Open & Honest (Sometimes) (A High Tea & Flip-Flops Novel Book 3)

by Linda Cassidy Lewis

  “It’s not that bad. It’s—”

  “Open and honest,” Jeremy warns.

  “Okay.” I start to take a deep breath, then think better of it. “The story idea is awesome, I told you that. But … it’s like you’re detached. Like you’re not aware … not … fully into it.”

  Ethan nods. “As I said …”

  Sigh. “Yes. It’s boring.”

  Ethan and I look at Jeremy, who’s leaning back in his chair, fingers steepled and gazing inward. I feel so horrible for him. We wait. We wait some more. How high is he? Suddenly, he clasps his hands behind his head and exhales so forcefully I’m surprised his chest doesn’t cave in.

  “So, I guess it’s time to call my agent.”

  “You’re breaking your contract?” Ethan says.

  “Do I have a choice?”

  “Hell yes. Fix it.”

  “Start a new book,” I say.

  Jeremy groans.

  “You have a better story in you,” I tell him.

  Ethan gives me a thumbs-up and says to Jeremy, “There you go, mate. Write the better story.”

  “Which is?”

  I pull my desk chair over to face Jeremy’s and sit. “Why did you write the first book?”

  He frowns. “Wanting More?”

  “No. Hostage.”

  “I wrote that to explore my feelings about my dad.”

  “Right. And another part of that story is”—I wag my finger between him and Ethan—“your relationship.”

  Jeremy stares at me for a moment before that proverbial light bulb goes on. He smiles. Then he winks at me and turns to Ethan, eying him suggestively.

  Ethan bolts upright. “Hold on—”

  I laugh and high five Jeremy. “He gotcha, Ethan.”

  “All right, all right,” Ethan says, trying not to smile. “That’s Jeremy 1, Ethan 5,206.”

  Jeremy’s grin gives way to a frown. “I doubt my publisher’s looking for a book about the madcap adventures of two English schoolboys, though.”

  “But they’d be interested in the story of the deeply emotional reasons why those two boys became friends and got into all that trouble.”

  Jeremy and Ethan’s thinking faces and postures are identical. Finally, Ethan turns to Jeremy. “What do you think?”

  “I think I married a genius.” He leans forward and kisses me before turning back to Ethan. “And I think you and I have a lot of reminiscing to do.”

  CHAPTER 5

  For a second, I think I’m dreaming. Then, because I can hear voices and splashing, I think I must have fallen asleep by the pool. My eyelids feel so heavy I can only manage a blurry glance through my lashes. I’m in our bedroom. I force myself to move my legs, breaking the trance. It’s Jeremy’s voice I hear and … Ethan’s? Crap. I forgot Ethan’s here. I open my eyes wide. What time is it?

  Reaching for my phone, I knock over a glass and scramble to sit up when liquid hits my hand. Luckily, it was only water and my phone is not on the nightstand. I look at the clock on the cable box. I blink. It can’t be ten twenty in the morning! I jump out of bed and almost step on my phone that’s sticking out of the pocket of my jeans on the floor. I grab it and swipe the screen. Double crap.

  I stomp to the open patio door and slide back the screen. Ethan’s standing in the shallow end of the pool. Crossing my arms to hide my nipples peeking through the thin fabric of my sleep shirt, I step out. Jeremy’s just surfacing at the deep end, so I call to him before he goes under again. “Why did you let me sleep so late?”

  He flips the hair out of his eyes. “I tried, but you wouldn’t wake up.” He hoists himself out of the pool. “When I felt to see if you were feverish, you told me to go away.”

  I don’t remember any of that. “Did you feed Ethan breakfast?”

  “Lucky Charms,” Ethan says.

  “Oh, Jeremy.”

  He shrugs. “That’s what he wanted.”

  “True,” Ethan says.

  I shake my head and turn away. “I’m getting in the shower.”

  “Want to go to The Village for lunch?” Jeremy says.

  I’m yawning, so I just give him a thumbs-up as I step inside. I went to bed before ten last night, leaving the guys up alone to talk, so how could I still feel sleepy? Bigger question—how am I going to hide this hunger for sleep from Jeremy?

  When I get out of the shower, he’s sitting naked on the bed, his muscles pumped from his pool workout. He looks up from his phone. “I made a reservation at your favorite bistro. Try not to humiliate me again.”

  “Ha. Ha.” He’ll never let me live down the first time we had lunch at Stefan. By trying to prevent Gabi and my mom finding out I’d lied to them—about different things—I enraged him and made a total fool of myself. That was a horrible ordeal. But it ended with our first hug. Well, sort of.

  Good God, no man should look that damn hot just sitting there.

  “Where’s Ethan?”

  Jeremy shrugs. “Showering?”

  I drop my towel and beckon him. “How about a quickie with your shower?”

  He tosses his phone on the bed.

  ♥ ♥ ♥

  Our whole schedule has changed in the three days Ethan’s been here. We’re staying up later—well, Jeremy is. He and Ethan drink and talk long after I stumble to bed, already half asleep. (This pregnancy fatigue sucks.) Our sex life is suffering, but I’m encouraged that Jeremy’s developing material for his new book. Our eating pattern has changed too. With Ethan here, it just seems natural to eat dinner later like we do whenever we’re in England, so we’ve been having a sweets and savories tea break every afternoon.

  We’ve just sat down for today’s tea when the doorbell rings. Jeremy gets up to answer it and a moment later cries out in surprise. “Laura!”

  Ethan’s face lights up like all his dreams just came true.

  I hug Laura when she follows Jeremy back to the dining area. “Are you hungry?”

  “No,” she says and takes a seat at the table, “but I wouldn’t say no to a drink.”

  Ethan jumps up. “I’ll get it. G&T, Posset?”

  “Absolutely, Charmer.”

  Ethan and Laura are using the nicknames they gave each other in childhood, but is it my imagination or do they suddenly sound much sexier? Jeremy doesn’t seem to notice.

  “What are you doing here?” he asks her.

  “Thanks for the warm welcome,” she says dryly.

  “I meant Mum told me just two days ago that you’d gone back to Hawaii.”

  She takes the drink from Ethan and sips it, while we all look at her expectantly.

  “And?” Jeremy says.

  “And I went to Hawaii. Now, I’m here.”

  Jeremy and I exchange a glance. He lifts his right brow and nods slightly toward me, which is his way of signaling I’m to ask the next question.

  “Weren’t you and Dusty set to go to Australia in a couple weeks?”

  She takes another sip of her drink. “We were. He is.” She sets down her glass. “You know, that cake looks delicious. I think I will have a bit of it.”

  Obviously, she’s not ready to explain, but one look at Ethan tells me he thinks he understands enough and couldn’t be happier. I get another plate for Laura, and we finish our tea chatting about anything but her relationship with Dusty.

  A pot of tea, two gin and tonics, and a couple of Scotches later, we’re in the living room where the three of them are reliving incidents in the Pearce family’s history as fodder for the new book.

  “Remember?” Jeremy says to Ethan. “That was the night Dad caught you sneaking downstairs to nick more liquor and drove you home at half midnight.”

  “He didn’t even let me go back for my shoes.”

  Jeremy looks at me. “When Dad got back home, he came up to my room, belt in hand, but as he pulled me out of bed, I spewed sick all over him.”

  Ethan laughs. “I would have killed to see that. He must have been purple with rage.”

 
; “Well, can you blame him?” Laura says, laughing. “You were both twelve and shit-faced.”

  Ethan looks down at his glass for a moment before he smiles at Laura. “I was drunk, but the truth is … I wasn’t sneaking downstairs.”

  The look Jeremy and Laura exchange says this is the first they’ve heard this part of the story.

  “What were you doing?” Laura says.

  “Standing outside your room.”

  Jeremy looks perplexed. “Why?”

  “Oh, Ethan,” Laura says tenderly.

  Jeremy looks from Laura to Ethan and back again. Then he looks at me. I bite my lip and shrug. He studies Laura, who faces him with a smile to rival Mona Lisa’s. His face grows thunderous. He flashes a deadly glare at Ethan. “Why were you outside my sister’s door?”

  Ethan holds up his hands. “Easy, mate. I was only standing there.”

  “I asked why.”

  “Because he was in love, Jemmy.”

  Laura’s use of her pet name for Jeremy doesn’t soften his reaction at all.

  “She’s like your sister,” he shouts at Ethan.

  “But she’s not my sister.”

  Laura’s smile broadens. “No, I am not.”

  Jeremy rockets to his feet. “Absolutely no! This is not happening.” He grabs Ethan by the shirt front and pulls him to his feet. “Outside.”

  “Oh, for God’s sake, Jeremy,” Laura says.

  He points a finger in her face. “I’ll deal with you next.” He shoves Ethan toward the patio door.

  Laura and I sit watching them, hearing every word, or at least every word Jeremy’s bellowing. Ethan appears to be calmly trying to reason with him. After a few minutes, Laura turns to me. “You haven’t said anything.”

  “Nope.”

  She cocks her head, studying me. “Did you know?”

  “Yep.”

  “Ethan told you?”

  “I guessed. It was obvious by the way he looked at you, the way he acted when you were around.”

  She covers her face with her hands. “I feel so stupid.” She drops her hands and looks back at Ethan. “It wasn’t obvious to me. Not for a long time. Not until this last time I was home, actually, and even then, I wasn’t positive.”

  “And now? I mean, now that you know?”

  She turns back to me. Her smile says it all. I get up and open the patio door. “Knock it off, Jeremy!”

  He stops mid-screech and stares at me, his mouth hanging open.

  I step outside as Ethan walks past me and into the house, closing the door behind himself. “You have no say in this,” I tell Jeremy. “They’re both adults.”

  His face warps with disbelief. “You know how he is with women. How can you—”

  “No, I don’t know. I only know how you tell me he was. How is he now, Jeremy? Do you know?”

  He sneers. “He can’t change.”

  “You did.”

  Jeremy’s jaw is working, but no words come out. Suddenly, his face goes slack. “Did you know about this?”

  “I knew how he felt about Laura, yes.”

  He puts his hands to his head, jerking his hair back so tightly his eyes threaten to pop right out of his head. “And you didn’t tell me?”

  “At the time, it seemed totally hopeless. And I’m glad I didn’t tell you, because it’s obviously made you lose your frigging mind.”

  “I can’t believe you—” Something behind me distracts him. He growls. Growls.

  I turn to see what he’s looking at and catch a glimpse of Ethan hugging Laura before Jeremy bumps me aside on his rush to get to them. Just as he slides the door open, I jump on his back. Jeremy barely gets out a “Bloody hell!” before we’re sprawled on the living room floor in a tangle of arms and legs. Ethan and Laura are cracking up. Jeremy’s rubbing his forehead where it connected with my face. And my nose is gushing.

  The laughter ends with Laura’s gasp. “Oh, my God.”

  Jeremy, having followed her gaze to me, jumps up and runs to the kitchen. He’s back in two seconds, pressing a wad of paper towels to my face.

  “Is it broken?” Ethan says.

  I shake my head.

  “Weak capillaries,” Jeremy explains. “But this hasn’t happened in months, not since the last cauterization.”

  In my head, I see that list of pregnancy symptoms. Some women are prone to nosebleeds.

  Great. Just great.

  With my medical emergency over, the focus returned to Jeremy freaking out over Laura and Ethan’s new relationship. At the moment, we’re back at the dining table, sitting in awkward silence facing each other—in our respective corners, I guess you could say—though it’s just Jeremy at odds with the three of us.

  My biggest fear is not that Jeremy won’t come to his senses (he will), but that this upset along with the news that our baby is on the way (when he hears that) will undo the progress I think he’s made toward being able to write again.

  Laura breaks the silence. “You’re acting ridiculous, Jeremy. We’re all adults here—or meant to be.”

  “This,” Jeremy says, waving a hand from Laura to Ethan and back, “is not adult. It’s impetuous and foolish.”

  “Impetuous!” Ethan says. “I’ve always loved Laura.”

  “So then, fucking every woman you fancied was just your way of hiding that?”

  Laura rolls her eyes. “You’re an idiot, Jeremy. That was your reputation. Did it never occur to you that Ethan might exaggerate his for your approval?”

  Jeremy’s face does incredulity like no one else’s, but this time it’s off the chart.

  “For my approval? What the hell does that mean?”

  Laura looks to Ethan, but with a slight nod he turns the question over to her. She turns back to Jeremy. “You’re Ethan’s hero. How could you not know that?”

  Wow. This is getting interesting.

  Jeremy looks at Ethan and opens his mouth as if he’s going to speak, but then he only gets up and starts pacing.

  Laura reaches a hand across the table toward Ethan, and he takes it. I’m pissed at Jeremy for spoiling this sweet occasion.

  After a couple of minutes, Jeremy returns to the table and points at Ethan and then to the patio door. No pulling him up by his shirt this time. Progress. Ethan follows Jeremy outside. Laura and I turn to watch them. They’re doing a lot of gesturing and head-shaking, but only murmurs travel back to us. Jeremy’s not yelling this time.

  Laura turns to me. “Jeremy will get used to the idea.”

  “Yeah. It was just a shock. I mean, he thought you and Dusty—”

  “He dumped me.” She laughs ruefully. “I went back to tell him I wasn’t going to Australia with him, that I thought we should call it quits. But he’d already made that decision.”

  “Already?”

  She nods. “Judging by the woman who was in his shower when I walked in.”

  “Crap.”

  “Do not tell Jeremy that.”

  “No. He’d fly to Hawaii to go berserk on Dusty too.”

  “Actually, it wasn’t that big a surprise. Things had been cooling off for a while. We shared more passion for the environment than for each other.”

  “Still, that’s a jerk move.”

  “It’s a blow to your pride, eh?”

  “So you’d already decided to get together with Ethan?”

  Laura nods. “I finally realized that every time I got homesick, it was Ethan that I missed most. So this last time I went home, we spent a lot of time together. As friends. But I started noticing little things I’d missed before.” She gives me an ironic smile. “The things you noticed all along, apparently.”

  “I’m glad you did.”

  “Better late than never.” With a sigh, she shakes her head. “Who knew our brash and cheeky Charmer was actually shy? How brave of him today to admit his feelings for me in front of Jeremy!”

  I flash back to the sight of tears slipping down Ethan’s face as he stood behind Jeremy at our wedding. Was he
thinking about Laura when Jeremy confessed his initial shyness about approaching me? “I’m thrilled for you two. What about your parents?”

  “Mum will be fine with it. She’s always had a soft spot for Ethan.”

  “But your dad …”

  “Right. This is probably the only time I don’t have the advantage over Jeremy.”

  “Advantage?”

  “You know, the father–daughter thing. It will be harder to wrap Dad around my finger this time.”

  In a flash, my eyes well up.

  Laura grabs my hand. “Oh, Chelsea. I’m sorry. I forgot you lost your father—”

  “No, it’s fine. That was years ago. I wasn’t thinking about him.” Liar. I pull my hand from hers and wipe my eyes. “It’s just all this emotion today with Jeremy.”

  “Right,” she says, though her tone makes it clear she’s not convinced.

  “So. What you said about Ethan exaggerating—”

  “I can’t believe Jeremy never caught on. And to be honest, I’ve always suspected Jeremy had more notches on his bedpost than he’d earned.” She sneers. “Handsome One, what a ridiculous nickname. Men are so—”

  “Shh.” Jeremy and Ethan are heading back inside. Jeremy looks resigned. Ethan’s grinning.

  “Got it worked out?” I say.

  Jeremy jerks a thumb toward the sofa. “Ethan’s sleeping out here tonight.”

  Laura rolls her eyes again. “Aren’t you afraid he’ll sneak down the hall to my bed in the middle of the night?”

  Jeremy’s eyes widen. “You’re sleeping in the other bedroom,” he says to Ethan. “We’ll push some boxes out of the way. We have an inflatable.”

  “And a padlock for the door,” I say.

  Jeremy is not amused.

  This day has been tense and filled with too many serious discussions, so after dinner, I suggest we play poker. We’re all competitive, and I figure that might keep our minds on the game and prevent another flare-up of tension between Jeremy and Ethan. Actually, I don’t think it’s fair that Jeremy’s directing his anger only at Ethan as if Laura has no say in their relationship, but I’ll leave that up to her to point out. He’s going to be upset with me soon enough.

  We play a few hands before Jeremy reminds Laura that she never explained why she’s here and not in Hawaii. She gives him an abbreviated version of what she told me—leaving out the other woman part, of course. He’s obviously pleased to hear Dusty is out of the picture, but then a narrow-eyed glance at Ethan indicates the moment he remembers who’s replaced Dusty.