Love and Sorrow (Small Town Secrets Book 5), стр. 50
“Hey, Rascal. I was in the neighborhood...”
What the hell was Justin doing here?
And then it dawned on me—I’d just told him last night to come by anytime.
“Um…”
Sarah, from the kitchen, asked, “Is that Justin?” Then my daughter ran into the living room—actually smiling—and pulled the door open more. She all but tackled him, and Justin squatted to hug her back. Sarah wrapped her arms around his neck. “I missed you.”
Devon, hearing all the commotion, wasn’t about to be left out and was running toward us. Justin said, “I missed you, too, Princess.” When he spied Devon, he cocked his hand to look like a pistol. “Missed you, too, little rug rat.”
“I am not a rug rat.”
“Yeah, yeah.” When Justin stood, he tousled Devon’s shiny brown hair just as Kevin joined our little reunion. Jesus Christ. Could this have felt more awkward?
Forcing a smile, I said, “Kevin, this is my best friend, Justin Anderson. Justin, Kevin Campbell.” Kevin stuck out his hand, and Justin shook it. It all seemed so civil. I hadn’t noticed before, but Justin was three or four inches taller than Kevin. Why that thought flew through my mind right then, I didn’t know.
“Randi’s best friend. In that case, I’m very glad to meet you, Justin.”
“Likewise. I guess I’d better go. I didn’t realize—”
“No, Justin. You can’t go. You just got here,” Sarah protested.
Fuck. If I’d known weeks ago that Sarah had felt this way, I never would have brought up the subject of cooling things off with Justin. But would that have been a good thing? I didn’t know anymore.
My torment must have been apparent on my face. Fortunately, Kevin took all the pressure off me. “Yeah, why not?”
That said, Justin could have decided to be a stand-up guy and leave—but he wasn’t going to make it easy on me. We would have a conversation about this later. But, as he nodded and entered the house and we all walked toward the kitchen, his eyes were full of feigned innocence. All an act, one he was very good at.
Back in the kitchen, the four of us resumed sitting at the places where we had before. Justin pulled up another chair and said, “Hey, how about I sit with Devon here and help him out?”
“I don’t need help. I’m in second grade, y’know.”
“Okay. Didn’t mean to insult you.”
“You can help me, Justin,” Sarah said.
God, how had I not known?
Moving his chair to the corner of the table so he could sit beside Sarah—which put him between us—he said, “Deal, princess.”
Kevin asked, “Would you like some wine, Justin?”
My friend appeared to ponder the matter. “Don’t mind if I do. Thanks.”
I was shooting daggers at him as Kevin stood, walking across the kitchen. “Randi, the wine glasses are over the stove? Is that where I saw you get them?”
“Yes.” As I glared at Justin again, I noticed that neither Devon nor Sarah were missing my facial expressions, so I decided I needed to keep my displeasure to myself.
As Kevin returned to the table, Devon asked, “Whose turn is it?”
I answered, “I think it’s Sarah’s.” My daughter then picked up the dice and rolled.
Meanwhile, Kevin was trying to be friendly—and I kind of wished he wouldn’t. “So, how long have you two been friends?”
Justin beat me to it. “Over a year.”
“How did you meet?”
And, sure enough, I recognized it—a jealousy vibe. Although Kevin and I had only ever been out once (twice if you counted this evening), Justin was just a friend. But maybe he wasn’t coming across that way…perhaps due to my real feelings for the man. Or maybe it was because Justin was a regular Don Juan and Kevin knew it. Whatever the case, I could sense the testosterone in the air.
“School. We had a math class together. Actually, we’d met before that, but I don’t think Randi remembers it.”
It was annoying that he kept speaking over me, and I felt my irritation growing. “We did not.”
“Yeah, we did. But that’s not important right now.”
Kevin, perhaps eager to remain part of the conversation, asked, “So what are you going to school for, Justin?”
“I’ll have my associate’s degree in mechanics by the end of this semester.”
“Auto mechanic?”
“Yeah. Good money.”
“Mom, it’s your turn,” Devon prompted. I’d been far too immersed in the tension of the pissing contest between these two men. At this rate, Kevin was going to start spouting his credentials.
“Okay.” I picked up the dice.
“Roll a three, mom. Roll a three!”
While I shook the dice, Sarah asked, “Justin, how come you haven’t been visiting as much lately?”
My breath caught in my throat. If Justin were honest with my daughter, he’d give away that it had to do with her emotional state of late—and I didn’t want her feeling guilty. I hoped Justin would look at me so I could try signaling him with my eyes somehow, but he kept his focus on Sarah as he answered her. “Well, your mom’s been pretty busy lately.”
I let out a silent breath, dropping the dice on the table—and even though I rolled a four, Devon was happy with it.
Justin kept talking. “In fact, I would have come by last weekend, but I guess your mom was tied up.”
I could feel the blood drain from my face. His comment might have passed as mere coincidence had he not looked straight into my eyes and then Kevin’s. Asshole. Just as quickly as I’d turned pale, I could then feel my cheeks growing hot, and I picked up my glass, finishing the wine in it.
My sweet son, unaware anything was wrong, said, “Mr. Campbell, it’s your turn.”
“Wow,” Kevin said, “look at the time. I just remembered I’ve got a pretty important meeting tomorrow that I’d completely forgotten