His eyes blaze into mine, and I nod, instinctively darting my tongue out to wet my lips. The movement catches Devlin’s eye, and he drops his gaze to my lips for a long moment, one that wakes butterflies inside my belly.
No, no, no…
“Be a good dog, and obey your master,” he says, so softly that only me and Colt, who’s standing next to us, can hear. “Now, go to class before you get yourself into any more trouble.”
twelve
The guys go to the game that night, but Daddy bribes me to stay home with the promise that we’ll spend some time together. When the guys leave, he’s still not home. A storm brews on the horizon, and the heat has finally broken for the time being. I sit out on the balcony wrapped in a robe, watching lightning flicker in the distance. Where is he?
My phone rings, startling me. A jolt of fear shoots through me as I fumble it from my robe, sure I’ll see Daddy calling to say he was in an accident, or worse, that my brothers did something stupid.
Instead, I see a video chat request from Mom. “Darling,” she says when I accept the call. “Don’t frown like that. I don’t want to pay to smooth out those wrinkles until you’re at least twenty.”
“Hi, Mom,” I say, rolling my eyes. “How’s everything back home?”
She makes a face, and I consider hassling her about wrinkles, but I decide to keep my pettiness to myself for now. She’s here for me right now when no one else is, and the call is a good distraction from my melancholy thoughts and groundless worries.
“You know, I thought it would be a lot more exciting than it’s been,” she says. “It turns out, life as a single gal isn’t so glamourous. It’s no different than when you were here, except I have no one to talk to when I get bored.”
“Glad we could entertain you all those years.”
“Where’s your father?”
“Working,” I say. “Of course.”
She pouts at me. “You know, he might have been a good husband if he weren’t already married to his job. No woman wants to be the mistress in her own marriage.”
“Problems for your therapist, Mom.” Not to mention that without Daddy’s job, Mom never would have been able to maintain the life she loves so much in Manhattan.
She starts telling me a long story about something scandalous she found out about her therapist. I half listen, thankful for the distraction of her endless gossip. I don’t care who her married therapist is banging, but the familiarity of her gossiping is comforting.
When she finally finishes her story, dark has fallen. Still no sign of Daddy. The Darling house sits dark and empty next door, the whole family undoubtedly off at the game. Apparently, football is a family affair in the south.
That reminds me of Daddy’s earlier confession. “Did you know that Daddy grew up around here?” I ask Mom.
She sighs and rolls her eyes. “He didn’t grow up there. He went to school there for a few years in high school, and he likes to pretend that makes him belong there. You all belong in New York as much as I do. When is he going to get that silly idea out of his head and move back?”
“You want him back?” I ask, a lump forming in my throat.
“He’s the one who left me,” she says. “You all left me.”
I shake my head, refusing to be deterred. “So, that’s why he wanted to build a branch here? Because he went to high school here.”
She sighs again. “I assume so.”
“Did he ever talk about a family called the Darlings?” I ask. “That he knew back then?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” she says. “He talked about it sometimes, but it all sounded so deathly boring.”
“You’ve heard of them?” I ask. “Their son said Dad had tried to mess with them before.”
“Your father is a businessman,” Mom says. “Sometimes in a business, you have to make tough decisions.”
“So, it was business,” I say. “Not personal.”
I have to admit, I’m relieved. I was afraid it was something more scandalous, like an affair. Even though I get along better with Daddy than I do with Mom, I’d be devastated for her if he’d messed around.
“Yes,” Mom said with a sniff. “What else? With your father, it’s always business.”