Page 73 of Teacakes & Tangos
‘Really?’
‘Absolutely.’ I dredged up a smile as she brought over the cheesecake and my usual coffee and placed them in front of me. ‘You can’t expect me to wade through a slice of that on my own. I’d feelwayless guilty if you were making a pig of yourself as well.’
‘Okay. If it’ll make you feel better.’ She chuckled, helping herself to a slice and coming over to join me. ‘It’ll certainly improvemymood.’
‘So... what’s up?’ I looked over at her as I stirred my coffee. ‘I mean, you don’t need to tell me, of course. I just thought maybe we could compare notes and feel a bit better in the process.’
‘Absolutely. A problem shared and all that.’
‘Great. So . . . why don’t you start?’
‘Okay. Well, here’s the thing... I’ve just gone and made the really stupid mistake of falling hard for a guy who I suspect might just be feeling sorry for me. Because of what happened to Dad.’
I grimaced. ‘Ouch.’
‘Exactly. Tragic, eh?’
‘But how do you know? That he feels sorry for you? Have you kissed him?’
‘I have, actually. A few times.’
‘Was it good?’
‘Very good. Exceptional, even.’
‘Wow.’ I frowned, considering. ‘Well, it doesn’tsoundlike pity was his motive. A kiss surely can’t beexceptionalunless both parties are heavily involved in it, wouldn’t you say?’
Anika made a face. ‘I hadn’t thought of it that way. So you think maybe I’m just jumping to conclusions thinking Xander was just acting out of pity when he treated me to the ballet?’
‘The ballet? That’s expensive.’
‘He bought us front row seats in the grand circle but I thought his motive might have been guilt.’ She shrugged. ‘Because he felt bad about his brother being involved in the raid on the jeweller’s.’
I looked at her, shocked. ‘Oh, my goodness. Your poor dad ended up in a coma in hospital as a result. And Xander’sbrotherwas involved?’
‘His twin brother, yes. Freddie.’
I reached over and pressed her hand. ‘Your dad’s on the mend now, isn’t he?’
She nodded.
‘I’m so glad, Anika. It was such a terrible thing to happen to him when he was simply an innocent bystander who got in the way of a crime.’
She swallowed hard at that and looked away, and I wished I hadn’t mentioned her dad because she was clearly still struggling with what had happened to him.
‘I don’t think you should give up on this Xander.’ I quickly changed the subject. ‘Maybe hedidfeel bad that his brother caused such a terrible thing to happen, but it would be normal to feel bad and want to make things better, wouldn’t it? Especially if you really liked someone?’ I shrugged. ‘He didn’t just give you a bunch of flowers. He gave you a night at the ballet, which you wouldn’t do for just anyone.’
She looked up at me, her face flushed. ‘Maybe.’ She didn’t sound too sure.
‘Is there something else making you think Xander’s not the guy for you?’
Anika sighed. ‘Well, I know it probably sounds weird, but I keep thinking about twins and the genes they must share.’
‘Genes?’
‘Yes. You know. If Xander’s twin, Freddie, has gone down a path of crime, who’s to say Xander – who must have similar genes to Freddie – doesn’t have leanings in that direction as well?’
I nodded. ‘I see your point. But just because they’re twins doesn’t mean their personalities are necessarily the same. In fact, I know a few sets of twins who are actually polar opposites to each other in character.’
