Chapter 13
When does your train leave for California?” Stephanie opened the containers of fried rice, General Tso’s chicken, and crab Rangoon, arranging them in the middle of the conference table.
“Tomorrow afternoon at three. I get there on Saturday—a week early. It’s sixty-seven hours.” Laurie handed Stephanie a napkin and a paper plate. “Thanks for bringing lunch up here, by the way. Did you get chopsticks?”
“Right here.” Steph passed a pair of disposable chopsticks, still in their paper wrapper. “You need to thank my sweet hubby, who’s watching the baby while we eat lunch.”
“He is awfully sweet.” Laurie felt a pang of envy. “You’re so lucky.”
“I know. Some days I have to pinch myself to be sure it’s not a dream.” Steph served herself some crab Rangoon. “All that time sitting on a train—it sounds terrible.”
“I’ll have a seat by the window that turns into a bed at night. It won’t be so bad.”
“If you say so.” Steph shook her head. “Wouldn’t it be worth it to fly and save all that time, even if you had to take a sedative? You said you flew somewhere once. You took Valium, right?”
“So I’ve been told. I was practically catatonic, so I don’t remember.” Laurie dished out a small portion from each container onto her paper plate. “They almost wouldn’t let me on the plane, because they thought I was drunk. Like a mother would be traveling with her drunk sixteen-year-old daughter. But Mom convinced them I’d had an adverse reaction to Dramamine.”
Steph tilted her head. “What about Finn?”
“What about him?”
“You’re not traveling to LA together?”
“He’s flying up on the company jet the day before the fundraiser. Since he came back to work, he spends as little time as possible around me.”
Stephanie opened a packet of soy sauce and poured it over her rice. “Finn clams up every time Branson talks to him. And you never told me what happened between the two of you.”
“There’s nothing to tell.” Laurie took a drink to flush the knot out of her throat. “Our personalities clashed, but we figured out how to work together without killing each other. Tell Branson that Finn’s been a perfect gentleman, lately. He hasn’t made a single disparaging remark about women in the past week.”
“Why do I get the feeling you liked him better when he was rude?” Steph grabbed a piece of chicken with her chopsticks, almost dropping it as she ferried it to her mouth.
“I think you’re right about that. He’s been so polite I can hardly stand him. It’s like he’s devoid of personality. Honestly, I don’t know what I ever saw in him.”
“He’s pretty good-looking,” Steph remarked. “Not as handsome as Bran, of course.”
“It really doesn’t matter what I think of him, because he has no interest in me. I think he’s saving himself for someone who’s on the same social plane.”
“Bran said he’s only ever dated one girl, his junior and senior years of college. It lasted over a year. He bought a ring. She turned him down. Finn was almost suicidal for a while.”
Laurie’s heart clenched. Could she have misjudged him? “He told me he hadn’t dated anyone in ten years, but I assumed he meant he hadn’t dated anyone seriously.”
Steph chewed her bite and swallowed. “As far as Branson knows, Finn hasn’t gone out on a single date since then. It’s like he lost hope. I wonder what she said to him.”
“In that case, I’ll try not to take it so personally.” Laurie found herself pushing the food around on her plate, rather than eating it.
“You’ll try not to take what so personally? What exactly happened?”
“Let’s just say I’m not going to let myself pine over someone when there’s no chance we’ll ever have a relationship. I learned that lesson watching my mother.”
“Okay.” From the look on her face, Stephanie was dying to ask for more details, but like the true friend she was, she didn’t push. “Speaking of your mom, how are the wedding plans coming?”
“Ughh. Don’t mention it. She’s making arrangements for me to be her maid of honor, even though I told her I wouldn’t be in it unless it was a private affair.”
Steph stopped with a piece of chicken balanced on her chopsticks in mid-air. “What’s going to happen if you’re not there?”
“It’ll be horribly embarrassing, I guess. I think she’s counting on me caving in. She says the reporters will be a lot more interested in the daughter who makes a scene because she doesn’t show up at her mother’s wedding than the girl who happens to be the maid of honor.” Laurie shoved a bite of fried rice into her mouth.
“She’s probably right,” Steph said. “Your mom’s always been so good at manipulation.”