“I’m sorry. I assumed you and Dad would take Joel’s side. I know he talked to Dad about it. Dad didn’t think I should have made that report.”
“I didn’t think it would do what you hoped it would, either. No one was willing to listen at the time. But I would have backed you. I don’t know what Dad would have done. He’s pretty old school.”
“I didn’t want to know.” She still didn’t. “But me moving here wasn’t punishment. It was the only job I could find.”
“Then why haven’t you come home to visit?”
She hated the feeling in the pit of her stomach that she’d done something wrong. She hadn’t. She’d done what she needed to do. “Because I’ve been busy.”
His eyes rolled. “All right. Well, I hope your busy schedule opens up in time for my wedding, and I hope you can be patient with our mom. You’re not serious about this guy. You can’t be angry with her for something that’s true.”
“Why would you think I’m not serious about him?”
“Because you’re already thinking of your next job,” he pointed out. “Because you’ll eventually find one in a big department where you can move up, even if you don’t come back to NYPD. Because he’s got a record and you wouldn’t ever get serious about a criminal.”
Her heart threatened to stop. “You ran a trace on him?”
“Of course. Don’t worry. I told Dad he was clean but only because I know you’re not serious about him. Is he for show? I never actually bought that you were seeing the sheriff, either. You don’t date people you work with. Definitely not your boss. You wouldn’t have dated Joel if you’d been in the same precinct.”
She wasn’t about to tell her brother that he was right on all counts. Maybe he was a better detective than she thought he was. “I don’t have to justify myself to you or anyone else. And I would appreciate it if you kept Zep’s record to yourself. You had no right to look into his past. It was a long time ago and he was a kid. Whether you think I’m serious about him or not, he’s . . . he’s my friend and I don’t want Dad giving him trouble.”
“Or maybe I’m wrong about you not being serious about him. You should think about that. If you want to get anywhere in our world, you can’t do it with him. He’ll drag you down.” He finished off his drink. “I’ll go and see if I can get Mom to talk about something other than your maturing reproductive system during dinner. You think about what I said. I know you don’t think you’re punishing us, but that’s what it feels like. And I hope like hell you aren’t punishing yourself.”
Her brother walked away, and she was left with a sinking feeling in her gut.chapter eightZep wondered what the hell had happened with her parents. He’d thought it had gone fairly smoothly, but now he realized she’d been silent most of the night. “Your mom seemed to be in a good mood.”
“She’s good at putting on a show.” Roxie sat in the passenger seat with Daisy in her lap. The dog had promptly fallen asleep the minute the truck had started down the paved drive that led to the highway.
Roxie wasn’t good at putting on a show. She wasn’t good at hiding her emotions at all. He’d always thought that she had a spectacular poker face, but spending all this time with her had taught him that when she was really emotional, she shut down.
She’d shut down on everything tonight and he needed to know why.
Direct questioning wouldn’t help. She would reply with one-word answers, and they might lose all the intimacy he’d fought so hard to win.
Luckily he knew exactly what to do. When he’d realized that she’d barely eaten all night, he’d known what had to be done.
“Hey, you missed the turn.” She didn’t sound like she cared all that much.
“We’re not going home.” He liked saying the word home and associating it with her.
She finally turned toward him. “Zep, I’m tired.”
“You barely ate.”
“I wasn’t hungry. And honestly, I wasn’t in the mood for steak.”
“How about some gumbo?”
A brow rose over her eyes. “You’re going to make gumbo at this time of night? I thought that was one of those things that takes hours to make.”
A good gumbo could take all day, but he wasn’t going to be cooking. “I texted my brother two hours ago. He left a pot on the stove for us. Guidry’s is closed, but I have a key. I wasn’t much in the mood for steak, either.”
He turned down the road that led to the marina. There was a glorious full moon hanging over the bay.
“You’re hungry?” She asked the question with a hint of anticipation. Like she could be hungry if he was.