She gave a laugh, a nervous laugh. Ive married for worse reasons than money and politics, Anita.
And divorced, I take it.
She shrugged. Yeah, but the alimony was the kicker.
In that moment I knew I might like Trish eventually, but I would never understand her, nor she me. We were both women, but our girl culture was too different. She was a girl-girl, and I was just a woman. She married for money and politics and potential alimony. I couldnt think of anything that would get me down a church aisle, but love would have been higher on the list than anything the woman beside me had listed. Who the hell married already planning how much alimony shed get? That wasnt a marriage, that was a business transaction with rings exchanged.
How much trouble would we get into if I managed to talk Lisa Bromwell into dumping Keith Summerlands ass days before their wedding? It had possibilities, and not all of them were bad.
Chapter 28
I GOT INTRODUCED to the bride-to-be eventually. Thered been a point in my life when I wouldnt have wanted to meet strangers dressed in nothing but a robe, in a hotel room, with a man who I wasnt married to, who was also in a robe. Strangely, this was so mild in comparison to my life lately that I didnt even flinch.
She blinked pale blue eyes at me. What makeup shed started the night with had surrendered to tears and the damp rag that Jason had fetched for her. She blinked up at me, stray wisps of yellow hair clinging to her face where theyd been wetted down, other bits of her hair just all around her face. Without the makeup she looked about twelve, though I knew she had to be Jasons age. Twenty-two or twenty-three; she did not look it.
I said automatically, Nice to meet you, Lisa.
She blushed a nice pink color and looked down. I am so embarrassed.
Jason knelt in front of her, making sure his robe covered him. Its okay, Lisa, you didnt know I was back in town, and the reporters lied to you.
And I was drunk, she said, softly.
I thought, That, too, but out loud I said, Did the reporters lie, or could they really not tell the difference between you and this Summerland guy?
Lisa and Jason looked up at me together, and the mirror effect was startling. They really did look alike.
They do look that much alike, Lisa said.
Trish came up beside us, towering over all of us in her heels. Wait until you see Keith, youll freak at how much alike they look. I swear its like the Summerlands had triplets instead of twins.
Jason stood up. Yeah, everyone intermarried a little too much in Promise.
Promise? I made it a question.
It was the name that Summerland gave to his little religious community in the hills above Asheville. Promise to God was the full name, actually.
You mean like those Puritan names, Pass-through-the-valley-of-death Smith?
He smiled and nodded. Yeah, like that, but it got shortened to Promise.
The school is still called Promise School, Lisa said, as if she were trying to focus and making some headway.
You can still get free tuition if you prove your ancestors came in with Jedediah, Jason said.
I take it your moms side of the family came in with ol Jedediah, I said.
Mine, and Lisas, and others.
In my head, I thought, So does that make Keith and Lisa some sort of kissing cousins? But it wasnt any of my business; once you leave first cousins behind, most states dont care. I decided to concentrate on something that interested me more than ancestors and religious zealots who got eaten by vampires.
Lisa figured out that it was Jason, though, even drunk, I said. Okay, I was trying to be subtle, because what I wanted to ask was, Why did seeing him nude convince you he wasnt Keith? I just couldnt figure out a polite way to ask it.
Jason grinned at me, eyes not quite sparkling, but it was his grin.
I gave him a look that Id once thought would squash that grin, but now I did it out of habit; nothing I could do would ever take the spark out of that smile.
Lisa blushed again, and was very flustered. IKeith isntI She stood up, abruptly, swayed.
Jason and I both caught her arm.
May I use your bathroom, please?
Ill take her, Trish said. The taller woman eased Lisa out of our arms and toward the open