and Eric thought Calvin may have been the one who framed Eric in January for securities fraud. The case was dropped, but that was when my relationship with Calvin truly took a turn for the worse. When I had found the line at last I never thought he could cross.
It was also when I had run from my home right into a sea of passion and guilt. Drinking in a bar, in a part of New York I had never been to, a dark corner of the city where no one would find me…I had met Matthew. And for the first time in my life, I had really understood what it meant to fall in love.
I shook the thoughts away. No. I couldn’t go there this weekend, not after giving in to those desires so egregiously only months ago.
My stomach knotted at the thought of the man I never stopped craving and also at the memory of the truth: that had I not left the apartment that night, I might have prevented the worst. Eric in jail. Jane gone to Korea in search of her mother. Abducted, nearly killed. Her unborn child murdered as a result.
It’s in the past. When will they ever let it go?
My husband’s impatient, irritable voice again, announced at every slight, every absent invitation. Nothing had ever turned up explicitly about his involvement in Eric’s arrest. But there were hints. Little snide comments.
We’ll just make things a little harder, princess. He deserves it, after all those years away.
Don’t play so innocent. You and I both know what you’ve done.
No, I couldn’t go there. Never. I’d lose everything.
Jane’s black-painted fingernails snapped suddenly in front of my face. “Earth to Nina,” she said with a grin. “Man, you de Vrieses really know how to go to la-la land, do you know that?”
I swallowed. “Pardon?”
Jane smirked. “Eric does the same thing. Just zones out, lost in a vision like he’s Madame Esmerelda looking at her crystal ball. One day he’s going to get stuck there, and it’ll be off to the looney bin with him. I don’t care how cute his butt is.”
I blushed, though I couldn’t help smiling. Jane might be a little crass at times, but there was no doubt she was entertaining.
“Well, I’m not stuck now,” I told her. I checked my watch as we crossed the foyer. “Is my mother here?”
“Violet? Oh, sure, she and the ladies who lunch have set up shop by the pool. Pretty sure it’s gin o’clock over there. You want me to let her know you’re here? Get you a drink?”
I shook my head. “No, I’m sure she doesn’t want to be bothered.”
Jane’s mouth quirked, the way it always did when she noted our family’s odd reticence with each other. She and her mother had a loud, if often contentious relationship. Very different from my family’s icy, imperious distance.
“Livy said she wanted to see the horses first,” I said as we walked through the first parlor, which led directly to the outdoor pool and patio in the back of the house. “Where did she go?”
“Um, I don’t know if she’s going to have horses on her mind right this second.”
Jane pointed through the glass of the floor-to-ceiling french doors. Olivia was standing at the edge of the pool, arms outstretched for Eric.
“Uncle Eric, can I get in too?” she asked, her voice just audible through the glass.
Eric stood up in the water, where he’d been swimming laps, beyond which the Atlantic Ocean twinkled. Next to me, Jane swallowed visibly at the sight of her shirtless husband. I hid a smile. Objectively, Eric did keep himself in good shape, with the help of our family’s genetics. But what I really loved was the way Jane couldn’t hide her attraction and didn’t even bother trying. What was even more entertaining was the fact that he generally couldn’t be bothered to mask his feelings for her either—something our family was very good at doing.
“Fine by me, Liv,” Eric said. “Go ask your mom, all right?”
“See?” Jane asked as Olivia scampered back inside.
“Mommy?” she asked. “Can I go swimming with Uncle Eric?”
I nodded. “Of course. Davis took our bags upstairs. Your suit should be there.”
With another rare, bright grin, Olivia skipped back toward the grand staircase. I turned to Jane, who was still watching Eric. And he, I noticed, was now watching her back.
“Maybe you should get in too,” I teased gently.
Jane coughed. “What? Oh, ha. No. No. Maybe later…” She adjusted her glasses,