Page 48 of Falls From Grace
“I’m not moping,” Brynn denied. “And there’s no vibes. Stay out of the grownups’ business.”
“You’re so condescending,” Lane’s grin was irrepressible as they towel-dried Tucker’s hair affectionately. “First up, I’m twenty-two. Secondly, you’re being suspiciously defensive.”
“Are you always this annoying?”
“Totally! Want to come eat pizza with us?”
“Yeah!” enthused Tucker.
Savannah’s Nashville chef was even better than Luis, Brynn realized, as the three of them mopped up melted mozzarella with perfect crusts in the sheltered courtyard beyond the formal dining room.
The view was expansive; rolling green hills and what looked like pedigree horses galloping through neatly fenced paddocks, then the private vineyard she’d long suspected. Noah was right: you really could acclimatize to this kind of wealth very damn easily. She remembered her old tiny apartment back in LA with a pang. She didn’t need this kind of lifestyle, but wow, it would be nice to know she had a roof of her own to call home. Her medical textbook had been abandoned when she’d started songwriting, and now she was even more confused about her future plans.
“So what’s the deal with you and Savannah, anyway?” Lane asked her when Tucker had jumped off their lap to run his greasy hands and little toy digger through the small stones edging the gardens.
“You do not give up, do you?”
“Nope,” they said easily. “Come on, spill, I’m discreet.”
“You can’t use the word spill and then claim discretion,” Brynn informed them. “It’s really none of your business.”
Lane was quiet for a while as they watched Tucker play.
“You’re in love with her, though, right?”
“Honestly, what would it take to make you shut up about this already?” Despite all odds, Brynn found herself smiling.
“That’s a yes.”
“I’m not talking to you anymore.”
“I hope you work it out,” Lane mused. “She’s so fucking hot. And you’re fucking hot. It’s like the law of physics that two people that hot should be together.”
Brynn shook her head.
“Such deep wisdom, in one so young,” she said drily. “And you’re not allowed to think of her as hot; she’s your boss.”
“And off limits,” Lane said slyly. “Clearly.”
Brynn laughed out loud.
“You’re not a threat, young grasshopper,” she informed them. Instead of being offended, Lane looked delighted.
“You’re so into her, they could see it from space.”
“Fuck off, kid.” Brynn elbowed them. “Can we go watch some Disney or something now?”
The afternoon spent with Lane and Tucker had settled her for a while, but back in the guesthouse as the sun began to fade, the stony silence of her phone made her stomach clench all over again. When it suddenly rang, she nearly fell off the couch to answer it.
“Mom?” she frowned as she picked it up. “Is everything okay?”
“I was just going to ask you that,” her mother’s patrician voice came down the line. “You haven’t answered my call in months.”
“Oh,” she scrunched up her nose, feeling guilty. “I’m sorry. I thought I told you I was going away with Noah for a while.”
“Yes darling, but for months? Honestly, Brynn, I know lifeguarding isn’t any kind of serious career, but what are you thinking, just swanning off like that? I feel like you’re not taking your own life seriously and it’s becoming concerning to me.”
Brynn felt a headache coming on.
