Lib Novel Page 180
“Got it.” As soon as I place my hands on the counter, like clockwork, Mrs. Kowalski enters the kitchen.
Efficient doesn’t begin to describe my housekeeper—she sets out placemats on the counter and arranges a colorful cheese, fruit, and cracker platter and two wineglasses before leaving us alone.
Meanwhile, Chloe grabs a bottle of pinot from the rack. After uncorking it, she fills my glass to the brim and then hers.
“Are we celebrating something or just getting drunk?”
“I don’t know and I don’t care.” My sister giggles before clinking her glass with mine.
We’re barely two minutes into this suspicious dinner, and I have taken one sip of my drink, when Chloe taps on the counter.
“You know we know, right?”
Talk about taking something head-on.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I reply, avoiding eye contact and focusing on my drink.
My sister is just warming up.
“Charlie, I’ve had enough of your nonsense. Tell me exactly what happened between you and Daisy.”
“Nothing happened. She’s taking care of her dad, and since we don’t want to confuse Jason, she’s staying with Willow. It’s closer—less traffic, easier commute.”
The excuse I’m repeatedly giving to Jimmy takes full, concrete form.
Chloe doesn’t say anything for a moment, but I can practically see steam coming out of her ears.
She gnaws at the inside of her cheeks, and that’s how I know she’s repeating the counting routine our mom forced her to learn to control her temper.
I’m actually impressed to see her practice it in real life.
“So you’re saying that Charles Ashcroft Hawthorne, the man who has the power to halt the entire town’s traffic with a single phone call, prefers his wife staying away because of commute time? How dumb do you think we are?”
Her words hit a nerve deep in my heart. What’s the use of all this power, if I’m still unable to win my wife back?
“Not enough, it seems, because I expected you not to pry into my personal life.” I slam my glass down a bit too hard, surprised it doesn’t shatter. “I love you, Chloe, but God, you can be so irritating sometimes. Learn to read the room and heed when someone’s subtly telling you to mind your own business.”
Am I the dumb fuck to think my sister will cower and back away?
Definitely, because as opposed to my liking, Chloe only sits tall in her seat.
“This is every bit of my business. My brother’s acting like an idiot, and I want to know why.”
“There are things you don’t know here, Chloe,” I mutter under my breath, words of frustration escaping past my lips.
“Like Daisy being pregnant and you being an asshole to send her away when she needs you the most?”
Her reply is like an unexpected whip, sharp and firm, and a chill runs down my spine.
If Chloe knows, that means everyone in my family is aware of it.
“I didn’t send anyone anywhere. She left on her own.”
“And did you lose your voice or your ability to stop her?” Chloe doesn’t pause for a reply. “It’s because of your mom, isn’t it?”
Silence lingers between us for a few moments.
“What do you mean?” I ask, shocked not just because of her accurate conclusion but also because Chloe and I have never talked about my birth mother. In fact, for years, she didn’t even know we were stepsiblings, and when she did find out, that word became the most hated word in her dictionary.