She arched a brow, while at the same time, her eyes narrowed. It was the look she gave us when she didn't believe us.
I held my hand up in surrender. "I swear to God. He seemed perfectly fine the last time I saw him.” That was true. He had gained a second or third... maybe it was a fourth wind in his pursuit of Kate. The fact that Mom didn't know about Kate being back in his life meant he hadn't told her, and I was a good enough brother not to be the one to spill the beans.
"Do you think he'll come home for Thanksgiving?"
"I don't see why not." I suppose if things were going well between him and Kate, maybe he’d stay behind and have Thanksgiving with her family. But Kate was so resistant to him, even if she was going to give him another chance, it seemed like a holiday family meal would be too much, too soon for her.
"You don't think he's going to stay out there to live forever, do you?” she asked.
I couldn't answer that. If he and Kate did reunite, she had a business out there. He was building a business out there. It seemed unlikely that he would move back to New York.
"I don't know, Mom. That's not the plan, no.” That was true too. Our goal had been to spend time at the new location to get it built and running, but then hiring a great staff to keep it going with a few trips a year out to check on things. Of course, if Sam did stay out in Los Angeles, that could be good because it wasn't far from Las Vegas, which means he could check on both locations. Then I'd have no reason to go back there.
An image of Amelia lying underneath me, all that wild red hair fanned over a pillow, her cheeks flush and her lips red and ripe, flashed in my mind. My dick twitched in my pants. I crossed my leg, not needing my mother to see my reaction to thoughts of Amelia. But because I did think of her, I wondered how things were going with the annulment. I felt bad leaving her to take care of it herself. Maybe I should call her. Then it occurred to me that I didn't get her number. I supposed it wouldn’t be too hard to find. I just need to look up her business.
I decided it was time to change the subject. "When is Vivie going to be home?"
My sister had graduated from college back in June, and she was taking a gap year traveling before settling into a job. What that job would be, no one, including Vivie, knew.
"She'll be here for Thanksgiving as well. And you’ll be here too, right?"
"Yes, Mother."
Her expression was asking me to sympathize with her. "Someday, when you have children and they all grow up and leave you, you’ll know how I feel."
I was smart enough not to tell my mother that I didn't plan to have children.
I visited with my mom for a little longer and then headed out to the office. It was around ten when I finally entered the building. Although I'd been gone for a while, everything looked the same. Everyone was exactly where they should be, doing exactly what they should be doing.
I headed to my office, stopping by my administrative assistant’s desk. Mrs. Critzer was a retired Army officer, and she ran my office like I imagined she ran her troops. It was awesome except for the times when she treated me like I was one of her troops instead of her boss.
"You had several calls this morning," she said, handing me a stack of message papers. "There was an incident at the Hamptons club last night. The police were called, but Mark says everything is handled. He says he's emailed you a report."
Owning an establishment that served copious amounts of booze always ran the risk of bar fights and other activities that led to the police showing up. Interestingly enough, the Hamptons club held the record for the most police calls even out of the clubs here in Manhattan. Usually, they were around college breaks. "Are college kids off for Thanksgiving yet?"
She shrugged. "I don't know. I haven't had a kid in college in ten years."
I nodded, taking my messages into my office. I tossed the messages on my desk as I took off my coat and hung it on the back of my chair. I sat down, turning on my computer, and then thumbed through the messages. Most of them were from alcohol distributors, and one was from the manager of one of the Manhattan clubs. The last one stopped me in my tracks.Amelia Dunsmore. Her phone number.Following up on a discussion in Las Vegas.
I studied the message, having one of those weird feelings that I couldn't quite define. Why was she tying me up in knots? It had to be because of this marriage hanging over my head. As I studied the message, it occurred to me that the information she gave suggested that it was a business call. I breathed out a sigh of relief. It was stupid of me not to give her my direct number before I left. It was a testament to how freaked out I was at waking up married with no memory of it.
I needed to call her, but doing it here in the office wouldn't be wise. I folded the paper and stuck it into the pocket of my slacks. I’d call her later tonight. I set about getting to work, but the paper in my pocket continued to call at me. It made getting anything done nearly impossible.
I left a little early and headed out to visit the clubs in Manhattan. Sam and I trusted the people who worked for us, but that didn't mean we didn't show up unannounced every now and then just to make sure everything was running well.
When I arrived back at my apartment, I poured myself several fingers of bourbon and took the glass out onto the terrace. I pulled Amelia's number from my pocket and studied it. Our time together was supposed to be over and done with. But as I studied the paper and got ready to dial her number, I had to admit, I was glad for an excuse to call her. It was a dangerous feeling, and if I could have, I would have resisted it and not called her. But I figured if she took the effort to seek me out and leave me a message, perhaps there was something important she needed to tell me. Maybe, if I was lucky, she would say we weren't really married, after all. Someone played a practical joke on us or something. I could totally see Sam doing something like that. Of course, Sam would've had to have known I was in Las Vegas and had met Amelia. That seemed unlikely because he was one hundred and ten percent focused on Kate.
I dialed her number, glancing at my watch to figure out what time it was in Las Vegas. It was just about seven here, which meant it was nearly four there. Hopefully, I wasn't interrupting a meeting.
"Max?"
The sound of her voice floated through my chest. It reminded me of the time I heard her laugh. "Yes, it's me. I'm sorry I wasn't around to get your call earlier."
"I'm sorry I had to call you at work. I hope they think you’re getting a consultation for social media services."
It pleased me that she was looking out for me, and at the same time, there was a wrongness to keeping her a secret. I wasn't embarrassed by her, and despite how it might have looked, our time together wasn't sordid. The problem was the accidental marriage.
"I think that's exactly how my assistant took it. Is everything okay?"