we keep it around for when Charlie comes to visit, but truthfully, my sisters, their husbands, and Sam and I play it without Charlie more often than not.”
What followed was two hours of competitive and hilarious backstabbing, laughter and fabricated drama. Charity honestly could not remember the last time she had enjoyed herself more. Miles and Sam were so focused on taking each other out, that the women snuck in more than a few victories. Leading to a catastrophic “team up” between the guys in a bid to take out the “female threat”. That didn’t end well, with the uneasy armistice between them failing after just one round.
“Why the hell did you throw down a wild card on me?” Miles seethed, two rounds later. “You should have kept it for her. You had her dead to rights.”
“Are you still on about that? She’s the woman I love and want to have babies with someday, I couldn’t do that to her. She’s a delicate, fragile flower and…Lia, what the fuck?”
The last as Lia smugly and triumphantly threw down a draw four wild card, while stating, “Uno. Blue, please.”
He drew his four penalty cards, grumbling bad temperedly while he did so, and Lia happily put down her winning card on her next turn.
She stretched and yawned immediately afterward, “That’s it for me, I like to end things on a victorious note.”
“Your fragile flower is more than a little bloodthirsty, Brand,” Miles pointed out grimly, and Lia laughed. A sweet fairy-like sound that was completely at odds with the slightly evil grin she leveled on them.
“Oh, while you honed your questionable skills playing with your younger siblings, Miles, and Sam was grunting and growling away with his SAS buddies, I cut my teeth playing this game with the most ruthless and villainous of all competitors…sisters. Trust me, you do not want to play this game with them. Now would anybody like some coffee or tea?”
Miles glanced at Charity with an enquiring tilt to his head, and she lifted her shoulders slightly, leaving the decision up to him.
“It’s getting late,” he said. “I think it’s time we head home.”
Charity pushed to her feet when he did, and Lia and Sam walked them to the door. While the men continued their banter, Charity turned to Lia and gave her an impulsive hug.
“Thank you, I had a wonderful time.”
“I’m so happy you joined us tonight. Why don’t we have lunch on Friday, if you’re free? I’m at loose ends during the day because of the school vacation and would love the company.”
“That would be nice. Thank you.”
“No. Thank you. It gives me an excuse to get out of the house.”
Charity was sure that Lia had no end of friends and family who would happily have lunch with her and was under no illusion as to who was doing whom the favor. But it was kind of her to pretend.
They didn’t linger much longer after that and were soon in the SUV on their way home.
“Thank you,” Charity murmured, after a lengthy, comfortable silence. Miles shifted his attention from the road for a second to look at her.
“For?”
“That was the most fun I’ve had with both feet on the ground in I don’t know how long.”
“You know that that statement is going to need a shit ton more elaboration, right?” he deadpanned, and she laughed.
“Before my marriage, while I was a student, I was into just about anything that involved height, flight and/or freefalling. You named it, I tried it. It started with paragliding, then parasailing, kitesurfing, hang gliding, parachuting…I loved the rush of it. The freedom. There’s nothing quite like it. My parents—both of whom are very levelheaded and practical people—thought I was crazy, of course.” She could hear the affectionate exasperation in her voice as she recalled their hand-wringing concern. “They were so terrified that I would get myself killed. But I was always scrupulously careful. I tripled checked my equipment. I was a thrill seeker. Not suicidal. And no matter how much I told them that what I was doing was perfectly safe, they never quite believed me.
“They were so relieved when Blaine and I got serious. They had always liked him. And knew that he would keep me grounded, both literally and figuratively.” She laughed. But the sound was filled with bitterness. “Little did they know that marrying Blaine would be the most dangerous thing I’d ever do.”
She shook her head to drag herself out of the funk that had settled over her.