didn’t have to go very far, and I took my brother with me. I knew how to find Vic. I hoped I could count on him. We showed up on his doorstep with little more than the clothes on our backs and a couple hundred bucks I’d pinched from my mom’s dresser.
As it turned out, I could. Cap and I moved in with Vic, who might’ve been surprised to see us but didn’t let that stop him. My mother ended up staying in California when her lover’s car broke down. She still lived there. My dad turned up in Brazil, of all places. He’d found another community like The Compound where he could live full-time while teaching English in a nearby town.
Vic had been there for me when I needed him. It had nothing to do with sex—not unless he’d fooled around with Cappy, too, and I was one hundred percent positive that had never happened. It had everything to do with the sort of guy Vic had always been.
And I envied him.
Meredith had told me I went for what I wanted. That I had to answer to nobody and could do whatever I liked. In a way, she was right. I mean, I had my job, and my responsibilities as part of Vic and Elaine’s household. I had bills and debts. But I didn’t have convictions, not really. Nobody would ever come to me when they were in trouble. Hell, I was twenty-six and still living in a basement, not because I couldn’t get out and live on my own but because staying there was easier than moving out.
Not exactly a picture of someone wild.
When I got to work, Meredith was convincing people to tell stories again. I knew it the second I walked in the front door and saw her sitting at her favorite table with her head tipped back in laughter. I knew most of the others by face, not necessarily by name, but everyone looked as if they were having a grand old time.
She waved at me. “There’s our Tesla!”
I lifted a mittened hand in response to the raised coffee cups. Meredith’s smile made the cold outside seem faraway, but I didn’t stop at her table. She was busy talking; I had to get busy working.
“What is it about her, anyway?” Darek said when I rounded the counter.
I pretended not to know what he meant. “Who? Meredith?”
“Yeah. Queen Meredith, sitting over there with her…what do you call them?”
“Subjects?” I offered, shrugging out of my coat and hanging it on the rack in the hall leading to the storage room.
Darek shook his head. “Minions.”
“That makes her sound like some sort of evil overlord.”
“Yeah. What is it about her?”
I paused, thinking. “I don’t know. She’s just… I don’t know. Sometimes you don’t, Darek.”
He made a noise instead of an answer. I looked across the room at Meredith, whose laughter had trilled to catch my attention. She ran perfectly manicured fingers through her honey-blond hair and it settled just right.
Again, envy.
With the late afternoon sun slanting through the glass, she was so beautiful it made my heart hurt. Not just pretty. Not just sexy, though she was surely that with that mouth, those eyes, that laugh. She was like something set up high on a shelf, made to be admired and adored. Coveted, but never gained.
I must’ve sighed, because Darek gave me a sympathetic look. “You’re into her.”
I slanted a glance his way but wouldn’t gaze at him full-on. “Look at her.”
“Oh, I am.” He put his hands on his hips. “She wants people to look at her.”
“Who doesn’t?” I tied the strings of my green apron tight around my waist and took a few minutes to run my fingers through my hair to stand it on end after it had been flattened by my knit cap. “I mean, don’t we all want people to notice us?”
“I guess so.”
I stared at her, then at him. “Don’t you like her?”
“I like her just fine.” He grinned. “Married ladies are my specialty. But you saw her first.”
I laughed. Darek was a lot of talk. In all the time we’d worked together I hadn’t known him to have a single fling with a married lady.
As it turned out, I could. Cap and I moved in with Vic, who might’ve been surprised to see us but didn’t let that stop him. My mother ended up staying in California when her lover’s car broke down. She still lived there. My dad turned up in Brazil, of all places. He’d found another community like The Compound where he could live full-time while teaching English in a nearby town.
Vic had been there for me when I needed him. It had nothing to do with sex—not unless he’d fooled around with Cappy, too, and I was one hundred percent positive that had never happened. It had everything to do with the sort of guy Vic had always been.
And I envied him.
Meredith had told me I went for what I wanted. That I had to answer to nobody and could do whatever I liked. In a way, she was right. I mean, I had my job, and my responsibilities as part of Vic and Elaine’s household. I had bills and debts. But I didn’t have convictions, not really. Nobody would ever come to me when they were in trouble. Hell, I was twenty-six and still living in a basement, not because I couldn’t get out and live on my own but because staying there was easier than moving out.
Not exactly a picture of someone wild.
When I got to work, Meredith was convincing people to tell stories again. I knew it the second I walked in the front door and saw her sitting at her favorite table with her head tipped back in laughter. I knew most of the others by face, not necessarily by name, but everyone looked as if they were having a grand old time.
She waved at me. “There’s our Tesla!”
I lifted a mittened hand in response to the raised coffee cups. Meredith’s smile made the cold outside seem faraway, but I didn’t stop at her table. She was busy talking; I had to get busy working.
“What is it about her, anyway?” Darek said when I rounded the counter.
I pretended not to know what he meant. “Who? Meredith?”
“Yeah. Queen Meredith, sitting over there with her…what do you call them?”
“Subjects?” I offered, shrugging out of my coat and hanging it on the rack in the hall leading to the storage room.
Darek shook his head. “Minions.”
“That makes her sound like some sort of evil overlord.”
“Yeah. What is it about her?”
I paused, thinking. “I don’t know. She’s just… I don’t know. Sometimes you don’t, Darek.”
He made a noise instead of an answer. I looked across the room at Meredith, whose laughter had trilled to catch my attention. She ran perfectly manicured fingers through her honey-blond hair and it settled just right.
Again, envy.
With the late afternoon sun slanting through the glass, she was so beautiful it made my heart hurt. Not just pretty. Not just sexy, though she was surely that with that mouth, those eyes, that laugh. She was like something set up high on a shelf, made to be admired and adored. Coveted, but never gained.
I must’ve sighed, because Darek gave me a sympathetic look. “You’re into her.”
I slanted a glance his way but wouldn’t gaze at him full-on. “Look at her.”
“Oh, I am.” He put his hands on his hips. “She wants people to look at her.”
“Who doesn’t?” I tied the strings of my green apron tight around my waist and took a few minutes to run my fingers through my hair to stand it on end after it had been flattened by my knit cap. “I mean, don’t we all want people to notice us?”
“I guess so.”
I stared at her, then at him. “Don’t you like her?”
“I like her just fine.” He grinned. “Married ladies are my specialty. But you saw her first.”
I laughed. Darek was a lot of talk. In all the time we’d worked together I hadn’t known him to have a single fling with a married lady.
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