Page 58 of Brenna, Brat

I bet that it was.

“Do you want to drive up with me? I feel like I could stand to get away,” he’d continued, and I’d said yes. I pictured the two of us walking on the beach as the clear, cold water washed onto the shore. Maybe we’d go skinny dipping, but only if it got sufficiently dark, not utterly black but not enough light to show anything, and only if there weren’t too many bugs.

Maybe we’d cuddle like we’d done after the wedding. I’d woken up early that morning and I’d had my head on his chest; both his arms and one leg had been wrapped around me, like I was in a Campbell cocoon. It had been amazing.

Then I’d thought of how I must have looked after the very late night, after all the drinks, and after having done such a halfway job of removing my makeup. He would have opened his eyes and wanted to puke—not from a hangover, but as he was confronted with the sight of the woman he’d spent the night with, even if it had been in a platonic way. So I’d eased myself out of his embrace and went quietly into the hallway, closing the door behind me.

That was when I’d run into Nicola, Jude, and their daughter. My big sister’s mouth had formed a perfect “O” and so did her eyes, just how mine had looked when she’d diagnosed me with shock. Jude had grinned before taking her arm and escorting his family down the stairs. No one at the breakfast table, where many of us had assembled later that morning, had believed me when I’d told them that nothing had happened.

“Why not? You must be lying,” Sophie had stated, and her husband Danny had reminded her that she wasn’t an investigator anymore.

“She doesn’t have to share her sex life with you,” he’d said, but he’d also played with her hair and smiled, so she’d taken it much better than most of the other corrections she’d received in her life. In my opinion, she should have gotten more of those. Then Campbell had arrived in the breakfast room and the discussion of me having sex with him had, thankfully, ended,

I hadn’t told any of them the real reason that nothing had happened that night, because I was too embarrassed to admit that Campbell didn’t want me. But despite Danny’s admonition, it was still a huge topic among my sisters (Patrick was stayingout of it). Addie had invited herself over today, in fact, to preview the wardrobe I’d planned to bring up north with me, and probably to bring it up again.

“Remember what Mom always used to say about keeping a relationship spicy,” she’d written, and I’d said that it hadn’t worked for Mom and I…I stopped trying to argue that she couldn’t come, because she had gotten Campbell’s address directly from him and asked if it was all right if she stopped by to see me and my workroom. Addie was nice, but she wasn’t anyone’s pushover, either.

“Hello,” she called now, and another voice echoed it. I walked to the bottom of the stairs and saw two of my sisters descending. “Wow, his house is gorgeous!”

I silently pointed at the woman accompanying her.

“Yes, I brought Grace with me,” she confirmed.

“Why?”

“I don’t have a place to stay,” my little sister responded, and I shook my head and looked at Addie.

“Isn’t having one baby going to be enough for you?” I asked her.

“What does Campbell have to eat here?” Grace wondered, and I shook my head again.

“You stay out of his refrigerator!”

They were very interested in admiring the furniture he had built for me and then examining the beach cover-up, two dresses, and three tops that I’d been quickly sewing for the trip. “So cute,” Addie cooed. “I love this one. It’s a great color for you.”

It was, which was why I’d chosen the fabric.

“What bathing suit are you taking?” Grace asked, and she knew exactly what I owned because she was our sneakiest sister and had ended up wearing all my things, at least once. “The turquoise bikini?”

“Yes,” I said, and winced when I thought of myself in it.

“What about night stuff?” Addie continued briskly.

“You mean like specialized goggles to see in the dark?”

“I meant something…” She looked at the little sleep shorts I’d made. “Something sexy.”

“Why don’t you just sleep naked?” Grace suggested. “Men really like that.”

“Thanks for the tip,” I snapped, and she nodded complacently. She always had guys after her. They were beguiled by her looks and her lunacy.

“Seriously,” Addie said, lowering her voice. She led me away from the garment rack where Grace was still looking at the clothes. If she tried to walk away with anything—

“Seriously, Brenna,” my big sister repeated. “Why aren’t you interested in Campbell? Is there something wrong?”

I looked at her and felt myself get hot, like a Brenna ghost pepper. “I don’t want to talk about it. I mean, there’s nothing wrong.”

She was about to speak again, but Grace did instead. “All these clothes are exactly like you,” she announced. “They’re perfect for you.”

---