“Where?” Jeannie asked.
“To town. To your house. I don’t care as long as I get out of here,” Hannah said.
Kendall sighed. “Hannah, don’t. We aren’t finished.”
“Oh, yes we are. I’d rather be in boarding school than live with you. At least there people don’t pretend to care when they really don’t. I’m outta here.” And as if to prove her point, Hannah grabbed Jeannie’s hand and pulled her out of the kitchen. Seconds later the front door slammed behind her.
The sound coincided with the churning in Kendall’s stomach as her sister stormed out of her life.
Chapter Thirteen
Rick’s mouth tasted like cotton, his head pounded hard, and he still felt a hell of a lot better than he had watching Kendall withdraw from him last night.
“Rise and shine.” Charlotte’s too-cheery voice carried to him from across the house.
After getting him drunk and not making him talk, Roman had brought him back to his town house to sleep it off. Rick was still pissed at his brother, but as drinking buddies went, Roman had done his duty.
“Get up, sleepyhead.” Charlotte walked into the room and opened the shutters on the family-room windows.
The sunlight hit his eyes first and Rick groaned aloud. “Aww, God, Charlotte, have a heart.” He rolled over and covered his head with his hands.
She walked up beside him. From his prone, facedown position, all he saw were her bare toes. Unfortunately she sounded like she’d strapped tin cans to the soles of her feet.
“I have a heart. Look what I brought you.” Leaning down, she put a glass on the table in front of him.
“What’s that?” He squinted at the dark liquid through slitted eyes.
“Something edible. I was going to make you my father’s old remedy which included raw egg and milk.”
His stomach rolled but he managed not to gag.
“But I took pity on you and brought you flat Coke instead. I also brought you aspirin.” She held out her hand palm up to reveal two tablets that he gratefully grabbed. “Hey, did you drink the water I gave you last night?” she asked.
“I don’t remember.” Pushing himself off the couch, he somehow managed to rise despite his reverberating head. He swallowed the pills first and the Coke second, filling his empty, growling stomach.
Then forcing himself to focus, he met her amused gaze. She was a glowing vision for any man first thing in the morning. Add to that, she’d given him a hangover remedy without making him scavenge and fend for himself. He couldn’t appreciate any woman more.
Unless she was Kendall, but that was a problem for when he’d recovered a little more. “Did I ever tell you my brother’s a damn lucky man?”
“Tell me yourself and quit ogling.” Roman walked into the room without regard to tiptoeing or to Rick’s obvious hangover.
“Who says I can see well enough to ogle? Everything’s a blur,” Rick muttered.
“Which means you’re seeing two of her. Lucky you.” Roman’s voice took on a distinctly amused tone. Coming up beside Charlotte, he put a hand around her waist and squeezed her close against his side.
“Don’t laugh at me after all you’ve done.” As Rick spoke, he recalled the punch in the gut feeling when he’d heard his mother admit to faking her heart condition. He remembered the relief mixed with betrayal, the urge to hug her and throttle her at the same time, and the unbelievable sense of disbelief that his brother would go along with his mother’s scheme. “How the hell could you let me think Mom was sick?”
Roman pulled up a chair while Charlotte settled on the arm cushion beside him. “We owe you an explanation,” Roman said, then paused as if gathering his thoughts.
Rick waited. The desire to tap his foot in annoyance was strong but he figured his pounding head deserved some preferential treatment.
“This is complicated.” Roman shook his head in obvious exasperation. “At first I didn’t tell you because we were in Europe on our honeymoon.” He reached out for Charlotte’s hand and she placed her palm in his.
Rick had all but given up the dream of having that camaraderie, that sense of oneness with anyone, especially Kendall. So seeing his brother and his wife together now was bittersweet. Rick massaged his aching temples. “You could have called,” he said in an attempt to focus on his family problems and not his even more messed-up love life. He’d have many empty days and nights ahead to figure out where he’d gone wrong there.
“I could have. Hell, I probably should have. In Charlotte’s defense, she begged me to call and tell you.”
“So why didn’t you?”
“No excuse that’ll stand up in court,” Roman said wryly. “I was wrapped up in being happy. And I figured a few more weeks of keeping quiet wouldn’t hurt anyone. Hell, I even deluded myself into thinking maybe Mom would succeed and hook you up with someone as great as Charlotte. That you’d be as happy as I ended up being. Despite Mom’s meddling.”
Rick raised his eyebrows, ignoring the pain ripping through his skull. “You should be shot.”
Roman shrugged. “You’re probably right.”
“What happened after you got back to the States? What stopped you from spilling Mom’s secret then?”
Roman winced, then with a groan, leaned back in his seat but still held on to Charlotte’s hand. He probably needed her support since he was damn wrong and cornered. How he’d justify his actions, Rick hadn’t a clue.
“Well, you have to remember we were away for a good month,” Roman continued. “I didn’t want to give her much leeway but Charlotte and I were busy setting up the apartment in D.C. I was getting used to the new job. And you have to admit, at first you seemed fairly amused by her attempt to find the right woman for you.” He shrugged. “So I let things go. For longer than I should have.”
“Damn right.” Rick tipped his head to
