house,” he said, leaning against the railing but watching her. He’d seen that view a million times but this one was better.
“And you would have been crazy not to. This is just unbelievable.” Tess looked over at him, glancing back toward the interior of the house and then waving at the view. “This is more ‘Adam’ than the inside. Interior decorator?”
“Yeah,” he answered, guessing she had the same opinion as Justin about the inside of his house. “She really liked gray.”
“Obviously.”
The doorbell chime brought them both up short, his smile vanishing as fast as the sun was slipping behind the mountains.
“I got this,” Tess murmured and he didn’t even try to stop her as she headed back through his house and quickly returned into view with two strangers who should have been family all along.
Roan was first, his swagger already recognizable from the videos of him on YouTube. Adam’s little brother was an up-and-coming name in the art circles and he was painting and sleeping his way through the male and female populations of the rich and glamorous. Adam had expected his confidence, cocky smile and open curiosity but what he wasn’t prepared for was the doubt in his gaze and that immediately made Adam relax just a little.
He wasn’t the only one feeling ill at ease about this meeting.
Sarina was a tougher character and everything about her posture kept everyone at arm’s length. Newly separated from the army, she stood ramrod straight, her gaze remote and her expression aloof. Adam could imagine how intimidating she’d been as a military cop and how she’d been very good at her job. Why she’d left a successful career in the military was a question he had no idea how to answer. His more immediate concern was that nothing about her said she wanted to be here and that pierced him to the core.
“Thanks for coming to dinner.” Adam gestured awkwardly around the space, feeling as clunky as his first day in every foster home and every new school. He looked toward Tess for help and she nodded, understanding everything in the briefest of glances, taking over the situation.
“It’s so nice. Why don’t you all sit out here? Tell me what you’d like and I’ll bring out a round of drinks and Adam can throw the steaks on the grill.”
Drink orders relayed to Tess, they all watched her leave, the only person they had in common at this point, and the silence that erupted between them was as heavy as the fog that often coated the preserve in the mornings. In unison, Sarina and Roan slid out their chairs and took a seat and Adam busied himself pulling the steaks out of the outdoor fridge and firing up the grill.
“I didn’t realize that you and Ms. Lynch were together,” Roan said, smooth as silk but edged with a little bit of suspicion.
“No, we’re not together. We’re...” Adam said, eyeing Tess’s progress on the drinks through the window. It was the truth but he didn’t want to hurt her, didn’t want her to think that he was dismissing her impact in his life. “We’re friends and I thought it might be good to have her here. She’s the most recent thing we all have in common.”
“She knows all of our secrets, you mean,” Sarina stated, her tone flat but also disapproving.
Adam and Roan exchanged a look; whether it was one of solidarity or sympathy he wasn’t sure but he was grateful for it.
Tess emerged from the house a couple of minutes later and handed out the drinks before settling into a chair at the table. She’d had the foresight to turn on the sound system so they had some background music to accompany the world’s most painful dinner party.
“Is this your first time in California?” she asked them in an obvious attempt to start conversation. Sarina didn’t answer, only shaking her head in the negative before bringing her glass to her lips and casting her gaze over the preserve. Adam wondered why she was here. Curiosity? Obligation? Of one thing he was certain: gone was the happy, smiling toddler who teased the edges of his fuzzy memories, and that made him unspeakably sad and angry.
Roan took a drink from his beer before replying, “I’ve been here a couple of times. Never to this area, though. I mostly end up in LA, visiting galleries.” He gestured toward the preserve. “But I love to hike and this is gorgeous. I’ll have to come back and check