Page 51 of Close Match

“No, just Char’s mouth,” I assure him. We both laugh.

As we shake, I hear Monty ask Ev, “Will someone explain to me how in the hell you know Ev’s daughter?”

Twenty-Nine

Montague

“This is funny, Monty.”

“It really isn’t.” I’m beyond annoyed right now.

“It is.” Shaun’s tickled I had no idea Ev’s daughter istheEvangeline Brogan. I’ve been taking shit from him all night like, “Next time, try Google,” or “Do I contact Glynco to see if you really graduated?”

Asshole.

I’m irritated at Linnie, Ev, and by the looks of it, my mother, since she clearly knew as well. I don’t get what the big deal is. If anything, it might have alleviated my fears that Ev’s daughter was just out for his money…

Ah shit.Suddenly I realize why she didn’t blurt out who she was right away. Until the weekend they were in Old Town together, Linnie had no idea that her father and Everett Parrish, the software genius, were one and the same. She’s a celebrity who recently lost a celebrity parent, reported on most major news outlets. The media swirl around her only just quieted down. She was protecting herself the same way I recommended he defend himself. With that, a large part of my frustration dissipates.

After being introduced to Shaun, Linnie’s been hanging out in the background, helping out, giving my mother a much needed reprieve. I don’t know if that’s to keep herself out of the line of fire, but as I hear my mother’s peal of laughter—something I hear far too rarely as of late—it’s appreciated.

Promising to return with dessert, Mom and Linnie both scurried off a few moments ago. I’m keeping a close eye on the door, so I walk away from Shaun’s incessant prattling when I notice Mom’s heading down toward us holding a carafe of coffee while Linnie’s carefully balancing a heavy tray of desserts, cups, and accouterments. Mom flaps her hand at me, so I deliberately get in Linnie’s way. “Let me get that for you.” Quickly shifting the heavy tray from her arms to mine, I’ll admit I’m impressed by her strength. “Where do you want this?”

“Oh, thank you. I guess…wherever your mother wants it?” She searches for where my Mom went, but I figure Mom will set up dessert on the closest table to the firepit where everyone is currently relaxing. I stride off in that direction.

Linnie’s long legs quickly fall in step.

After I’ve set the tray down on the table, I turn toward her. She’s ducked her head. “I just wanted Ev to get to know me before I told him who I was.” Curtains of long dark hair hide her face as her hands brace on the tabletop. Reaching down, I pull her hair away. Frustration marks her face. “I just wanted a little time to be me, but then Ev asked me to visit. He got worried I wouldn’t have enough money. I had to tell him who I was. I’m sorry you found out the way you did.” Her eyes—Ev’s eyes in such a beautiful feminine face—lock onto mine. “I truly am.”

There is no artifice about this woman. I blurt out the first thing that comes to my head. “How on earth are you an actress? You have absolutely no capacity for hiding anything.”

Her lips tip up, and I feel it like a punch to my gut. The Indian summer air is heavy but somehow light now that there are no more secrets.

Well, except one, and I’ve been ordered I can’t share it.

“I don’t hide who I am with family.” She shrugs. “The only secrets I keep are for their own good, not to harm them.”

With that, I let out a jagged sigh. Maybe Linnie will understand then. Perhaps she won’t hate her father for not telling her right away why he completed that damn genealogy kit.

Her eyes narrow, but before she can open her mouth, Mom calls over to her. “Linnie, come sit down!”

If I weren’t standing right in front of her, I’d have missed the flash of humor across her face before she calls back, “Be right there.”

She slips around me to make her way back over to the group. Before I join them, I turn and rest my hips near the desserts. Ev slips away and joins me.

“How mad are you?” he asks bluntly.

“I was until I realized she did it to protect herself. Now, I’m more worried about how she’s going to react when she realizes your still hiding something from her.”

Ev frowns. We both jerk when we hear Linnie’s musical laughter at something Shaun said—damn, that should have been a clue too. Everything she does has sway and movement. She’s always in motion. Even now by the firelight, her foot is tapping to an internal beat in her head.

And she’s never looked more beautiful.

“Give me time. Then I’ll tell her.” Ev sighs. “She just lost one parent. Things are under control. I hate even to give her the idea that one day she might lose another.” He pushes away from the table.

“Ev,” I say, stopping him. “Miracles can happen.”

He grips my shoulder tightly. “They already have. Don’t you see? I have your mother, you, and now Linnie.”