“That’s enough.” Austin brushed past me to sit next to Robin on the couch. He enveloped her in his arms and whispered, “Come on, babe. No more worries, remember?”
Then he gave me a fulminating stare and I mentally shrank a few inches. If he weren’t my big brother, the look wouldn’t have bothered me so much, but Austin had always been able to nonverbally smack me down with little effort.
“Look, I’m sorry,” I said, meaning it. “We just really need some answers. But maybe we can come back later and . . . I don’t know.” Feeling helpless and frustrated, I gazed at Derek.
He patted the brick next to him, and I retreated to the hearth to sit, putting some distance between me and my brother.
Derek spoke directly to Austin. “It’s of the utmost urgency that we talk to Robin. We can give you some time to get dressed; then we can either come back here or meet you in town. Is there a restaurant or café you can suggest as a meeting place?”
“I’ve got a good idea,” Austin said, more amenable now that Derek had spoken. My brother could be exasperating and old-fashioned when the mood hit him. “Let us get ourselves together, get dressed, and we’ll meet you at Mom and Dad’s in an hour. She’s expecting us for lunch.”
“And we’ll talk?” I asked.
Robin lifted her head and looked from Austin to us. Her eyes were clear as she nodded at me. “We’ll talk.”
Chapter 12
I knew I shouldn’t have been annoyed at Robin, but I was. She was acting like a twit, trying to pretend nothing had happened. I understood that she’d been through hell, but now wasn’t the time to hide. I needed her to be proactive.
She was my best friend and always would be, so I couldn’t be mad at her forever. But at the moment, having just watched her ignore me while clinging to Austin, I couldn’t help but think she was milking the situation.
Yeah, yeah, she woke up to a bloody dead body in her bed. And yeah, she’d had sex with him the night before, so yes, absolutely, that was a total bummer. But hey, I’d been a witness to murder, too. More than once, but who was counting? It’s not like I was making it a little kids’ competition between us. Neener, neener, I’ve seen more dead bodies than you have! It wasn’t like that, I swear.
I was just disappointed that instead of soldiering up and answering a few critical questions, she’d pulled the girlie-girl card and used Austin as a shield.
So yeah, I guess I was a little pissed off. But like I said, I’d get over it. No worries.
Derek parked the Bentley in front of my parents’ house. “Shake that off,” he said calmly.
I looked down at my shirt, then brushed my jeans. “Shake what off?”
“The chip you’re carrying on your shoulder. It won’t do you any good to walk into your parents’ house carrying all that anger.”
I shrugged. “I’m okay.”
“No, you’re not.” He cupped and turned my chin until we were eye-to-eye. “You’re upset. I don’t blame you, but I know your lovely mother. She’ll pick up on that vibe in two seconds flat and proceed to harangue you until you’ve willingly revealed every naughty thing you’ve ever done in your life.”
I didn’t want to let go of this warm and righteous anger bubbling inside me, and I definitely didn’t want to smile. But hearing Derek utter the word naughty tossed my best intentions right over the edge.
“All right,” I said, and sighed. Why couldn’t I have a poker face like normal people? It wasn’t fair. Every little emotion I experienced showed up as clear as day on my face.
Derek waited patiently until I was no longer twitching in irritation.
“All right, I’m good. See?” I flashed him a supersize grin.
“That’s my happy girl,” he said drily. “Your mother will never guess it’s not real.”
“I’m counting on that.”
He climbed out of the car and jogged around to meet me. “I promise you can yell at Robin later.”
“I’m holding you to that.”
“Hello, sweeties!” Mom cried a minute later when we announced ourselves through the front door screen.
I walked into the family home I grew up in and felt myself turning into an eight-year-old. All I wanted was lots of hugs and love from my mom and dad. They complied, then acted properly overjoyed when I begged for an invitation to join them for lunch.
“Wonderful!” Mom said. “Austin and Robin will be here, too. And I left a message for Gabriel, but I haven’t heard back.”
“He hasn’t missed a meal so far,” Dad said jovially.
“It’ll be good to see him,” Derek said, and sounded like he meant it.
Then Dad lured Derek away with an offer to taste his latest barrel experiment, a melding of cabernet franc, merlot and petit verdot that he was downright giddy over.
Mom led the way to the kitchen to put the finishing touches on lunch. But as soon as we entered the sunny room, she turned and patted my cheek. “What’s wrong, sweetie?”