Page 82 of Anyone But the Superstar

‘Amen,’ I say before I can think better of it.

Rose laughs. ‘I like you.’

When she winks at me, some of the hurt from Felix’s avoidance and disappointment from my sister’s absence wanes.

Vance comes in with a portable fan, plugging it in near his wife. Flipping it on, he hands her a hair clip.

Eyes closed to the breeze now blowing her way, Rose secures her hair with the clip. ‘I knew there was a reason I married you.’

Holt snorts, getting up from his spot next to Rose. ‘I’ll get the pie.’

‘There’s pie?’ Trish and Rose both ask, eyes gleaming.

The table chuckles.

‘While they couldn’t make dinner, a few more guests should be coming for dessert.’ Vance, still standing by his wife, slides his phone out of his pocket. ‘I’ll let them know it’s?—’

The doorbell chimes.

‘Ah.’ Smiling, Vance re-pockets his phone. ‘I bet that’s them.’

Heart beating faster, my eyes stay glued to the dining room’sarchway. Maybe my sister will come. Maybe then I can stop thinking about Felix and…

All maybes die a gruesome, violent death when the chauffeur, not my sister, walks into the dining room.

He’s holding a black satin leash attached to a rhinestone collar.

Anemptyrhinestone collar.

‘What do you mean, Mike Hunt’s escaped?’

Rose drops her pie fork, Ian chokes on his coffee and the slice of pie Holt was in the middle of serving plops onto the tablecloth.

As the chauffeur relays the absurd and yet unsurprising story of the cat’s Houdini act through the open sunroof, I toss my napkin and push back my chair. ‘Did you see where he went?’

‘Her cunt’s a dude?’ Rose whispers.

‘Rose West.’ Holt admonishes. ‘That’s too much, even for you.’

Rose snorts. ‘Please. I’m the definition oftoo much. I should probably make “cunt”—’ she air quotes ‘—my go-to curse word.’

‘Please don’t.’ There’s desperation in Vance’s plea that I’d find amusing if it wasn’t for the thingbesidesmy brother’s missing cat catching my attention.

‘Rose West?’ I glance at Holt before landing on Rose. ‘I thought your name was Bodaway?’

‘West is my maiden name,’ Rose says.

My heart feels like its beating out of my chest. ‘So that means your brother?—’

‘Holt?’ Rose frowns at the man holding the pie server.

‘Ah, no.’ Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe the world isn’t this small. ‘I mean, do you have another brother? Married to?—’

‘Um, ma’am?’ The chauffeur holds out the leash and collar in his hands.

Shaking off the urge to ask more questions, I grab the leash, winning the battle when I notice the collar is set to the second to last largest hole even though there’s a very distinct indentation where the collarshouldbe belted, three holes smaller.

Apprehension, disappointment, and frustration funnel into anger as I glare at Felix. ‘Why did you make it so loose?’