Cowardly?
Mom was already putting her things into a plastic bin on the conveyor belt. It was too late to run after her. Still, Amber stood there, not moving, until Mom disappeared. She turned and made her way out of the terminal.
She was not a coward.
Mom was just upset about their earlier discussion. She was not a coward. And she was never going to become her mother.
—
“What? You’re not coming?” Lovey looked askance at Duncan. “Why not?”
“Don’t feel like it.”
Lovey and Marc were going to meet a bunch of others at the Sin Bin Sunday night.
Her eyes narrowed. “What’s going on with you? Why are you such a grouch?”
“Fuck off, I’m not a grouch.” He flipped a page of The Hockey News magazine he was reading, stretched out on his back on the couch.
“No, no, not at all.” Her sarcastic tone came through loud and clear. “Where’s Amber tonight? Working?”
“No idea.”
“What? Oh no. No, no, no. What did you do?”
He scowled. “What the hell does that mean? I didn’t do anything.”
“Why don’t you know where she is tonight?” She stomped over and plopped down on the couch near his feet.
He sighed. “We kind of, ah, had a fight.”
Her eyes widened. “Did she break up with you?”
“Not exactly. But…”
“What? Come on, Dunc, talk to me.”
“I might’ve screwed up. Again.”
“How so?”
Fuck. Like he wanted to admit this out loud. “Turns out Amber may have some financial difficulties. Apparently she was looking for a rich boyfriend.”
“Shut the fuck up.” Lovey didn’t even pause to think about that. “That’s ridiculous.”
“Her mom showed up yesterday morning.”
“Really? From Los Angeles?”
“Yeah. I overheard them talking and her mom was all excited. ‘You did it, Amber!’?” He mimicked her high tone of voice. “She saw that blog post and came rushing to Chicago to meet the rich sap her daughter managed to snag.”
“Oh, that is such bullshit.”
“I heard her, Lovey. The sad part is, I bought Amber a new car on Friday. Fuck me. I dropped some coin on Melissa, but never as much as a fucking BMW. I am such an idiot.”
Lovey reached over and cuffed the side of his head. “Yeah, you are.”
“Ow!” He jerked away and glared at her. “Go away. This is humiliating enough.”
“Did she like the car?” Amusement curved her lips.
“No. She drove it here and left it in visitor parking. Gave the keys to the doorman.”
“Ha-ha-ha.” Lovey grinned. “I could’ve predicted that. I bet she was super pissed.”
He shrugged.
“Oh, for the love of cheese. Go talk to her. Apologize.”
“Apologize? Me? For what? I bought her a car!”
“You know how much she hates the fact that you’re a pro athlete and have money. Get your head out of your ass, Dunc. She was annoyed when you rented her a car.”
He frowned. Yeah, yeah, this was true, but maybe it had all been an act.
“She didn’t want to go out with you at all, in the beginning,” Lovey continued. “Because you were a pro hockey player. Of course, now knowing who her father is, it makes even more sense. I’m sure a pro athlete was the last kind of guy she ever wanted to hook up with. After what he did…God.”
I don’t want to like you…but I do. Her words floated back through his mind.
“You can’t seriously think she was using you for your money. I mean, I know you’re kind of distrustful of women because of Melissa and those other chicks, whoever they were.” She waved a hand. “But Amber’s not like that.”
Duncan remained silent. Distrusting? Really? Was he?
In the face of his sister’s blunt words and utter faith in Amber, he started to feel like maybe he’d screwed up even worse than he’d thought.
Chapter 24
Marc emerged from his bedroom. “Okay, ready to go.”
Lovey rose from the couch. “I’m trying to convince Duncan to come with us.”
“What? He’s not coming?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’ll come.” Duncan tossed his magazine aside and rolled himself off the couch. He rubbed his jaw. “Maybe I should shave.”
“Cheese whiz, I’m starving. Let’s go.” Lovey grabbed Marc’s arm and tugged him toward the closet. “You look fine,” she said to Duncan. “Scruff is good.”
“Who’s driving?” he asked. Maybe they should take the sweet little Beamer he’d bought. No. That was for Amber. Somehow he’d convince her to take it.
“I’ll drive,” Duper said. They all grabbed jackets and hit the elevator.