Page 225 of The Baby Twist
“Enjoy.” He grinned.
“Always do, Salvatore.” I smiled. “Tell me about your parents, Marley.”
“No. Tell me about yours.”
“Fine. My parents died in a helicopter accident when I was fifteen years old. I was supposed to be on that helicopter but didn’t go because I was in a gaming tournament. I ended up living with my alcoholic aunt and sleeping on her couch in a one-bedroom eight hundred-square-foot apartment until I was seventeen and went off to college.”
“I’m sorry, Charlie.”
“Don’t be.” I finished my wine and poured another glass.
“My parents divorced when I was eleven years old. I don’t like to talk about it because it’s embarrassing.”
“People get divorced all the time. That’s nothing to be embarrassed about,” I said.
“It is when your mother was having an affair with your next-door neighbor.”
“Oh, shit. Seriously?” I asked with surprise.
“Yeah. They had been carrying on for a long time. My father found out and was furious. He filed for divorce the day afterhe found out. I remember the screaming matches they would have about it. He moved out, and I never forgave my mother for destroying our family.”
“I’m sorry. What happened with your mother and the neighbor?”
“They got married. But that isn’t the real kicker.”
“No?” I asked, taking a bite of my food.
“No.” She breathed out a laugh. “My father sought comfort with the ex-wife, and they also got married.”
“Wait a second. You’re telling me that your mother had an affair with the neighbor, got divorced, married the neighbor, and then your father married the ex-wife of the neighbor?” My brow arched.
“Yep.” She popped her lips.
“Damn.” I shook my head. “Holidays must be awkward.”
“Holidays are separate. Even though the four of them are all happily married to each other’s exes, they all hate each other, and my step-siblings and I are caught in the middle.”
“You have step-siblings?”
“I do. I have two stepbrothers, twins, who are twenty-four.”
“And you are—” I asked.
“Twenty-seven. So, they were eight when their parents divorced.”
“Are the three of you close?”
“Not really. Our parents had joint custody of us. So, when it was my week to stay with my dad, the twins stayed at my house with their dad. They had the right idea, though. They got into Stanford and high-tailed it across the country when they turned eighteen. They’re in medical school now. I only see them on holidays, if and when they come home. I only high-tailed it out of Long Island with Penelope and Olivia.”
“Ah, you’re from Long Island?”
“Born and raised.” She smiled.
Chapter Ten
Marley
“Okay. Enough talk about parents. Why event planning?” he asked.
