Page 6 of Inevitable

I waved off his concern. “I’m fine. Speaking of old, what’s the plan for your forty-fifth?” I tied my laces, knowing Ian’s wife, Lea, would have something planned, even if it was still months away.

Where I preferred to ignore my birthday, Ian liked to celebrate. Or at least, he indulged his wife’s desire to celebrate. For his fortieth, a small group of us had gone to Monaco. I’d taken Rachel, and we’d… I gnashed my teeth. Let’s just say, that trip had made us realize just how incompatible we were.

“Not sure, but I think I convinced Lea to do something smaller this year.”

“Really?” I chuckled. I’d believe it when I saw it.

“Yeah, really. So, what’s new with you?”

“My New York team is growing. I’m heading out there soon for a week, and then I’ll go back again sometime this summer.”

“Damn.” He rubbed a hand over his jaw. “Does that mean you’ve finally stopped playingFlip or Flopwith Alexis?”

I shook my head, closing the locker and securing it. “Nope. In fact, we’re going to flip another house.”

“Another one? I don’t know how you find time to run the Wolfe Group and take on the work of flipping houses in the meantime. When do you eat? Sleep? Have sex?”

I barked out a laugh as I followed him onto the court, dribbling the ball.

“I’m serious.”

“If you haven’t noticed, you’re pretty much my entire social life.”

“Aw.” He stopped bouncing the ball and placed his hand to his chest. “I’m flattered, but also…that’s pathetic, man.” He shot the ball and sank it.

I retrieved it and started jogging around the court, avoiding his efforts to take it. I feinted; he dodged. And then I ran toward the basket and shot a lay-up. Score.

“What happened with Kristy?” he asked.

“She was getting too clingy. And she called me ‘baby.’” I scrunched up my face.

He chuckled. “Celeste, then? She seems normal, nice.”

I shook my head, sinking another shot. “I’m not letting Lea fix me up with another one of her friends.” Hell, I was still trying to dodge the last one.

We played a while longer before heading to the bench for water. “So…” Ian said.

I’d known him long enough to sense when he was going to ask me for a favor. “What do you want, Ian?”

“I was wondering if you’d give Sumner a job for the summer.”

I furrowed my brow. That wasn’t what I’d been expecting. It was so out of left field that I blurted, “Why?”

“Honestly?” His shoulders slumped. “I miss her. And I think something’s going on with her. She’s been…different lately.”

“Different how?”

“Ever since Christmas, she seems more impulsive. Erratic, even. She signed up for Semester at Sea at the last minute. She doesn’t want to attend graduation. And she was dead set on going to Wharton for her MBA for years, then suddenly, it’s Stanford.”

I frowned. “That doesn’t sound like Sumner.” At least, not the Sumner I knew.

Though we talked about Sumner occasionally, I hadn’t seen her in years. Not since she’d graduated high school, in fact. She’d come home infrequently for breaks. And I’d often had to travel for business over the holidays. But I’d kept tabs on her through Ian.

“How’s the Semester at Sea thing going?” I asked.

“Good, I guess.” He shrugged. “She’s sent a few emails and postcards, but I haven’t really gotten to talk to her since she left. Anyway,” he sighed, and I could see that the situation with his daughter was wearing on him. “I’m really hoping to spend some more time with her before she moves to Stanford in the fall. Maybe figure out what’s really going on.”

“I’m surprised she doesn’t already have a job lined up.”