Moe bounded into the room, a wild blur of fur. In his delight to see everyone, he leaped, licked, swept glasses off the coffee table with an exuberant tail, and nosed his way into a plate of cocktail shrimp before he could be controlled.
“Sorry, sorry.” With one hand hooked in Moes collar, Flynn dragged the dog, or was dragged by him, toward the door. “Ill put him in Jordans car. Bill me for damages. See you. Oh,Zoe , Simon needs a few more minutes to finish a game. Jesus Christ, Moe! Hold up!”
“This is my life now,” Malory said happily. “Its kind of great. Thanks, Brad, sorry about the dishes. See you tomorrow,Zoe , Dana. Night, Jordan.”
“I have to go save my upholstery.” Jordan grabbed Danas arm and pulled her toward the door. “Later.”
“Stop yanking me. Smooches, Brad. See you in the morning,Zoe .”
The door slammed behind them, and there was absolute silence.
It had all happened so fast, was allZoe could think. Shed never intended to be the last one to leave. It was horrible. Horrifying.
She considered running into the game room and grabbing Simon, but she wasnt exactly sure where it was. And she could hardly stand where she was and shout for him. Still, she needed to do something .
She bent down to pick up the glasses Moe had knocked to the floor. At exactly the same moment, so did Brad.
Their heads bumped. Each of them straightened quickly, then stood taut as bows.
“Ill get them.” He crouched, gathered up the glasses, set them on the coffee table. He was close enough to catch her scent now. It was always different, sometimes earthy, sometimes light, always very female.
It was one of the fascinating things about her, he mused. The variety of her.
“Coffee?”
“I really should just get Simon. Its nearly his bedtime.”
“Oh. Well. Okay.”
When he just stood, looking at her,Zoe felt embarrassed heat creeping up the back of her neck. Had she done something wrong? Left out something?
“Thanks for having us.”
“Glad you could make it.”
During the next long pause, she had to make a conscious effort not to bite her lip. “Simon? I dont know exactly where he is.”
“The game room. Oh.” Amused at both of them, Brad laughed. “You dont know where the game room is. Come on, Ill take you back.”
The moreZoe saw of the house, the more in love with it, and intimidated by it, she was. To begin with, there was so much of it, all of it charming or stunning or just lovely. She imagined the things she noticed on tables or shelves were several levels up from knickknacks.
Brad veered off through an archway into what she assumed was some sort of library. The soaring ceiling was done in wood and made the room feel open while still managing to be co2y.
“Theres so much room.” She stopped, appalled that shed spoken out loud.
“The story is, once my father got started, he couldnt stop. Hed get another idea, add it into the design.”
“Its a wonderful house,” she said quickly. “So much detail without being fussy. You mustve loved growing up here.”
“I did.”
He stepped into another room.Zoe already heard the roar of engines, the vicious gunfire, the breathless chant— come on, come on, come on—of her son.
The video game was some sort of urban car war that flashed over an enormous wall-size TV screen. Simon sat cross-legged on the floor rather than in one of the cushy recliners in a room that fulfilled every boys fantasy.
A pool table, three pinball machines, two video-arcade games. Slot machines, a soda machine, a jukebox.
The ceiling here was coffered, framed in honey-toned wood that shielded strips of lights.