Page 53 of Bountiful
“I’m not afraid of your family,” I told her. “If it makes your life easier for me to go, I’ll go. If it makes your life easier if I stay away, then that’s whatI’lldo.”
“Hmm. It’s atoughcall.”
She set the wriggling baby down, and Nicole took off across the grass. Zara turned to watch her, but Bess said, “I’ve got her,” and followedthebaby.
Zara faced me again. “If you show up, they’ll interrogate you. If you don’t show up, they’ll interrogate me. But I’m sort of usedtoit.”
“Maybe I should just let ’em get all their shots in at once,” I suggested. “It’sokay.”
“It’s your funeral,” she said, and Bess laughed over hershoulder.
It was trippy to be standing in the sunlight with my sister, having a conversation with Zara.My worlds collide. “All right. Where am I meeting you next Sunday at oneo’clock?”
“The Rossi Farm, on State Road 17. I’ll text you a picture of the house, okay? GPS would send you to theneighbor’s.”
“Allright.”
“And you can still change your mind.” Her eyes wandered to Nicole and Bess, who were admiring some petunias. “Right now I should feed her somelunch.”
“Hey.” I put a hand on her shoulder, and she looked quickly up at me, startled. She felt warm and solid under my hand, and I gave her shoulder a little squeeze. “Hang in there. I’m sorry to causedrama.”
She licked her lips. “I’ve been causing drama my whole life. My mother isn’t wrong about that. Pretty sure this isn’t yourfault.”
“Pretty sure it’s both our faults,” Ipointedout.
She smiled, and more sparks of our former chemistry leapt between us. That kept happening. The urge to kiss her goodbye was strong. But Bess was watching me, and I didn’t want any more commentary than I was already goingtoget.
“Later,” I said, giving Zara a quick hug instead. She felt so fucking good that it was torture toreleaseher.
“I’ll text you,” she said, turning away to collect her daughterfromBess.
“Youdothat.”
We weren’t in the car for twenty seconds before Bess turned to me with a giant smile. “Shesuitsyou.”
“What? Babies don’t suit me.You’rehigh.”
“I wasn’t talking about the baby. Your baby game needs work, for sure. I was talking about Zara. It’s obvious that you two are a goodmatch.”
My snort was loud. “A good match for what? Complicating each other’s lives? Two years ago we had a lot of sex. I don’t know why you’re reading so muchintoit.”
“How many times have you thought about hersincethen?”
Well, shit. That question was a big trap. The answer was many, many times. But just because the month I’d spent with Zara had been one of the most erotic times in my entire life, didn’t mean we weresoulmates.
“Your silence says everything, bigbrother.”
“You can draw whatever conclusions you want. And you know I’m going to help her. But I can’t imagine why you’re so quick to assume that this changes anything for me. A week ago you gave me the speech about keeping my head down and focusing on my sport. And I’m good at that. Families are not my expertise. Why would you try to rewrite the script like I’m some Mr.NiceGuy?”
“Anyone can have a family, David. Do you really think it’s not possible for you? You think you’re some kind of mutant who could never be half of acouple?”
“Did youmissthe part of our lives where our family life was a shit show?” My voice got all high and crazy, but my sister should really know better. “We didnotsurvive that childhood with sunny ideas of family life. I don’t see you settling down. You don’t evendate, Bess. Because we both know better thantotry.”
My sister made a choking noise. “I rarely date because I’m too busy building my empire to look for Mr. Right! Not because I’m fatally flawed! You really think I can’t attract a well-adjusted guy? Thanks for the vote ofconfidence.”
“It’s notyou. That’s not what Imeant.”
“Then what didyoumean?”
