“You’re awfully quiet, Tanner,” Jen notices. “I’ve been doing all the talking.”
“You like talking,” I remind her, the glass at my lips.
My sister gives me the look she’s given me my whole life. “Har har. You’re always reserved but never like this. I’m talking to a statue.”
“A handsome statue,” I wink, trying to change the subject. “Looks like Ryder and his friend are having fun. Think he forgives me for missing the graduation?”
“He reveres you and you know it. His uncle could forget a dozen birthdays and he’d find an excuse to forgive you.”
“Not if they were yours. He’d never forgive me then.”
The Golden Gate Bridge looms majestically ahead and Jen turns her head to take it in. “My son is very protective of me. Never forget my birthday.” After a moment she asks in a more private voice. “Did you lose money?”
“I didn’t lose money, God, do I look that terrible?”
“Something’s wrong, I can tell. And business is all you care about, so I figured something must have gone terribly wrong. You have shadows under your eyes, and even out here you look pale, Tanner. Confide in me for once!”
We inherited the same stubborn gene. Rubbing my chin I consider telling her the subject is closed but with one flicked glance I can see she won’t drop it this time.
“Give me more wine,” I grumble, holding my arm out. She reaches into the cooler and hands me the bottle.
Leaning in she watches me pouring and her eyes, dark like my own, begin to sparkle with curiosity. “This is going to be about a woman, isn’t it?”
Filling my glass above the acceptable line set by polite society, I cock an eyebrow. “I think it’s shit. But maybe you’ll see something I don’t.”
“Pour me some, too, you lush.”
“Thank God someone else is driving this thing,” I mutter.
Jen chuckles, “Cheers to that,” dark, loose hairs flying back in the wind, unable to be contained by her low ponytail. “Who is it, and why the frown?”
I sigh and spread my legs, getting comfortable. “She’s too young for me.”
“How old?”
“She looks early twenties but Dan tells me from her bio that she must be nearer to thirty, if not that.”
Jen cocks her head. “That’s not too young. It’s not like she’s a child.”
“To me, she is. You know I date older women.” I take a sip.
“Tanner, you date older women because you have mommy issues.”
My wine spits everywhere. “You’re going to tell a man like me that I have mommy issues,” I repeat with distaste, wiping my chin.
Knowingly my sister nods. “You do. Big time. Mom paid more attention to me than you since you were Daddy’s little businessman, going places he never could. But while he was egging you on in your studies of finance, mergers and acquisitions, you secretly wished that Mom would notice, too. As we both know, numbers confused her—hell, most things confused Mom—so she focused on teaching me all the girly things. Lot of good it did me. And that’s why you seek out older women for that love.”
“What a bunch of psychobabble crap!”
“Is it?”
We stare at each other.
“So how do you explain my feelings for Emma then? Because she’s nothing like Mom was. The girl’s brain is sharper than yours!”
Jen’s eyebrows go up. “‘I’m going to ignore that insult and focus on the miracle I just heard. Feelings for her? This is new. You actually care about this one? For a second I thought you were going to tell me you got her pregnant and she wants to keep it.”
Chuckling I lean back and drink my wine, thinking about it. “Yes, I suppose I could have said that instead and it would have been far less surprising. But guess what, I haven’t slept with her yet.”
Jen clasps her throat, eyebrows high. “Excuse me? Who are you and what have you done with my brother?”
“I didn’t want to hurt her.”
“Why would you if you care about her?”
“Exactly.”
“No,” Jen sighs, “That’s not what I meant. If you care about this girl then she’s not like the others who you leave without emotions or looking back. You would actually be with her, get to know her, maybe even…”
“Don’t say it.”
“…Settle down,” Jen smiles, ignoring me. “Aren’t you lonely Tanner?”
Glancing to Ryder and Jimmy as they bust up laughing over something we’re too far away to hear, I mutter, “Not at all. I like my own company.”
“All you care about is your company.”
“You know I meant personally, not my business.”
“And I was taking the opportunity to show you they are one and the same.” Sighing she takes a sip. “I know that you’re not like me. I like having people around. When Ryder goes to college I’m going to lose my mind looking for something to occupy my time with. But you’d be happy on an island as long as you had internet and a phone, your big fancy deals as your companion.”
Staring at the shimmering dark blue water I murmur, “That used to be true, and yet…here I am unable to stop thinking about Emma Cocker.”
“Cocker?” Jen’s eyes widen, interest piqued. “Like in Gabriel Cocker?”
“She’s his cousin.”
“Is she as gorgeous as he is? God, that boy is stunning. Did you see those eyes? Two colors! And that voice could melt a woman’s dress right off her body even if it were made of wool.”
I cock a sarcastic eyebrow at my sister. “Would you like me to introduce you?”
She rolls her eyes. “It wouldn’t matter. There’ve been pictures of him and this yoga instructor in Paris. Social media is going nuts about it. Everyone’s depressed.” Locking eyes with me she mutters, “I might be in my forties but I can still get excited about a rockstar! Don’t look at me like that! I hope I still feel this way when I’m in my eighties! Hell, nineties!”
“Mom!”
