Chapter Eight #3
Huh. So, GQ’s words were tougher than his actions. He was still afraid to talk to his big sister. Roxie shook her head. She’d nearly worked herself sick over nothing.
“He came to The Ruckus last night in a huff.”
Lexie quickly set down her coffee. “Oh, no. He saw the newscast about the billboard.”
“I don’t think any of the cameras caught you or Maxie,” Roxie hurried to say.
“No, it was just you and your…” Lexie gestured to her chest area.
“I have very nice…” Roxie made the same motion. “They match yours pretty well, in fact.”
Lexie rolled her eyes. “What did he do?”
“Chewed on me a bit. Told me how I was bringing you and the Underhills down.”
Lexie’s jaw set, but she patted her lips with her napkin before responding. “I’m sorry he gave you a hard time.”
Roxie shrugged. “He thinks he’s defending you.”
“Defending me?” Lexie seemed truly surprised.
“Well, Billy put a stop to it.”
“Uh oh.”
Roxie pushed away the remainder of her soup. She could see where her sister’s thoughts were heading. Stack Ivy League Landers against biker mechanic Billy and there was no question who would walk away with blood on his shoes.
“Billy promised he didn’t hurt him.”
Although he had been impressive, muscles flexing as he’d dragged Richie Rich out of the bar.
“I’ll call Blaire later to see how things are at the house,” Lexie murmured.
“There might have been a news crew outside when it happened.” Underneath the table, Roxie’s foot rocked back on its heel. “Sorry.”
“For what? He’s the one who stomped into your place.”
“And I’m the one who led us on our merry chase yesterday.”
Lexie tried to look stern, but her lips broke form and turned upward in a smile. “And a merry chase it was.”
She started laughing. “Oh my God, it was like all the Fast and Furious movies rolled up into one.”
Roxie finally chuckled, some of the heavy weight lifting off her shoulders. “Did Maxie make it out of Dodge safely?”
“She was full of adrenaline.”
Their sister had led a very careful, tightly wound life until they’d met her. More and more, she was learning to spread her wings and fly.
“I bet Zac had a good night,” Roxie said dryly.
Lexie tilted her head. Her hair was held back in a clip, but one tendril slipped forward across her temple. “How was Billy’s?”
Roxie actually felt herself blush. Hell’s buckets. That was twice in a week that she’d done that.
“We rumbled and then we made up.” She held up three fingers, just letting them peek over the edge of the table.
Lexie’s eyes rounded. “So, things are going well?”
Roxie’s shoulders dropped, and she scrubbed her hands over her face. “I don’t know how they’re going,” she replied honestly.
She rested her hands into her lap and looked out the window at the row of shops across the street. One, in particular, caught her eye.
“Sex has never been the problem.” Her teeth caught her cheek at the half lie. The act itself had never been a problem. The implications… Now there was a hot potato.
“You still have feelings for him,” Lexie said softly. “A blind man could see that.”
Roxie couldn’t deny it. Billy could light her up one moment and rip her to shreds the next.
Reaching across the table, Lexie caught her hand. “Don’t shut him out, Rox. He’s special.”
“You’re just entranced by his green eyes.”
Lexie let out a sigh but didn’t let go of her hand. “They are dreamy.”
“And then there’s the sexy mechanic thing.”
“That hot body and the leather…”
“Whoa, Nellie.”
Lexie smiled. “And he’s yours.”
The intimate acknowledgment and support from her sister made Roxie squirm in her seat.
Billy hadn’t really been hers for a very long time.
They might still have the hots for one another, but their real relationship…
That one deep down? It had fallen apart years ago.
She was the one who’d sent the divorce papers to make it official.
Lexie sealed their hands palm to palm, fingers weaving tight. “I don’t need to know all the details—although Maxie wants to—but we both like him. A lot. What we like most is the way you are around him.”
“A crazy sap?”
“Yourself.” Lexie pressed her lips together as if she didn’t want to say anything more, but then she continued.
“Sometimes I think you put on a front or hold yourself back around me, because you’re afraid of how I might react.
Like I might be surprised or disapproving. I hate that I make you feel that way.”
Roxie quickly shook her head, even as her throat got thick. She’d been pretending most of her life, putting on the masks that teachers, foster parents, and social workers wanted to see.
She just didn’t want Lexie or Maxie to ever go away.
Lexie squeezed her hand tighter when she didn’t answer. “You don’t do that with Billy. I honestly don’t think you can.”
“But things are so complicated between us.”
“Like they were between me and Cam?” Lexie whispered. “They always are with the ones who matter most.”
They both sat back in their seats, somewhat embarrassed when the waitress dropped by with their check.
The air around the table was heavy, and the mousy little brunette seemed to realize she’d stumbled into something at the wrong time.
She swept up their empty plates, but a knife clattered onto the table as she spun away in retreat.
Lexie squeezed Roxie’s hand one more time before letting it go. “And you are a crazy sap.”
Roxie rolled her eyes, feeling the tears abate. “And you are a polite nymphomaniac.”
Lexie’s eyes popped open, and she looked around to make sure nobody had heard.
Roxie grinned and tossed her napkin onto the table. “But Cam seems to like that sort of thing.”
Lexie gathered her purse and stood. Uncharacteristically, she jabbed Roxie in the side as they headed to the cashier.
“Three times?” she hissed, eyebrows jumping. “You’re one to talk.”
When they walked out of the little coffee shop, it was arm in arm. They made it to Lexie’s car first. “Whatever happens between you and Billy, I’m on your side. You know that.”
Roxie nodded. She did. “We worked on the search today.”
“Did you find anything?”
“Zilch.”
“The PI hasn’t made any progress either.”
Roxie frowned, the anger building up in her gut again. “It’s like they didn’t want anyone to know about us. Like we were a big fat secret that didn’t exist. No birth announcements. No baptisms.”
“Maybe they couldn’t afford those things.”
Roxie stewed. Maybe. That, she could relate to. But still… The three of them were a big deal. Shouldn’t the news outlets have been interested? They were frickin’ identical triplets. “Thanks for coming out with me. I know it’s hard when you’re trying to get your company off the ground.”
Lexie shook her head. “Well, thank you for taking me along on your adventures.”
Roxie grinned. “You like them. You know you do.”
Lexie scrunched her nose, but she was smiling as she got into her car. Roxie continued down the street and waved as her sister drove past.
She continued on towards her car, feeling better about things. She and her sisters were tight. She might have to share Lexie with her sister’s adoptive siblings, but she wouldn’t let anyone shake her confidence again. Her sisters loved her.
And they liked Billy.
She sighed. So did she. She always had, but could she trust him?
She pushed the thought aside. She trusted him enough to accept his help in the search for her parents. That was all that mattered, because that was as far as it was going to go.
Speaking of the search, maybe she should hit the library and spin through some of that microfiche she wanted to see. She had her keys out of her pocket when impulse took over, and she found herself heading across the street instead.
The tiny little shop with the purple sign had caught her eye again. What the hell, she had a few hours to burn. The bell over the door jingled when she walked in. Over in the far corner, a woman turned. “Hello. Welcome to Fortunes Foretold.”
The place certainly looked the part. Roxie looked around the room, half-amused and half-curious.
The store’s offerings were much as she expected.
The items on the shelves leaned mostly towards handmade lotions and soaps.
Herbs were in high supply, along with candles and scarves.
And yup, there along the far wall were the tarot cards and crystal balls.
They looked more like baubles from a home store than portals into the future.
“Can I help you?” the woman asked, her long skirt rustling. It was a wave of purples, greens and blues, and she set it off with a matching purple scarf over her black hair.
Roxie clicked her tongue. If she had pictured the proprietor of this shop, she would have had this woman pegged.
And that was a letdown.
So much for impulse. Her amusement-to-curiosity ratio teetered more towards the former. Now that she was inside, the shop seemed much less interesting. “I was just wondering if you do as your sign suggests?”
“Foretell fortunes?” came a quiet voice.
Roxie bounced in surprise. She didn’t like to be sneaked up on like that.
Turning, she found herself surprised again.
The woman coming out of the back room was tall and so blonde, her hair was nearly white.
Far from Romani, she seemed to be more of Scandinavian descent.
She was gorgeous as all get out, but not the first thing that came to mind when someone thought of a mind reader.
And that had the needle on Roxie’s excitement meter moving.
The woman’s blue eyes were keen.
“I perform readings,” she said as casually as if she’d said she could use a dishwasher. “Would you like your fortune told?”
Roxie folded her arms and let one eyebrow lift. “No, I want you to tell me about my past.”