Cherry Creek - Dani Matthews Page 0,6
am the newbie that moved here a year and a half ago. Of course, they’ll take Brad’s side over mine.
“Livvy?”
“Hm?” I ask as I glance up at my mom. I realize that a waitress has approached us and is waiting for my order. I try not to flush and order the first thing I see as I glance down at the menu. When the waitress walks away, I reach for my ice water and take a much needed sip.
“Do you mind if I ask you a few questions, Livvy? I’d like to get to know you better,” Khristos comments as he studies me from across the table.
“Uh, sure.”
“Are you okay with discussing Brad Leske?”
My body goes tense, and my eyes dart back to my mom. How can she be sure he’s not a reporter?
She sees the doubt in my eyes, and she gives me a reassuring look. “He’s not a reporter. He doesn’t even live here. He’s from Minnesota.”
I want to point out to her that he doesn’t have to live here to be a reporter, but I’m trying to be polite. Just because I am suspicious of him, doesn’t mean I need to make this outing more awkward than it needs to be. It’s just breakfast. We’ll eat, and then we’ll go home, and hopefully he’ll go do whatever it is he usually does in his free time.
“I assure you, Livvy, I am not a reporter,” Khristos tells me firmly. “I just want to get to know my niece. If the topic of Brad is off limits, we can discuss something else.”
“I’d rather not talk about him,” I say simply.
He nods. “That’s fine.” He settles back in his chair, looking relaxed. “I meant to visit you both a long time ago, but things got quite busy on my end. Life is just beginning to settle down, so I think this is the perfect time to get to know you,” he tells me.
It doesn’t escape my notice that my mom was not a part of that sentence. He seems oddly more focused on me rather than her. I’m getting the impression that he finds her a minor irritation. “Are you sticking around for a while?”
“Actually, that’s what I want to discuss with you. I need to leave in a week or so, and I was hoping that perhaps you’d come with me,” he says lightly as he watches me intently.
I stare at him. “Come with you? To Minnesota?”
He nods.
“Both of us?”
“Just you,” he corrects. His eyes slide to my mom. “Caroline and I have discussed it, and we think it’d be good for you to get away from here after what happened.”
My eyes jerk to my mom. “He’s kidding, right?”
“I have things to take care of here, but I’ll relocate this fall when you start school,” she explains.
“Start school?” I look between the both of them, and they look serious. “You think I’m going to pack up and move to Minnesota with some guy I don’t even know? Mom, that’s ridiculous.”
Khristos leans forward to peer at me. “The whole reason for you coming to live with me is so that we can get to know each other.”
I ignore him and focus on my mom. “You just met him yesterday! How do you know you can trust him? If you’ve never met him before, how do you even know he’s your half-brother?” I demand. Forget politeness. I think my mom has lost her mind!
Instead of agreeing with me, she looks at me patiently as if she’s dealing with a child rather than a seventeen-year-old. “He’s legitimate, Livvy. And really, are you that excited to start school in the fall after what happened with Brad? Do you really want to stick around here and deal with all the stares and accusations?”
“Weren’t you the one who told me last night that I didn’t do anything wrong?”
“And you didn’t,” she tells me simply as she reaches for her water. “But the fact of it is, he’s in a coma, and you’re walking around perfectly healthy. Your own friends won’t even answer the phone when you call. Why stick around here when you could start a new life there?”
I can’t believe this. This conversation is absolutely ludicrous. I turn on Khristos. “I’m not going anywhere with you. I don’t even know you.”
He nods. “Understandable. That’s why I’ll spend a week here so you can get to know me, and then you’ll feel more comfortable leaving with me when the time comes.”
“No. I’m not going anywhere,”