Page 55 of Switching Places

“I don’t equate the two,” Logan replied easily. “One deliberately obscures the truth, the other is fantasy.”

“I know, but when you think about it, that’s what we do. Sell lies to people.”

“Special effects are created from fiction, hardly the same thing as a lie.”

“Isn’t fiction one big lie?” Phil persisted.

“Most people can differentiate between a fictitious piece of work and a lie between friends or acquaintances,” Logan said.

“Or spouses,” Phil added slyly.

Logan nodded, his face stiff and expressionless.

Emma wanted to defuse the tension that sparked between the two men and escape from Logan for a few minutes. She needed some time to come to terms with her startling discovery.

“I’m hungry.”

She looked at the barbecue grills, the tantalizing aroma causing her mouth to water. Phil took her arm and turned her toward the grills.

“Come with me, pretty lady, and I’ll see you have more food than you can possibly eat.”

Logan said nothing, so Emma went meekly with Phil. At least peace was restored.

“Logan’s okay,” Phil said as they waited behind another couple to be served.

“From your discussion, I might have guessed you didn’t like him.”

“Hey, I think he’s great. He’s smart as a whip, really can do the most fantastic stuff with software and he’s easy to work for.”

“Weren’t you pushing a bit about the lies?” she asked quietly.

“Yes, maybe. I rag on him a bit because he’s so inflexible. Because of his exwife, of course.”

“She told lies,” Emma said.

“Whoppers. He has a bit of a strong moral backbone anyway, but Crystal really did a number on him. So now he tries to bend over the other way. Very intolerant about some things now. And he never tells even the smallest untruth that I’ve ever discovered.”

“Most people don’t.”

Most people didn’t impersonate their sisters, lie to everyone they met during the past week about whom they were. Guilt stole over her, heat colored her cheeks. She’d been living a lie. What had started out as merely a fun idea had now blown all out of proportion.

And the worst of it was, she was falling in love with a man who was highly intolerant of deception and liars and pretense.

“Here we go. What’s your pleasure?”

Phil handed her a plate. When both their plates had been piled high with barbecued chicken, he nodded to a quiet table near the pool.

“Want to sit while we eat?” he asked.

“Sure.”

She glanced back at Logan. He appeared in deep conversation with two other men. Shelley still hung on to his arm. Emma followed Phil to the empty table and sat down. The water reflected the late afternoon sun. The murmur of voices sounded quite different from the soft crash of waves from the sea.

Pretty soon she’d return home, hundreds of miles inland, away from the sea and the feeling of being on the edge of the world. And away from parties like this one.

Emma stared at Phil. His shaggy blond hair made him look as if he were a surfer rather than a highly skilled computer programmer. His tan proved he spent a lot of time outdoors. When did he work, at night?

“Do you always cut away your friends’ dates?” she teased.

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