Page 236 of Things We Left Behind
“Shit, I’m sorry,” Maeve said, gasping and choking.
She handed me a box of tissues from the end table, and I mopped up the spit wine. “I basically had the same reaction, only slightly less damp,” I assured her.
Chloe’s high-pitched giggles carried to us from the dining room along with the low baritone roll of Lucian’s laughter.
Maeve took another hit of wine. “Shit. Well, hold on to something, because I’m going to give you some very not me-like advice.”
Theatrically, I gripped a floor lamp.
“At least hear him out,” she instructed. “If a guy is offering you everything you’ve dreamed of, maybe you owe it to yourself to find out if he’s serious.”
“You really miss him, don’t you?” I asked.
“Who?”
“The guy you were secretly seeing but broke up with because you were too busy to let yourself fall in love.”
“Little sisters are so annoying,” Maeve complained. Another round of laughter echoed out of the dining room. “Mom and Chloe sure seem to like him.”
“Yeah, well, they haven’t been subjected to his whims yet. Tonight he’s charming Lucian. Tomorrow he could morph into sulky, solitary Lucian again.”
The doorbell cut off any further conversation.
“I’ll get it,” I yelled even as I heard the scrape of a chair from the dining room.
Lucian and I got to the front door at the same time. “I told you I don’t want you answering the door,” he growled.
“And I told you thatI’mthe one who lives here,” I shot back.
We wrestled for the handle and managed to open the door,revealing a determined-looking Kurt Michaels holding a huge bouquet of lilies.
“Uh-oh,” I said.
“Sloane is busy. With me. And for future reference, she’s allergic to lilies,” Lucian said.
“He’s not here for me, Lucifer,” I said, stopping him from slamming the door in Kurt’s face.
“I’m going big,” Kurt said, nodding at me.
“Good luck,” I whispered. “She’s in the dining room.”
He squared his shoulders and walked past us into the house.
“What the hell is going on?” Lucian demanded.
I sneezed twice. “He’s in love with my sister.”
“Then why in the hell was he dating you?”
I shrugged and sniffled as I closed the front door. “Love makes people do stupid things.” I sneezed again, then blew my nose in the chardonnay tissues.
“You’re damn right it does,” he muttered.
“Shh!” I hissed.
“Mr. Michaels, what are you doing here? Is it because I got four talking warnings during the math test today? I told you I like to verbalize the numbers,” Chloe said.
“Mom, please excuse me. I need to deal with something,” Maeve announced. Seconds later, she appeared in the hallway, dragging Kurt and the flowers.
