Page 83 of Family Affair

Coco couldn't believe it. She swiveled to look at him, her car swerved and she got blasted by a horn from a truck she narrowly missed.

“I didn’t mean to be funny, Ross,” she snapped.

“They went at it at the police station?” he asked, gasping as he laughed.

“Yes! It was terrible.”

Gradually, his mirth subsided, and he finally realized how shaken Coco was.

“Were you hurt?”

“No. But I was scared,” she admitted. “I’ve never been that close to a fight in my life.”

He chuckled. “I’m sorry. Don’t worry about Dan and Cade. It’s second nature to them.”

“Well, they should try and curb their nature. It’s barbaric.”

She thought Ross blinked, even though she wasn’t looking at him, focused on getting home in one piece.

“I should remember that,” he murmured. “Barbaric. I’ll use this word next time either of them swings at me. Barbaric.”

She gave up reasoning with him. He was no better than his brothers.

Being a passenger, Ross had an advantage of looking at her while Coco had to watch the road. She could feel his eyes on her. His regard wasn't lewd, but neither did it put her at ease. He was assessing her person, learning her, feature by feature, detail by small detail.

“What was the fight about?” he asked.

Coco wasn’t in the mood to overshare. “It was something related to the alibi.”

He scratched his chin, seemingly lost in thought. “It was about you, wasn’t it?”

“It’s part of the questioning, it doesn't concern you.”

He nodded, as if satisfied with what he saw in her face more than what he heard in her words.

“You can go to dinner with any man you like, but between Cade and Dan, Dan is a much safer choice. Take my word for it.”

"Why would you say that?"

“You don’t know Cade as well as I do. He may prove less than reliable, long-term.”

“That’s the point, Ross. There is no long term. Cade’s been nice to me, and I’m returning him a favor by corroborating his alibi. Which is true, we did go to dinner that evening. Actually, the police have obtained a… parking lot security video where you can see us leaving the restaurant.”

“So Cade doesn't really need you?”

“Not with the video, he really doesn’t.”

“And what about Dan?”

Coco knew he wasn’t asking whether Dan needed an alibi. He meant the ‘long-term.’

She stared straight ahead. “It’s between Dan and me.”

He didn’t probe any deeper.

“How can you listen to this?" he said and went to toy with the radio searching for a tune to his liking. Finding a country song, he settled down.

Coco drove on, without commenting on his liberties with her controls, without speaking at all. She noticed against her will how similar the shape of his hand was to Cade’s. The same wide palm with long fingers, the square nails. Large, capable hands. Similar dazzling smiles.