“I’m going out grocery shopping. Want to come?” Teri asked.
“Why not,” Christie said.
An hour later, when James eased the limo into the apartment parking lot, Christie was already waiting outside. She allowed James to open her car door.
“Good afternoon,” he greeted her formally.
“James.” She inclined her head in a regal nod.
This was progress, Teri mused. Christie didn’t even sound sarcastic. It seemed to take her an inordinate amount of time to slip into the seat and when she did, she held a long-stemmed rose. The color of the flower matched the flush in her cheeks.
“I’m glad you’re coming with me,” Teri told her. She made a point of not remarking on the flower.
“I am, too.”
Teri noticed that Christie met James’s gaze in the rearview mirror.
“James,” Teri said, sliding closer to her sister. “Christie asked me an interesting question a little while ago. What do you do with your time when Bobby doesn’t require a driver?”
He didn’t answer immediately.
“You don’t have to say if you’d rather not,” Teri assured him. She didn’t want to embarrass James.
“He should account for his time,” Christie said. “He’s being paid for all those hours, isn’t he?”
James headed into traffic and, after another short pause, said, “I read.”
This was news to Teri, but she supposed it made sense.
“What do you read?” Christie asked.
“Everything. Contemporary novels, classics, all kinds of non-fiction.”
Teri was impressed by this and suspected her sister was, too.
When they got to the house, Christie helped Teri make dinner, amid much laughter and the occasional small confidence. Bobby came into the kitchen a few times to see what all the merriment was about; he even joined in once or twice.
Dinner was delicious—and fun—and although Teri had invited James, he’d declined. When she and Christie had put away the leftovers and finished with the dishes, the phone rang. Call display indicated that it was Rachel. As she picked up the receiver, Teri saw her sister slip outside, probably for a cigarette.
Now that she was only working part-time, Teri missed seeing her best friend as often as she had before.
“How’s everything?” Teri asked, concerned because Rachel hadn’t seemed herself lately.
“Oh, fine. Everything’s great.”
The bravado sounded false to Teri. She knew Rachel felt tense about the upcoming rally Nate had asked her to attend.
“And Bruce?” Teri pressed. She suspected that whatever was really bothering Rachel could be traced to her friendship with Bruce Peyton.
The question was met with silence. Then Rachel muttered, “Why are you asking me about Bruce?”
“Why are you so defensive?”
“I’m not defensive!”
Teri smiled to herself. “Yes, you are. In fact, anytime I mention his name, you clam right up. So what gives?”
“Nothing, absolutely nothing,” Rachel insisted. Then, in a sudden reversal, she added, “I love Nate, you know. We’ll be together this weekend.”
Teri rolled her eyes. She’d heard enough about that stupid fund-raising rally to have memorized every detail. “I thought you and Bruce and Jolene were going to the Taco Shack tonight.” Teri knew this because she’d called to ask Rachel to join them all for dinner. Rachel had to turn her down; Bruce, it seemed, was treating her and his daughter to reward Jolene for being elected class secretary.
“We were at the Taco Shack.”
Either Teri was reading too much into it or something had happened. She hadn’t expected to hear from Rachel so soon. Normally, Rachel couldn’t shut up about Jolene; she bragged about every achievement as if the twelve-year-old was her own daughter. Rachel’s silence was highly unusual.
“And?” Teri prompted, convinced now that Rachel’s odd behavior was somehow connected to Bruce.
“And…we had a very nice dinner,” Rachel murmured. “And then something…happened after dinner.”
Just as Teri had guessed. “You’d better tell me,” she said matter-of-factly.
“It was a fluke. Neither of us intended this and now…now I’m afraid it’s ruined everything.” She gulped in a deep breath. “I don’t know what to do and I think Bruce feels the same way and it’s so dumb and—”
“Whoa,” Teri said, stopping Rachel. “Start at the beginning.”
Rachel took another deep breath. “Jolene was asked to spend the night with a friend and decided she’d rather do that. Bruce said okay, so the two of us went out to dinner by ourselves.” There was a momentary silence. “That’s no big deal, right?” she asked imploringly.
“Right.”
“We drove there in separate cars,” Rachel continued. “I had a few errands to run first.”
“You had a good time? At dinner, I mean?”
Rachel paused. “We always do. Bruce and I get along fine.” She laughed, but Teri thought it sounded more like a sob. “The staff at the Taco Shack knows us because we’ve been there so often and they have the impression we’re married. It’s kind of a joke, and Bruce and I play along.”
“That’s…sweet,” Teri said, although she didn’t think sweet was the best word.
Rachel ignored the comment. “I don’t think I should have dinner with Bruce anymore.”
“Why not? You have fun together. Nothing wrong with that.”