The Fixed Trilogy: Forever With You(29)

Her apology took me by surprise. “Why are you sorry? You have no reason to be sorry.”

“He’s my brother.” When she realized that didn’t exactly explain anything, she went on. “I feel like I should understand him better, and I don’t.”

“No one does.” Would anyone, ever? Sometimes I thought maybe I would, but really, could I?

“Are you ladies ready to order?” The waiter’s question drew my eyes back to the menu I’d tossed aside. I still hadn’t decided on a meal, having been too preoccupied with chatting.

The waiter saw my hesitancy. “Or would you prefer to wait for your other guest?”

Mira glanced at me. She already knew what she wanted to order. “We’ll wait.”

“Very good.” The waiter left us to attend to his other tables.

I picked up my menu and scanned the lunch items. But my mind was still on the conversation at hand. I lowered the menu and leaned toward Mira. “Here’s the thing—I’m afraid the real reason he won’t tell me what he has planned is that he doesn’t have anything planned.”

“Wouldn’t he just admit that?”

“No.” There was no way Hudson would let me believe he didn’t have complete control over the situation. “He wants me to feel safe.”

Mira beamed. “Of course he does.” There was never any doubt that the girl had faith in her brother. “Laynie, he’ll come up with something. I know it. And whatever it is, he’ll do a good job. He’ll be committed and he’ll go to great lengths. This is probably a horrible comparison, but look how devoted he was to keeping Celia’s secret. All to protect her.”


“He wasn’t protecting Celia.” Jack sat down in the chair between me and Mira. “Sorry, I’m late. Traffic. I didn’t realize you were joining us, Laynie. What a nice surprise!”

Mira spoke before I could give my own greeting. “Are you suggesting Hudson was protecting you? Because that makes me sick.” She roughly handed him her menu.

“Oh, I know what I want,” he said, setting the menu to the side without acknowledging Mira’s hostility. “He was protecting your mother. He didn’t want her to get hurt from my infidelity.”

Mira looked to me. “Still a valid comparison—Hudson will do far more for you than he’d do for Mom.” Again, before I had a chance to speak, she turned back to her father. “And you say that as if it were unreasonable that she would be hurt.”

“It’s unreasonable that he cares.” Jack circled his shoulders, probably trying to release the building tension.

Mira’s jaw tightened—the same way her brother’s tightened when he was upset. “Thank god he didn’t inherit heartlessness from you.”

“No, he inherited that from Sophia.”

Her eyes widened. Leaning forward, she whispered harshly, “Would you just stop?”

My eyes danced from one to the other as they volleyed their attacks. So much for me being a buffer at the meal. Hudson was right—Mira definitely didn’t need one.

Jack set his palms on the table and turned to face his daughter. “Mirabelle, I’m not heartless. You think it’s cruel that I cheated on your mother. It was. It is. I’m not perfect.”

Mira’s eyes filled and I suddenly recognized her anger as pain.

“But you have to understand, sweetie, that Sophia is also culpable. She’s not an easy woman to love.”

Mira dabbed at a stray tear that had spilled over. “And do you love her, Daddy?”

Jack reached over to take Mira’s hand in his. “Yes. I do. Of course, I do.”

“Do you tell her?”

“Every day.”

Mira smiled. But it was brief. She pulled her hand away from his. “Actions speak louder than words, you know.”

I’d been silent, letting the father and daughter say the things they needed to say, while I sat feeling like a voyeur. But I couldn’t let her last comment go by without reacting. “Sometimes.”

Jack and Mira looked at me as if they’d just remembered I was there.

Or maybe they wanted clarification. I wasn’t about to turn the meal into a Hudson-hasn’t-said-he-loves-me conversation, so I simply said, “Sometimes it would be nice to have both.”

The waiter’s return saved me from saying more. Since everyone else knew what they wanted, I went last, settling on a Chef Salad.

“And can I get a Manhattan?” Jack asked before the waiter left.

“For lunch, Dad? Seriously?”

“Hey, I’m not the one with the drinking problem.”

I braced myself for Mira’s reaction. Generally, no one spoke about Sophia’s alcoholism. I wasn’t even sure if Mira acknowledged it or if she was in denial.

Her dark eyes didn’t even flinch. “But you certainly facilitate it.” Apparently, she wasn’t in denial. “Can’t you just have tea? Or water?”

“Oh for the love of Pete. Your mother isn’t even here.” Jack’s eye twitched—another of Hudson’s traits when he was upset. “Is it too tempting for you, my dear? Because it doesn’t look like you’ve touched your water. I’m sure you’d rather have something stronger.”