“Oh, they took me with them,” she said lightly, and noting his surprise, nodded. “They did. I grew up in tents around the world, a -couple months or a year in one place, and then on to the next.”
“You never went to school?” he asked with a frown.
“James’s mom taught us,” she explained and when he looked blank, added, “My husband, James. His father was an archaeologist on my father’s team too. His mother was a schoolteacher, but she gave up her job to join his dad on the digs and homeschooled us both. It was really very handy all the way around.”
“Yes, I guess so,” he murmured thoughtfully, and then commented, “So you’ve known James a long time.”
“All of my life,” she said with a small smile. “We were playmates as tiny tots, best friends during the preteens, boyfriend and girlfriend as teens and then . . .” She shrugged. “When I turned eighteen, we went off to college together. Well, actually, university,” she said with a smile. “We both went to the university of British Columbia.”
“British Columbia, Canada?” he clarified, and when she nodded, asked curiously, “Why?”
“It’s where James’s mom is from and where she went to university.”
“So she steered you toward it,” Justin guessed.
Holly nodded. “But both our families live down here in California. Well, our families’ families I guess,” she corrected. “Grandparents, aunts and uncles and such. James’s dad was from California. He met James’s mom while lecturing at her university. Anyway, after growing up in places like Egypt and such, BC seemed a bit chilly to us, and we both wanted to be closer to family, so once James graduated last year, we moved down here to look for work.”
“And then you married,” he guessed.
Holly shook her head. “Actually, we married almost four years ago. We had both finished our bachelors in our fields. We were living in different dorms on campus and finding it a bit difficult to handle after the life we’d led, so we decided to marry and move off campus together. I worked while he got his MBA in applied science, and now he’s working while I finish my courses to become an accountant.”
“But you’ve always been together,” he said slowly, a frown plucking at his face.
“Always,” she said solemnly. “He was my first kiss, my first date, and my first love.”
“I see,” Justin whispered, then grabbed his second sandwich and rather than open it, slid it back into the take--out bag, grabbed it, his empty chip bag and his pop and glass and headed inside. “I have to talk to Gia.”
Holly stared after him silently. She wasn’t terribly surprised by his reaction. That might even be part of the reason she’d said what she had. He had to understand that she was married, and happily, and that she loved her husband. She was not open to being his life mate. Still, she hated to hurt his feelings.
Sighing, Holly glanced down to the remainder of her sandwich and then began wrapping it up. She’d finish it later, maybe. For now, she’d lost her appetite.
“I shouldn’t have turned her,” Justin muttered, pacing the length of Gia’s bedroom. “I should have waited for Marguerite to find me a mate. She never messes up like this.”
“You did what you thought was right at the time,” Gia said solemnly.
“Well, it was a mistake,” Justin said harshly. “She’s married.”
“Yes, she is,” Gia agreed.
“But I mean really married. She’s known this guy since she was a kid. She grew up with him. He was her first kiss and her first love, for God’s sake. She’ll never leave him. Not even for me,” he said with dismay.
“Maybe not,” Gia agreed. “Or maybe she will.”
“I threw my one turn away for nothing,” Justin realized with horror.
“Would you really rather she had died?” Gia asked patiently.
“Of course not,” he snapped. “I would rather she hadn’t fallen on the damned scissors at all. What kind of an idiot runs with scissors?” he asked with sudden fury.
Gia bit her lip, he suspected to keep from laughing, and shook her head. “Well, sadly, she did run with scissors, did fall on them, and you did turn her to save her life when you realized she was your life mate. Now, I suggest you deal with it.”
Justin scowled at her grimly and then snatched up the take--out bag and his drink from her dresser, where he’d set them on entering and whirled to storm out of her room.
“Deal with it,” he muttered to himself as he stomped downstairs. “Just deal with the fact that you turned a woman you can’t have. Nice. Thanks for that, Gia. Very helpful advice.”
“Talking to yourself, Bricker?”
Pausing at the foot of the stairs, he scowled at Dante as the man passed with several jumbo bags of chips and a six--pack of cola in hand. Scowling, Justin said, “It’s more useful than talking to members of the fairer sex.”
“Don’t let Gia hear you say that. She’ll kick your ass,” Dante warned before disappearing into the living room.