The High Season(71)
“You know what I’ve noticed about you?” Doe asked, leaning against the dresser. “You blame Adeline for everything.”
“Everything is her fault. She gives me a job with no responsibility.”
“Please note she gave you a job. Let me guess, there might be opportunities for advancement in the Peter Clay Foundation for you.”
“No thanks. I quit this week. I had enough.”
“It can’t be that hard to get another job.”
“Excuse me, who died and appointed you my career counselor?” Lucas scowled. “I’m his son, and she gave me a crap salary.”
“You seem to be doing fine.”
“Well, I’m not. It’s ridiculous that I’m short of cash all the time.”
“So be an actor. I mean, actually commit to it. You basically just post selfies on Instagram.”
“I’m developing contacts, okay? You should see my followers.” Malice glinted in his eyes. “What about you? You girls all have pretend jobs. Then you get engaged and show the ring at the office, and within the first year you quit because you’re trying to get pregnant and it’s just too stressful. Please.”
She laughed, not because he was wrong—he had just described some of Lark’s friends—but because she wanted an end to the hostilities. He was on edge today. There was an undercurrent between them that had never been there before.
“Though I can’t see you doing that,” he said. “You’re not like the girls I know. You live here year-round, which is weird. What’s your story?”
“You’re not interested in anyone’s story.”
“Maybe if you were nicer to me you could be part of mine.”
“Even though I’m a year-rounder?” She kept her voice light. She must have been crazy to come here. She was no longer the least bit attracted to him. She missed Lark.
“Adeline’s got one, why shouldn’t I?”
Doe didn’t ask who. She knew Lucas would tell her.
“Your boss’s husband,” he said.
“Catha?”
“No, the other one. With the hunky carpenter.”
“Mike Dutton?”
“That’s the one. Bingo. Lots of blue-collar banging going on in this house.”
“Ruthie’s not my boss anymore, she quit.”
Lucas raised up a bit, interested. “She did?”
“She was kind of forced out.”
“Yeah, well, downsizing sucks, I hear.”
“It’s not downsizing. That’s just a word to you, isn’t it. Jesus.”
“It happens to be a word. You know Ruthie pretty well?”
“She was my boss, so, kind of but, you know, not friends.”
“Losing her job was pretty bad, huh.”
“Yes, Lucas, when people lose their jobs it’s bad.”
He flipped over and leaned his head on his hand to scrutinize her. “What are you, a Marxist?”
“I’m a human with feelings,” Doe said. She stared back at him, stretched out like a lion on the veldt of a bedspread, tawny and lazy, blinking at her in his beauty, but able to take her head off. “What about Jem?”
“The hot daughter?”
She gripped the phone. “You know, you might want to consider what happens when you fuck a fifteen-year-old.”
“I’m just having fun. I like blondes with legs. Don’t worry, I like tiny little brunette girls, too. Girls I can put in my pocket.”
He patted the bed, but she ignored him. “Maybe you should rethink the flirting.”
“You’re cute when you’re jealous. Okay, okay, I’ll have the fat girl check out my corn from now on.”
“Annie isn’t fat.”
“All right, the girl with such a pretty face can take my money.”
“I’m just skeeved out at a twenty-three-year-old hitting on a kid.”
“Relax. I didn’t fuck her. She had a pool party and I went. What’s it to you?” He raised himself up and then flipped off the bed. A pillow fell on the floor and he whipped it sideways to toss it back on the bed with a hard stroke. It knocked over a water glass. Lucas ignored it and walked toward the door. “You know what’s nice about high school girls? They don’t give you any shit. Come on, let’s find the champagne. This is supposed to be fun, remember?”
Doe saw a watch on the dresser, casually thrown facedown. The back was transparent and she saw the workings, the tiny, tiny wheels and gears whirring so perfectly. It was the most beautiful object she’d ever seen. Doe reached for it. Something about it was familiar, like she’d seen it before. Yet she was sure it hadn’t been on Lucas’s wrist.
She felt her phone buzz.
From: Annie Doyle
To: Doe Callender
Hey, your mother’s here? Shari? She’s looking 4 u She’s going to check at the museum is it open? I told her to wait here, the storm and all From: Doe Callender
To: Annie Doyle
DON’T LET HER GO TO MUSEUM TELL HER TO STAY I’LL BE RIGHT THERE
…
please
“Are you going to pay attention to me or your fucking phone?” Lucas asked, turning back to glare at her.