially time to change the subject. Let’s talk about something happy.”
Just then Lori stepped into the kitchen. “I can help,” she said.
Madeline sighed. “No, you can’t. You cooked dinner. We’re cleaning up. Go rest.”
“I’m not tired.”
“Then watch TV. Read a book. Contemplate the ever expanding universe.”
“I’m going,” Lori muttered and left.
Reid stared after her. “She’s acting weird, even for her.”
Madeline smiled as if she knew a secret. “It will pass.” She rinsed anot
her plate and handed it to him. “Lori is really special.”
“I agree.”
“I wouldn’t want to see her get hurt.”
Okay, so he wasn’t as quick on the uptake as he could have been. Madeline wasn’t making conversation. She was probing and warning.
Normally that sort of thing made him want to run into the night, but now he found himself willing to have the conversation. Why was that?
He supposed some of it was that he liked Lori. He liked talking with her, annoying her, even kissing her. The kissing had been really good. Better than good. Under other circumstances he would have taken things further.
Need filled him. It had been a hell of a long time since he’d gotten laid. Under the circumstances, it was going to be a while longer. After that damn article, he wasn’t exactly eager to be with anyone. Not when he knew what the woman in question would be thinking. But Lori was different. She was…
He became aware of Madeline staring at him.
“Sorry,” he said. “What was the question?”
“I didn’t ask one.”
“Right. You were going to warn me to stay away from Lori.”
“Now why would I do a thing like that?” She began rinsing flatware. “I’m the oldest. It wasn’t easy for Lori when we were kids. I was smarter, prettier, more popular.” She paused and wrinkled her nose. “Gee, that makes me sound like an egotistical bitch. But it’s true. Mom was drunk all the time, Dad was gone. He ran off while she was pregnant with Lori. We didn’t have any money and it was hard. Add to that the fact that Lori grew up in my shadow. It’s no surprise that she can’t decide if she loves me or hates me.”
Reid stared at her. “Lori doesn’t hate you.”
“I know. That’s what’s so great about her. She could and no one would blame her. Least of all me. But she doesn’t. She invited me to come live with her as soon as she found out about my disease. When I hesitated, she physically packed all my stuff herself and hired the movers. She’s my rock.”
She reached for a pot. “This has got to be so hard on her. I’m the reason her childhood sucked, she loves me more than anyone in the world and I’m dying. How on earth is she supposed to reconcile that?”
Reid didn’t know what to do with all the information Madeline had dumped on him, but he didn’t doubt it was true. He could feel it in his gut.
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