Страница 2 из 34
As most everyone in his house tonight could attest, Co
So sue him, he enjoyed the rough and tumble victories. He fought hard for his wins, and he did it well.
But when it came to helping his little brother cope with being a widower at the age of thirty, Co
Aside from paying off a decade’s worth of hospital and care facility bills from his sister-in-law’s battle with early-onset Huntington’s, and creating a scholarship in Beth’s name for youth plagued with the debilitating disease, Co
For nearly a year.
Logically understanding that Brian had to tackle this on his own didn’t make it any less of a bitch for Co
Luckily, it was summer in Arizona, he had a pool, and Brian had a pre-teen daughter. Simple as that. After a month of regular family cookouts, it was no longer uncommon for Brian to show up at the house una
It was nice having his brother back.
For the better part of a decade, Brian’s singular mission had been to give his wife a lifetime’s worth of happiness every day, while hiding his own anguish over her heartwrenching physical and psychological decline. Co
That’s when Co
In fact, she’d specifically asked to be third in the caretaker line-up—meaning in dire asteroids-falling-from-the-sky cases only—following Brian’s friend from college, a nice girl Co
Between the two of them, they were never in the same place at the same time, but somehow managed to take the place of one full-time secondary caretaker whose sole mission was to shield Skylar from what was happening to her mom.
There had been no shielding Brian, however.
Truth be told, while Co
Awful as that sounds.
He’d adored his sister-in-law, really. But the time was long past for Brian to move on with his life.
Tonight, it looked like he was finally starting to.
“I’m going over to say hi to my brother. Do you want to come along or are you good here?” Co
“Brian’s here tonight? How wonderful,” replied Victoria with her token radiant smile, the most effective tool in her arsenal to detract attention from her constantly wandering eyes. “Give him my best will you? I’m going to mingle. The Adonis in the gray pinstripe is looking mighty lonely there in the corner.”
Co
He frowned in remembrance of that catastrophe. “Actually, you know what? Check where they work before you even start speaking to them at all.”
“No promises,” she sang out as she sashayed off.
He sighed. Despite the very real threat her refusal to behave was sure to present, Co
Okay, so she was more of a trophy-date-on-demand with a well-advertised rolling re-enrollment policy on lapsed benefits.
That aside, they actually had a very nice thing going. She’d accompany him to black tie functions to save him from vapid socialites on the prowl, and he’d reciprocate if ever she needed.
Fortunately, her revolving dating door spun faster than his did so he rarely had to carry out his end. Not that she wasn’t a nice enough woman. But her glib old money view on the world was a bit much to take at times.
Hearing the unmistakable peal of Victoria’s flirt-giggle carry across the room, Co
The only reason Co
“Oh, what a surprise, Victoria didn’t stay to say hi.”
The long lost sound of Brian busting his chops had Co
“Nope, I sure as hell don’t. And I prefer to keep it that way.”
Co
Looking over at the pretty brunette standing beside Brian, Co
Wholesome even.
“I’m Co
“Hi, Co
Again? Crap, did he know her?
He carefully sca
There was no way in hell he knew her.
She was the very definition of a buxom beach babe brunette, if such a category existed, with an appealing blend of i
Pity.
“I’m so sorry, have we met before?”
Brian glared at him, looking more than a little disappointed. “Dude, it’s Abby. Abby Bartlett?”
This was Brian’s friend from college? Wow, she sure grew up. In a nice girl with a hot halo sort of way.
“Abby, of course. My apologies. We met in the hospital right after Skylar’s birth.”
Those deep brown eyes of hers were outright laughing at him now. “And maybe a couple more times since then.”
Well that just ratcheted his chagrin up to full-blown guilt.
Her quick hey-don’t-sweat-it smile didn’t help one bit…the playful brow tilt that followed soon after, however, did. “Relax, Co