“Give me a break. I just went five rounds about cohabitation with my stubborn boyfriend, my lease is up in three weeks, and if Spencer won’t let me move in with him, I’ll have to move back home. So I deserve this glass of wine.”
“Daisy will let you stay longer if you ask her.”
“I know that, but Spencer doesn’t, and I told him she’s already found a new tenant for the place.”
“Mason might tell Spencer the truth.” Daisy’s husband was Spencer’s younger brother.
“I told Daisy I would mail her ugly caterpillars back to her, one broken piece at a time, if she or Mason let it slip.” Lia laughed again. Daff was currently holding Daisy’s ornamental—and sentimental—caterpillar collection hostage. Daisy had nowhere else to store them but in a cabinet at her old house, and Daff took full advantage of Daisy’s fondness for her collection. But everybody—including Daisy—knew that Daff would never really destroy her baby sister’s prized possessions.
“Anyway, so Saturday? Shopping?”
“Sure, count me in.”
Suzy returned for their food orders, and both women gave the menu a cursory scan before ordering, steak and a baked potato for Daff and pasta for Lia.
“Hey, have you heard about Mason’s buddy Sam Brand?”
Lia froze and slanted her sister a wary look. Daff was taking another sip of wine and didn’t notice the look.
“What about him?”
“He’s coming to Riversend for his convalescence.”
Convalescence?
“Convalescence for?”
Daff choked on her wine and gaped at Lia. “You’re shitting me, right?” Lia suppressed a sigh at the overreaction. Her sister could so often be both dramatic and crude. “Have you been living under a rock the past week? It’s all over the news.”
“I’ve been busy.”
“With what? Reorganizing your underwear drawer? Needlepoint? Baking cakes?”
Wow. That was scathing even for Daff.
“I volunteer at the animal shelter, you know that. And at the youth center. And the retirement home. I’ve been helping Mrs. Salie with her Books Are Fun campaign.” Mrs. Salie was the librarian. “And I help out at the day care center when I can.”
“Yeah, yeah. You should start charging those people for your services,” Daff said with a dismissive wave.
“That’s not how volunteering works,” Lia corrected primly, blowing on her hot coffee to cool it down. “Now tell me why Sam Brand is convalescing.” She took a sip of her coffee. Still too hot. She blew on it again and took another mouthful.
“He was stabbed last week. Stabbed saving Laura Prentiss’s life, can you imagine? I mean, I don’t like the guy at all, but that’s pretty cool. And so romantic, apparently. Jesus, Lia!” This last as Lia’s coffee spewed from her lips and dribbled down her chin, fortunately not messing anywhere else. Daff chucked a napkin at her, and Lia dabbed at her face. Gosh, how embarrassing.
But the news that Sam Brand had been horrifically injured while saving a pop star was disturbing and unexpected.
“How badly was he hurt?”
“Daisy says he was in the ICU for three days—punctured lung, shattered bones in his right arm, and one of the stab wounds nearly nicked his femoral artery. The footage is all over YouTube. I watched it last night. Brand completely wrecked the guy, despite being stabbed in the process.”
“Why did you say it’s romantic? Isn’t it his job?” Lia felt nauseous, and when Suzy chose that moment to bring their food, her stomach very nearly revolted at the sight of it. She doubted she’d be able to eat. The thought of a vital, healthy man like Sam Brand nearly dying so needlessly was repulsive.
“Sam Brand rarely does the bodyguarding thing anymore. He tends to work behind the scenes these days, but he made an exception for Laura Prentiss, and there have been rumors that they’re an item. Neither of them has denied it, and now it’s come out that when he heard she was being stalked, he insisted on being there to protect her. And he was.” Daff, not the romantic type at all, sighed wistfully, and Lia stared at her. Falling in love had really done a number on her cynical sister.
“Anyway, Brand’s asked to stay at Mason’s cabin during his recovery, and Mason has obviously agreed to that. So he’ll probably be here in the next month or so.” Lia barely registered Daff’s words, her mind on everything that she’d just learned.
Laura Prentiss. Well, she was certainly the kind of woman with whom Lia would have pictured Sam Brand: very beautiful, perfect body, perfect hair, perfect everything. She wore daring little outfits and was notorious for her controversial performances and her wild-child persona. Lia knew that Sam Brand hadn’t exactly been spoiled for choice when he visited Riversend for the wedding. Lia had been one of the few young, single women around, but if he’d met her anywhere else, he would never have looked twice at her. She wasn’t sexy, didn’t dress anywhere near as provocatively as the Laura Prentisses of the world, and she didn’t have the same sexual reputation as the other woman, either. Balance had been restored to the universe. Sam Brand had found his perfect match and Lia, who had only recently started dating again, would soon find hers.