A soulful meow cried out. “Is that Brit’s cat?”
“Yeah, but I wouldn’t recommend getting close.” Susan raised her sleeve and showed off some scratches.
“She attacked you?”
Susan smiled. “No, I was just certain if she’d let me hold her, she’d fall in love with me. I’m a sucker for the underdog.”
“Me, too.”
They ended up at the kitchen table, drinking wine. After a few minutes, Cali gave Susan the short version of how she’d met Brit.
Susan studied her hands. “I should have guessed.”
“Guessed what?”
“Well …” She hesitated as if to choose her words carefully. “It’s Brit’s nature to protect women.”
“The cop in him, I guess.” Cali sipped the wine.
“Yeah, but our mom sort of fell into bad relationships. You know how the story goes, a victim always in search of a man to victimize her. A real loser chooser.”
“That sounds kind of grim.” Cali thought about Frank, Brit’s mom’s husband. He hadn’t seemed like a loser.
“Not as grim as Brit would put it. He spent most of his childhood trying to protect her from our father. After Dad died, he protected her from the next guy, and the next. He grew bitter. Not that I blame him, but Mom’s trying to change and Frank’s different. Brit, of course, can’t see it.”
Cali chewed on that piece of information. “And you think his protecting me is somehow related to all that?”
Susan took a sip of wine. “What do I know?”
Cali could tell from Susan’s voice that it was exactly what she believed. And the shoe fit. Not a pretty shoe either. At least now Cali understood why he’d been so hard on her in the beginning. The idea that he lumped her into a category with a woman who’d gone from one bad relationship to another didn’t feel too good, but if what Dr. Roberts had said was true, maybe Brit hadn’t been that far off the mark. Great. Am I really a loser chooser?
“You and Brit seem close,” Cali said, wanting to change the subject.
“We are. With a lot of drama always happening when we were kids, we kind of looked out for each other. Can you believe he had a fit because I went out to breakfast with his new partner? He said he didn’t want to know the guy who was trying to get into my pants.”
Cali grinned.
“So I told him I wouldn’t let his partner brag about how good I was in bed.”
“So you are dating him?”
“Maybe, I mean, I had breakfast with him and then he came to Mom’s party tonight. But I like him. I haven’t dated anyone in two years. I gave up men and took up ice cream about two years ago.”
“Bad breakup?”
“I’d say. I came home early from an out of town job and found my fiancé in bed doing the deed with an anatomically correct doll.”
“Seriously?” Cali had to work to keep from giggling.
“Seriously. He’d even named the doll.” She made an odd face. “George.”
A giggle leaked out. “Sorry.”
“Please. I know it’s funny. Now. Not so much then. Anyway, I finally kicked the ice cream habit and lost the forty pounds it cost me.”
They talked for at least another twenty minutes, before Cali yawned.
“Are you tired?” Susan asked.
“Yeah, a little.”
“Why don’t I set you up in Brit’s room?”
“I would prefer to just sleep on the sofa.” Cali saw Susan’s surprise. “We’re really not dating.”
“Looked like you were dating.” Susan held up a hand. “I’m sorry. It’s not my business.”
“It’s okay.” Cali felt obliged to tell the truth. “I’m not going to say we’re not attracted to each other, but we haven’t…We aren’t…”
“Getting naked, yet?” Susan grinned.
“Yeah.” Cali looked around the house, Brit’s home. She’d crossed a line by being here, but if she kept her head, she could step right back over it.
“Well, unlike my brother, I don’t have a problem with it. So you have my blessings to get naked with him.” She stopped talking and frowned. “Okay that sounded awkward.”
They both laughed.
“He’s a great guy. Honest. Loyal. Doesn’t have a thing about blow-up Ken dolls.” She sighed. “Grumpy as a bear with an African bee up its butt sometimes, but he’s good as gold when it counts.”
Cali sighed. “I know.”
Susan stood up. “Okay, I’ll stop playing matchmaker. However, Brit’s sofa sleeps like a bed of rocks. And I’ve trashed the extra bedroom pretty badly. So, sleep in his bed. Besides, Brit works third shift. He won’t be home until morning.”
Cali followed her into Brit’s bedroom. When Susan turned the light on, Cali’s gaze went to the unmade king-size bed.
“Don’t worry. Brit actually has a housecleaner. She came a few days ago. And he’s only napped a couple of hours since then. So the sheets are pretty clean.” Then Susan smiled. “I think he keeps an extra toothbrush in his medicine cabinet.”