Page 18 of November

“They’re biologically mine, yeah, but they’re not family. I had sex, and a woman decided to have the kid. Sometimes, I wonder if they did this on purpose: find me in a bar, hook up with me, and tell me I didn’t need to wrap it up just so that they could get pregnant. Now, they’re taken care of for life.” Colter ate a fry and added, “Anyway, they’re all fine, I think. One of the women got married, too, so that kid has a new dad now. You can relax.”

“How did we come from the same mother?” India said and shook her head.

“No clue because you’re an uptight workaholic, and I’m a chill guy who knows how to have fun. Seriously, India, when was the last time you had actual fun?”

“I have fun,” she said. “I’m just not reckless.”

“Well, it’s not like you can knock a woman up the old-fashioned way, so you can have as much of that kind of fun as you want without the possibility of consequences.”

“There are easy ways to avoid those consequences, you know?” she offered.

“Why bother? I can have as much fun as I want, and I can afford to deal with the consequences.”

“What about your campaign?”

“Why do you keep asking about that?”

“The kids, Colter. You have three kids from three different women, and you aren’t involved in their lives at all. You don’t think that’ll look bad for your campaign?”

“And who’s going to find out? My competitor owns a bookstore and runs her campaign from the back of it. She has buttons, India. Actual buttons. I saw them. I’m not going to lose this one.”

She thought about Maisie and how cute she had looked when she handed India one of those buttons. She wanted to smile at that memory, but she didn’t want Colter asking why she was smiling athim, when she couldn’t remember a single time she’d smiled at her own brother.

“I thought you wanted to run for mayor.”

“I do. And I’ll figure it all out then. I might just make them sign something to keep quiet.”

“It would still get out, Colter.”

“Are you all about me running for mayor now or something? Why are you concerned about this?”

“I’m not. I’m trying to get you to think this through. Maybe you should find another hobby. Politics has a way of bringing out all of people’s skeletons, and you have many.”

“So?” he said. “I’ve got all the connections I need to make this happen. I’m not worried.”

“I heard about the bookstore trying to get landmark status.”

“You did? Where?”

“The shop is right next to my office, Colter. I overheard someone talking about it,” India lied. “You’re not worried about that?”

Her brother didn’t need to know that she’d done some research after she met Maisie, curious about the owner more than the shop, she supposed.

“No. Why?”

“Why not just get the city council to give it the status? I bet the owner would probably drop out of the race if you did.”

“Maybe, but I’m not exactly worried. Why should I give her something?”

“Because it’s part of the history of New Orleans. Why not?”

“If we grant that status, we can’t ever tear it down and build there, and that’s an attractive piece of land in a popular spot. I’m going to keep bringing businesses here, India. I’ll need places to put them. Andthatis a good place.”

“You’d really play a part in taking away–”

“It’s a fucking bookstore. She can literally pick up the books and sell them somewhere else, making a lot of money in the process. What is the big deal?” he asked.

“The building is–”