Just One Scandal (The Kingston Family #2) -Carly Phillips Page 0,17

of setup by her brother.”

“You’re paranoid,” Beck muttered. “Chill out, be nice to her and you’re forgiven.” He glanced at Tripp. “Spill it.”

Tripp leaned forward in his seat on the couch. “I called this morning and pushed them for answers because Drew was right. Dad does look like he lost weight, and he didn’t eat much of his favorite meal.”

Tripp was the doctor in the family. If he was worried, then Beck’s concern was warranted. “So what did they say?” he asked, turning his hands into fists and gripping hard.

“Dad has a colonoscopy next week. They didn’t want to say anything and worry us. The good news is he just started feeling crappy. He hasn’t put anything off, so if they find something, it’s probably early stages.” He glanced at Drew, who nodded before pinning Beck with a steady stare. “You heard me, right?”

“Yeah. I heard you.” Beck had a tendency to jump to worst-case scenarios when it came to health scares.

The summer before Whitney passed away, they’d spent a lot of time together making her never-ending lists. Tripp hadn’t been able to handle it and hadn’t spent the same kind of time with her that Beck had, while Drew had been volunteering at the public defender’s office to boost his academic resume for his ultimate goal of law school. Leaving in the fall, less than a month after Whitney had died, hadn’t been easy.

“Snap out of it,” Tripp said. “We don’t know anything, so don’t go spiraling into all the horrible possibilities. Go with what we know, which is he’s having a test next week. That’s all.”

Beck braced his hands on his thighs and rose to his feet. “You’re right. And I’m fine.” No need to tell them he was worried sick. They probably already knew and felt the same way.

They hung out and talked for another half an hour before saying their goodbyes. Waiting until he knew they were gone and on their way, Beck called his parents to gauge for himself what was going on and how his dad was doing.

* * *

Chloe hadn’t meant to eavesdrop on Beck and his brothers earlier. Unable to take feeling confined to a bedroom, she’d headed back out to the main part of the loft when she’d heard their voices.

She hadn’t caught much. Just their concern about Beck letting Chloe stay here. Because she was a Kingston. Once again, she was curious about Linc and Beck’s history and wondered if, at some point, she’d be able to ask one of them about it. She didn’t take his brother’s concerns personally.

If she let a stranger move in with her, her siblings would hit the roof, and if one of them brought an unknown woman into their place to live, she’d freak out, too. She was just glad Beck had family he was close with, like she did. Who knew? Maybe at some point she’d get to know Tripp and Drew and even win them over. She had a ways to go considering her behavior last night, she thought, cringing at the reminder.

She pulled off her boots, settled on the bed, and thought back to their conversation earlier about taking chances. Leaning over, she picked up the handbag she’d placed on the floor beside the bed and pulled out a piece of paper she’d been walking around with for weeks. The deadline to enter a prestigious design contest was coming up soon, one she’d been debating on whether or not to compete in.

The winner of the Online Interior Design Professional’s Contest would receive a contract with Elevate Designs, an innovative online site that combined hiring an online designer with a tactile experience for the homeowner, sending them a curated box of paint chips, spec cards, and color and fabric samples. They catered to higher-end clientele who lacked the time to meet in person or go to showrooms to look at items but who wanted to spend on luxury.

Elevate was nothing like a mass site that hired any designer with a portfolio. Located in LA, they were looking to have a New York City office, and the winner would be the person in charge. The entire thing was a risk, and Chloe was not known to be a risk-taker. But she’d still been preparing as if she intended to jump in.

In her free time, she’d learned various software applications that would let her lay out rooms and designs and had spent heaven only knew how many hours working on concepts, because she couldn’t