27
stew on it a while to fi gure it out.
28S
Gillian came back into the room, smiling when she saw him
29N
still chattering away to Mary. She kissed her son’s cheek.
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“Enough. You’re going to talk Mary’s ear off. Go on and do
01
your homework. I made you a sandwich; it’s on the counter.”
02
He grinned. “Thanks, Mum!” He sped from the room, cats
03
in his wake.
04
“Looks like he loves school.”
05
“I have to admit I was wrong about how amazing a choice
06
this school would be for him. I wanted him to be with his friends
07
and to keep his life here. But he’s made more there. The kids
08
there are talented like he is. And better than that, he’s connected 09
with this huge part of himself. All that art that lives in his soul.”
10
She shook her head. “I should have known. My time at Juilliard
11
was incredible because I was surrounded by people who were
12
like me.”
13
“I know you, Gillian. You’re feeling guilty for not having
14
him in the school for years.”
15
“How could I have been so blind to it?”
16
“Hush, you. You thought about his life in terms of his safety,
17
of the stability in the face of all this change. By that I mean you’re 18
his mum and you did what you should have. There’s enough
19
guilt in this world. Don’t let this small thing add to it.”
20
Gillian was an amazing mother. She had no idea how good
21
at it she was. Miles was beyond lucky to have her. Mary squeezed
22
her friend’s hand.
23
“You’re good to me.”
24
“I only speak the truth.”
25
Adrian came into the room with Damien. Damien saw her
26
and lit up. She felt it to her toes.
27
“Miles was just gushing about his composition class.”
S28
Adrian grinned. “That kid. Man. So proud of him. He hit the
N29
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01
ground running and he’s been kicking ass. Even doing the home-
02
work for his academic courses. Should have seen their faces
03
when Damien showed up with me today when we picked him
04
up. I think they like him better than me.”
05
“Yeah, sucks to be you and all. Triple platinum, sold- out
06
tour, hot wife, baby on the way, great kid. Too bad you’re so
07
ugly.” Damien snorted and headed straight to Mary. “Hey, you.”
08
He kissed her.
09
“Hi.”
10
“How’d the job go?”
11
“The client is pretty diffi cult.” Mary sighed. “She was very
12
specifi c about what she wanted. I advised her that some other
13
choices would work better. She insisted on what she wanted. And
14
of course then she threw a giant tantrum about it. Thank good-
15
ness I had all our e-mails printed out and with me in a fi le so I
16
could refute her claims. And Cal’s card to hand over when she
17
threatened not to pay me.”
18
He frowned. “What a bitch.”
19
Mary shrugged. “Sometimes you have clients like that.
20
Mainly they’re pretty nice.”
21
“This isn’t going to hurt you, is it? It was Kathy Bonebright,
22
right?” Gillian’s concern made Damien’s gaze sharpen.
23
“I think most people who know her know what she’s like. I
24
won’t be working with her again, even if she hadn’t sworn me
25
off as incompetent in front of the entire room.”
26
“She did wha?” Gillian’s eyes fl ashed and Adrian squeezed
27
her shoulder.
28S
Mary laughed, turning to Damien. “You may not have
29N
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noticed, but when Gillian gets mad, she loses consonants and
01
her English comes out.”
02
“Who is this woman, Curly?”
03
“She’s no one. Her husband has money and she thinks it
04
makes her important. But I know my food, I know my business,
05
and anyone who’s worked with me knows it. I’m fi ne.”
06
“She said you were incompetent?” Gillian was mainly sweet,
07
but when someone she loved was threatened, she could be a
08
sharp- tongued bitch.
09
“Yes. In front of half her party. So tacky. Most of them
10
cringed in embarrassment. Several of them asked for my card.
11
She’s nothing to me, Gillian. It’s all right.”
12
“She’d better watch herself.” Gillian sniffed. “Incompetent?
13
I’ll show her incompetent with my boot.”
14
Mary hugged her friend. “I love you.”
15
“Of course you do. You have excellent taste.”
16
Damien absently tugged on one of her curls only to watch it
17
spring back into shape. “What’s the plan for the evening?”
18
“We’re having dinner with my family.”
19
He raised a brow. “We are?”
20
“Yes. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before. I bumped into my
21
mother on the way over here just now. She invited me to dinner.
22
I told her you were here and she said she’d set an extra place. Is
23
that all right?”
24
“Yes. I’m happy to meet them at last.”
25
26
27
S28
N29
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01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
20
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
D
16
amien was never nervous. But he sure was now. He gave
17
himself a little pep talk about how he totally could do
18
this. Her mother was a woman after all. He was good
19
with women. But this was Mary’s mom and dad. People who
20
were really important to her.
21
Mary squeezed his hand. “I promise you they’re really nice
22
people. She just wants to get a look at you. If she thought you
23
were a bad guy, she wouldn’t be inviting you to dinner, I can
24
tell you that much.”
25
“Oh yeah? There’s a story to that. Tell me.”
26
“Let’s see, um, fi ve years ago? No, six. I went out with a guy
27
for a while. He was nice enough. But I never quite trusted him.
S28
Anyway, it got back to her that he had a fi ancée of all things.
N29
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01
This woman he’d actually been living with down in Tacoma. I
02
had no idea. He had an apartment here; how on Earth could I
03
have known? But she found out and she tracked him down. She
04
never told me what was said. He never told me what was said.
05
But he confessed about the other woman and moved out of his
06
apartment that same week. She’s sort of ruthless. So what I’m
07
saying is she’s not one to hide or beat around the bush. If she
08
likes you, she likes you, and she does not have people she dis-
09
likes at her kitchen table.”
10
She pulled up the driveway and got out.
11
“You should let me open your door.” He frowned at her and
12
she laughed, holding a hand out.
13
“I promise next time. Come on.”
14
He noted that she did not bring any food.
15
They went up the front steps. She tapped on the door and
16
they went in. “It’s me!”
17
“In the kitchen.”
18
She shut the front door and he took her coat, hanging it
19
on the coat rack near the door, along with his own.
20
“Come on back then. Your father is making what he thinks
21
is a compelling argument as to why we should have ice cream
22
with the pie.”
23
“My dad has really high cholesterol and high blood pres-
24
sure,” Mary told him in an undertone. “He’s always trying to
25
sneak his favorite foods, most of which are forbidden now.”
26
The house was nice. Pictures of the kids from babyhood into
27
the present day all over the walls. Nothing fancy. Nothing run-
28S
down. It was clear a family had been raised there with love. He
29N
liked that a lot.
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Jeanne Whaley stood in front of a very tall man wearing a
01
sheepish expression.
02
“I don’t see why a little tiny scoop is a problem.”
03
“Because you have Doritos in your shed. Don’t think I don’t
04
know.”
05
“Hey, guys.” Mary moved to hug her mother and then her
06
father, both of whom turned to face Damien. “Jeanne and Mike
07
Whaley, this is Damien Hurley. Damien, my parents.”
08
Damien smiled and held his hand out. “It’s really a pleasure
09
to meet you.” Mary and her mother bore a very strong resem-
10
blance. The shape of the eyes, the curly hair, the smiles were very 11
similar as well.
12
Jeannie looked him up and down. “Mary says you’re a
13
musician.”
14
“Yes, ma’am.” He looked to her father and took his hand in
15
a shake. Not too hard or too long. “Nice to meet you, sir.”
16
“Manners are a good start. There’s beer in the fridge. Want
17
one?” Mike tipped his chin.
18
“That would hit the spot. Thank you.”
19
“Sit. I’ll get one for everyone.” Mary moved to the fridge as
20
they all sat.
21
“Company is here. Ice cream is a must for company. Jules
22
sent over the cherry walnut bars. It’s a crime not to have ice
23
cream with them.”
24
“Are you sucking in your cheeks? Mary, look at your father
25
pretending to be scrawny to get some ice cream. I hope it hits
26
the spot as it clogs your arteries and kills you. Leave me with
27
three kids. Two of them without enough sense, though Juliet
S28
will save Cal from himself. Ryan? Well, goodness knows. You
N29
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01
can’t die yet because it would be terribly unfair to leave me with
02
these creatures to raise on my own.”
03
“What’s for dinner?” Mary interjected smoothly as she put
04
the beers down on the table.
05
“Meatloaf. Mashed potatoes, corn. Tomatoes and cucum-
06
bers. Oh, and bread.”
07
“Yum.” Mary sat next to Damien. “She makes the best meat-
08
loaf in the whole world. I promise.”
09
“I’m not one to turn down meatloaf. It’s one of my favorites.”
10
Jeanne turned her gaze back to him. “Do you play cards?”
11
Mary snorted. “Watch her. Dad, how’s the computer?”
12
“Slow. This thing keeps coming up telling me I won a laptop.
13
Pretty cool, huh?”
14
Mary paled and Damien had to work really hard not to laugh
15
as he knew she counted to ten. “Dad, I told you about that. You
16
didn’t really win a laptop. No one ever wins the laptop. Did you
17
give them any information?”
18
“I clicked the pop-up thing. Is that bad?”
19
Mary looked to him and he bit the inside of his cheek.
20
“Go on and fi x your dad’s machine. I’ll watch the meatloaf
21
and in the meantime, Damien can play some cards with me.”