Page 42

Chapter 41

FOURTEEN YEARS IN HIDING

“Garfield, would you please stop licking Charlisse?” I groaned, and the big, goofy dog tilted his head at me in apparent confusion. “Oh, don’t give me that look, mister. You know exactly what I’m saying.”

Charlisse gave him a scratch behind the ears and leaned closer. “He’s not bothering me. He’s a gooood boy, isn’t he?” she crooned, and he licked her mouth. She wiped it with the back of her hand and gave him a mock frown. “I was sticking up for you, doofus.”

Properly chastised, Garfield circled once and flopped onto the floor beneath the dining table for his usual afternoon nap. I tilted my laptop screen and showed Charlisse what I’d been working on.

“Do you like this?”

She pressed a hand over her heart and nodded. “I can’t believe my baby is graduating from high school. Thank you so much for helping me with the invitations. The ones you can order through the school are so damn expensive, and this looks a million times better.”

“Happy to help. His senior photos turned out so great. There’s a place where you can order the invites online. All you have to do is upload this file, and they’ll send you a proof within twenty-four hours.” After a few keystrokes, I said. “There. I sent the file and the web address to your email.”

She hugged me tightly, and I could hear the sniffle in her voice. “You are the best friend ever, Eden. Coop was so excited when I told him you and Dane are hosting a senior party for him and his friends.”

“Well, we’re very proud of him. I’m going to miss him when he goes to basic training.” I pulled back and looked into her watery blue eyes. “How are you doing with that?”

“Oh, you know. I’m proud as hell that he’s going into the Army, but of course, I worry.” She waved a hand in front of her face to try and stave off the tears that seemed to come more and more often the closer we got to the date when Cooper would be leaving home.

“You’ve raised a wonderful son, Char. He’s going to go do great things.”

When she burst into tears, I did too, and we hugged it out as we cried. “He is such a good boy,” Charlisse wailed, and Garfield popped his head up at the last two words, making us both laugh.

“She wasn’t talking to you, silly dog,” I told him, reaching down to rub one silky ear.

“Let’s talk about something else,” she suggested, pulling a package of tissues from her purse and handing one to me. “I saw your latest Instagram post, and it was so funny. You always come up with the most clever captions.”

“I try. It helps when I have such cute subjects.” As if summoned, Snoopy leaped onto my lap and boosted herself onto the keyboard of my laptop, making herself right at home. I scratched the spot she loved beneath her chin. “Hey, pretty girl. Are you posing for a picture?”

Grabbing my phone, I backed up and snapped a photo of the cat on my computer. I generally tried to use videos or pictures of both the animals for the Instagram account I’d titled The Adventures of Garfield and Snoopy, but occasionally, one of them would get to be in the spotlight by themselves.

“You should totally let me take some pictures of you with Snoopy and Garfield,” Charlisse said. “You’re never in the pics with them, and I bet your gazillion followers would love to see your pretty face.”

Eek!

“No,” I said with a laugh that I hoped didn’t sound nervous, “the account is all about them.”

My friend gave me a wan smile. “You never put pictures of yourself on Facebook either.” Double eek! “Is there a reason? Did you have a bad breakup with an ex or something?”

I took that and ran with it. “Something like that. I’d rather not have my pictures online.”

Charlisse’s cheeks pinkened slightly, and she pressed her fingertips to her lips. “I’m so sorry, Eden. That was a very personal thing to ask. I was just curious.”

“Hey, it’s no problem,” I said, patting her arm before lifting a teasing eyebrow. “Maybe I’m an international jewel thief and on the run.”

That sent her into a fit of giggles. “Oh, whatever. You and Dane are, like, the most law-abiding people I’ve ever met.”

If only you knew, Charlisse. If only you knew.

A couple months later, I was sitting at the breakfast bar checking my notifications on the Instagram account and smiled. I’d followed Monty on the platform a while ago, and he had followed me back. I always got a little thrill when he commented on one of my posts, like I was having a secret conversation with my brother.

After replying to a few comments on my latest post, I scrolled through my feed, my thumb pausing when I saw a post from the official Bouvier Fashion account.

“Well, well, well. Who is this?” I mumbled.

“Who is what?” Dane asked, coming up behind me and resting his chin on my shoulder.

“This woman with Auburn.” I clicked on the caption and read.

CEO Auburn Bouvier attends hospital gala with the lovely Gianna Moschella. Miss Moschella is wearing a couture Bouvier gown.

“Wow. He put her in one of the couture designs? Who the heck is this woman?” I scrolled through the photos.

“What exactly does couture mean?” Dane asked. “I’ve heard the term, of course, but I don’t know what makes something couture or not.”

“They are custom-designed pieces, usually made for a celebrity. Or at least for someone very wealthy because they can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. You wouldn’t be able to purchase couture fashion at any store.”

This Gianna woman was a bombshell, but that wasn’t what kept drawing my eye to the photos of her and my oldest brother. It was her smile, genuine and open.

Doing a quick internet search, I found an article and read it carefully.

NYC’S AUBURN BOUVIER - ELIGIBLE BACHELOR NO MORE? Auburn Bouvier, one of New York’s fashion giants, was spotted last night with a new lady on his arm. The lovely and charming Gianna Moschella accompanied Mr. Bouvier to the exclusive NYH Gala, and the two seemed quite cozy, leading every single—and some not-so-single—woman in the city to mourn the potential loss of Bouvier's “eligible” status. We don’t know who Miss Moschella is, but we’re keeping an eye on this one, folks.

I grinned down at my phone and thought, I’m keeping my eye on you too, Gianna Moschella. Because I think I like you.

I was right. By the end of the year, my formerly bachelor brother was engaged to the brunette beauty.

And I couldn’t have been happier for him.