Swim Deep - Page 9

And the message remained a mystery.

Of course, I didn’t tell my sister that stuff about how Evan had said he worried about ruining me, or how he’d dropped his hand during such an intimate moment. Why didn’t I tell her?

I told myself it was because everything had changed since then. Completely altered.

I was gratified to see that Jessica seemed mollified by my little story. Maybe even impressed?

As we got closer to Evan’s home in Tiburon, my parents must have sensed the car’s slowing motion as we left the highway. They snuffled, yawned, and roused. I heard the click of my mother’s compact and pictured her putting on her lipstick and smoothing her bobbed blonde hair. Jessica didn’t ask any more impertinent questions. We all grew silent as we stared at the palatial homes set into the hillside.

Finally, the GPS directed me to turn down Evan’s drive.

Evan walked out of the sprawling Italian villa. He wore jeans—something I’d rarely seen him in—and a short-sleeved sports shirt that showed off his athletic build and tan. His saunter toward us was casual and confident. Undeniably sexy. I sensed his stare on me through the window, and felt that familiar charge.

I glanced over at my sister, and saw that she watched me, as well. There was this tinge of wonder on her open, frank face, like I wasn’t precisely who she’d thought I was.

It made me feel hollow, to see someone who filled up my very first memories, look at me that way.

Evan was the perfect host and gentleman when it came to my family. I worried when my mom and dad launched into embarrassing stories about my childhood, or retold snippets about their college days at nearby Berkley that Jessica and I had heard hundreds of times. But my concern was short-lived. Evan seemed relaxed and content listening to boring family history and nostalgia. His indulgent smiles at me while those stories were being replayed warmed me to the core.

On Friday evening before dinner, Evan offered everyone a tour of the gardens, where we would be married tomorrow. My parents, Jessica, and Ellen trailed after him onto the terrace, glasses of chardonnay reflecting like liquid golden globes in everyone’s hands. I started after them, but Tommy Higoshi snagged my wrist, holding me back.

Tommy was the owner of Yume, but gallery ownership was just a hobby for him. Tommy is one of these guys with the Midas touch who created some kind of blood testing technology that made him a fortune. He’d been only twenty-six years old when he’d become a multimillionaire. Like lots of brilliant people, Tommy was an expert on a mind-blowing number of things, art being one of them. Tommy had introduced himself to me at a Curator’s Circle cocktail party at the museum where I work, and he eventually offered me a job at Yume. He’d become like a San Francisco big brother or uncle figure for me.

Since I’d started seeing Evan, I’d learned that Tommy was a client of Evan’s private fund. Both men shared a passion for yachting. They’d crewed together competitively off and on over the years. At first, I thought that Tommy and Evan were merely acquaintances. Over the past few months, however, I came to understand how close they really were.

“How are you feeling?” Tommy asked in a low voice.

“Fine,” I replied breezily. My gaze narrowed on Tommy’s face. I spied a shadow beneath the luminous Northern California evening and his bright smile.

“What’s up, Tommy?”

“I just wanted to check in with you before the big day tomorrow. You’re still feeling good? Still Cinderella swept off her feet?”

“Please. Don’t bring up Cinderella. I’m getting enough of the fairy tale crap from Jessica. That isn’t worry I see on your face, is it, Tommy?” I asked, smiling but cautious. “Not from the man who praised Evan to the high heavens ever since I first mentioned matching up with him on the dating site?”

“No. It’s not Evan. You know I think Evan’s a terrific guy. It’s not you, either. I’m just doing my due diligence, asking about the state of things before the wedding.”

“I suppose you are kind of like the best man and the maid of honor combined. You’re certainly the person that’s most responsible for bringing Evan and me together. If it hadn’t been for you, I wouldn’t have ever agreed to meet him in person after we matched up online.”

“It wasn’t that long ago that you were convinced Evan Halifax was a dog who went after girls fourteen years younger than him as a matter of course.”

“I’ve gotten past all that. I hardly ever think about our age difference anymore.”

It was a lie, but only a partial one. Everything was relative. Compared to how I used to think about Evan’s and my difference in not only years but also experience, I’d advanced by light-years in the insecurity department.

“I forget the age difference most of the time, too,” Tommy mused. “I forget how young you are. You have an old soul, Anna.” Something about the way he watched me—like his words meant something entirely different than the context of our conversation—worried me.

“There is something wrong,” I said, taking a step toward him. “What is it?”

Tommy shook his head and laughed before taking a swallow of his wine. He noticed my determined expression and shrugged.

“I’ve never been in this situation before—been both the best man and maid of honor, as you put it. It’s a little scary.” “What do you mean?”

“If something goes wrong between you two—”

“It’ll be Evan’s and my responsibility, just like it’s the responsibility of every couple when they take a vow of marriage and something goes wrong. It would have nothing to do with you. You know that.”

“Yeah, of course,” Tommy said, but I still sensed his unease. “Okay, there is something I wa

Tags: Beth Kery Romance
Source: readsnovelonline.net
readsnovelonline.net Copyright 2016 - 2024