Page 74 of Just One Silver Fox

“Neither, thanks.”

“Okay.” She was avoiding his gaze, as if she wanted to keep from telling him something, and Nate couldn’t help but wonder what was wrong. Did she know she’d said those three words in the middle of the night? Was she embarrassed and wanting to take them back? Maybe that was it.

She put down the tabloid and unpacked what proved to be warm bagels and a tub of cream cheese. She also had a bunch of bananas. “Do you eat these?”

“The ideal breakfast food,” he said and got a couple of plates. He already knew her compact kitchen well enough to locate knives, too. He sliced bagels as she opened her coffee, glad to have something to eat. “Mmm,” he said. “Fresh. Thanks for getting them.”

“Mmm,” she said, closing her eyes as she swallowed the coffee. “Hot and strong.”

“I thought you didn’t drink coffee.” Nate was pretty sure Sonia had avoided it at the club.

“Not often.” Her lips tightened. “I need it today.”

Why? Nate had a bad feeling about that.

He’d just eat quickly and go.

He angled his head and read the headline on the tabloid even though it was upside down. “My mom loves these,” he said with a shake of his head. It had to be a neutral topic of discussion. “Tabloids and obituaries. She can’t get enough of either.”

Sonia didn’t say anything but seemed to be very busy putting cheese on her bagel.

“They’re proof to me that the rich and famous are the most seriously screwed up people around.”

“Absolutely.” Sonia was so vehement in her agreement that Nate glanced up. She frowned at the bagel and spread cheese on it with fierce gestures.

“I mean they have everything, or could, but instead they have all these problems.” Nate indicated the cover image with his banana. “Didn’t these two used to be famous?”

Sonia laughed, then put her hand over her mouth as if she shouldn’t have. “Don’t let them hear you say that,” she said and he knew his confusion showed. “They’re actors,” she said quickly. “I’m sure they all think they’re eternally famous. Occupational hazard.”

“Maybe.” Nate didn’t know anything about actors, but he sensed Sonia did. Since she wasn’t touching the tabloid, he turned the page. There was something about these two. She could have met them once or been a fan. Both seemed unlikely possibilities, but there was something going on and he wanted to know what it was.

This time, he was the curious one.

Maybe it was contagious.

The next spread was all about these two actors, how they’d reunited after having been divorced for years. There was another picture that Nate leaned closer to examine. “Their daughter looks like Katia,” he said without thinking.

“Does she?” Sonia seemed fascinated by her coffee cup.

What was he missing?

Nate frowned. There was another picture in the spread, an older one. Younger versions of the couple were dressed up for a gala, the woman in a red full-length gown, the man in a tux. They were smiling and waving for the camera, their poses almost identical to the picture on the front of the tabloid and their smiles just as bright.

There were two girls with them who looked like teenagers. The image was grainy, but the girls had expressions like they’d rather have been anywhere else in the world. Nate smiled, reminded of his sister when she was a teenager and didn’t want to be seen with the rest of the family. These two looked mutinous, as if they’d been dragged along against their will. One girl was really skinny and the other almost round.

He peered at their faces. “She does look like Katia,” he said. “That’s an amazing coincidence.” Nate would have turned the page, but the silence behind him was deafening.

What had he said?

He spun on the stool to face Sonia. She looked as if she’d seen a ghost and some points started to get in a line.

She’d left home at first opportunity.

She’d moved to a new town and changed her name.

This couple had twin daughters, one of which looked like Katia.

She’d lost a lot of weight, enough to have those sweatpants and those scars.

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