As I watched her, she turned and scanned the room—and her gaze stopped on mine. I froze, halfway caught between looking down at my computer, and blatantly ogling her. She frowned slightly, like she couldn’t place me, then grinned and waved. I waved back before hunching down over my keyboard like that might solve my awkward situation.
She didn’t know I was her cousin. I could still get up and leave. I didn’t have to engage with her. I could leave her out of this completely. I had no problem with Laurel—it was her father I wanted.
Except she drifted over to my booth ten minutes later, and I smiled up at her.
“You’re Alex Nervosa’s friend,” she said. “You were at my house a few days ago.”
“Yeah, that’s right. You’re Laurel.”
“Nice to meet you again.” She sat down across from me. “I’m sorry, I forget your name.”
“Melanie.” I hesitated before shutting my laptop lid. I drummed my fingers on the table, shifting from side to side. “I’m, uh, Constance’s daughter.”
She looked confused. “Constance? I’m sorry, that doesn’t sound familiar. Does she work at the university? Do you mean Professor Harker?”
“Sorry, you probably know her as Connie? Your aunt Connie.”
Her eyes widened. “Aunt Connie? Holy crap. You’re my cousin.”
“Looks that way,” I said, dying internally. I wanted to get up and scream or hide under the table, but I had to do this.
I came all this way. I gave up Blackwoods to enroll at Stanford for the express purpose of finding out more about my mother’s family. Laurel was a part of that, and even if I didn’t think she had anything to do with the dark stain in the past that I so desperately wanted to reveal, she might be helpful anyway.
Besides, she was my cousin, and I wanted to know her.
“Wow. I’m freaking out a little bit. Dad told me Aunt Connie left town a long time ago and got married, but he never talked about kids.”
“I’ve got an older brother too. Redmond.”
“Redmond.” She laughed, shaking her head. “That’s wild. I’m an only child, in case you were wondering. Wow, so were you talking to Dad about your aunt the other day? Is that why you visited?”
“Sort of,” I said, shrugging. “I mean, I had some questions.”
“Like what? If you don’t mind me asking. I’ve got to admit, I’m really curious.” She smiled and her eyes were kind and bright. She tilted her head and had this way of watching me, like she was analyzing all my movements and expressions, and found them absolutely fascinating. “You showed up randomly, and nobody bothered to mention that you and I were related.”
“I think our parents had a falling out. I don’t really know the details. Actually, I was hoping you might be able to help with that.”
She pursed her lips and shook her head. “Sorry, I don’t know anything. Dad told me your mom ran away from the family years ago and married some super rich—” She stopped, blushing. “Sorry, uh, I mean, she married some guy, and you live out in Colorado and don’t talk to anyone much.”
I snorted a laugh. “That’s more or less true. My mom keeps to herself a lot these days. But I think that might be because of what happened before she left.”
“What happened?”
“You know, Granddad dying.”
Her lips twisted and she shook her head. “Granddad died of cancer. That’s what Dad told me, anyway.”
I bit my lip and tugged at my hair. That could be true—I didn’t know the full story. All Mom ever told me was that he was dead, and he was a bastard, and she didn’t miss him. Nothing else, even when I pressed.
“I guess I mean, something happened for my mom to run away, and I’m trying to figure out what.”
“Sorry, I wish I could help.” She sat back and tapped a finger against her chin. “You know, when I came to work today, I didn’t expect to meet an estranged cousin and discuss deep, dark family secrets.”
She grinned at me and I laughed in return. She had a way of making me feel comfortable, even though this was excruciatingly awkward. Who the hell just asked people those sorts of questions? But I was desperate, and I didn’t know if I’d get another chance at this.
“That’s fair. Honestly, I didn’t come here expecting to talk about any of this stuff. It just sort of came out.”
“I totally get it. I bet you’ve been wondering about why your mom ran away for a long time. Do you want me to ask my dad what he knows?”
“No,” I said quickly, shaking my head. That was the last thing I needed. He could tell her any story he wanted, and I might lose my chance to get real answers from her. “That’s okay. I actually have another weird question.”