“No, I’m not. He does not want to see me, trust me on this.” Every summer she’d come home, Barron had made sure she spent at least two months with Justin’s parents. “And I sure don’t want to see him. We have nothing to talk about.”
Justin sighed and dropped the topic. Instead, they gossiped for a bit about the people in the Sterlings’ social circle.
Her patience paid off when he finally said, “You remember the Lloyds, the family who used to be in Houston?”
“Vaguely. I wasn’t there much, remember?”
“True. You were boarding in Europe most of the time.”
“I know of them,” she said. “They own The Lloyds Development. They do real estate in competition with Sterling & Wilson—pretty successfully, if I recall.” Her father had led the real estate division before his untimely death, and during her business career, articles about it had always caught her eye.
“Yup. But I’m hearing some rumors that Jacob—the CEO—is in trouble.”
“What kind?”
“Legal and domestic. To be more specific” —his voice lowered, indicating the delicious nature of this particular bit of gossip— “bigamy.”
Kerri gasped, sitting up. “No way.”
“I’m pretty sure of it.”
“Oh my god, his poor wife.”
“She’ll be all right. She’s the Fairchild.”
“You’re kidding. The Fairchild?”
“Yup. Sebastian’s only.”
“Her family lost all their money when he screwed up his investments. How can she be all right?”
“The right pedigree and looks. She’s beautiful and young. She’ll be able to get a rich new husband who’s looking for a luxury edition trophy wife.”
“That’s kind of cold.” The Justin she remembered wouldn’t be so casual about another person’s misfortune.
“Hey, don’t be so quick to judge. Everyone knows she married Jacob for money.”
Still… She might have had a reason no one knew about. “So who’s Jacob’s real wife?”
“From what I understand, a Las Vegas stripper.”
“Get outta here.”
“It’s the truth.”
“Why would a guy like Jacob Lloyd marry a stripper?”
“Who knows? Maybe he likes ’em dirty and easy.”
She groaned.
“Have to admit,” Justin continued, “dirty and easy does have a certain appeal. But generally speaking, we don’t marry girls we’re too ashamed to bring home to meet mama, see what I’m saying?”
“Uh-huh.”
“So that’s probably why he kept it a secret for so long and married a woman who wouldn’t embarrass him in front of his family. Or maybe he just got really drunk in Las Vegas and didn’t realize he got hitched. Who knows?”
She swore. “What a mess.” No wonder Ethan had gone to see his mother in person.