Page 33 of Single Malt
“This isn’t cold,” I countered. “I like the cold. It means I can go skiing and snowboarding. This is slush and ice falling from the sky.”
As he drove me to my hotel, we debated the merits of living in the heat and sun versus ice and gray skies. Carson and I had always been the most alike in personality, even though our interests had been polar opposites. Whenever we happened to get together, I was always reminded of how much I enjoyed spending time with him.
Which was exactly what I needed right now.
I’d been to the city a few times, usually on vacation, but New York had so many things to see and do that I hadn’t even come close to going through them all yet. Carson loved playing tour guide, so I wasn’t surprised when he announced that before we went back to his loft for dinner with our sisters, we’d be going to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. I’d wanted to see it the last time I was in the city but hadn’t been able to make the time.
By the time we made it through the museum, the dinner Carson had ordered was ready, and we swung by to pick it up before going back to his loft. While all of our siblings had money from trust funds and shares in various family businesses, none of the three New Yorkers had spent any of their money on massive places to live.
London had a small apartment in the same building as several of her actor friends, even though it wasn’t in the best neighborhood. She didn’t, however, have roommates because she’d managed to keep small, low-paying jobs in the theater industry instead of working insanely long hours at shitty jobs in the food industry or retail.
Maggie lived with her boyfriend, Dale, and they were in a decent neighborhood, from what I remembered her saying. I’d never been there, and I didn’t think anyone else had been either.
Dale was kind of a dick.
Which reminded me…
“Please tell me Dale isn’t coming to dinner,” I said as I pulled two beers out of the fridge. “I want to see Maggie, but I really don’t like that guy.”
“None of us do,” Carson said as he took the bottle I held out. “Not that any of us really know him.”
I sighed. “Yeah, there’s that.”
He took a long drink before answering my non-question question. “And no, Dale isn’t coming. He’s working late.”
“I thought he played for the Philharmonic too.” At least I thought that was right. “Wouldn’t he and Maggie be working at the same time?”
Carson shrugged. “You’d think.”
We were quiet for a couple minutes, and I wondered if he was thinking the same thing I was. Maybe someone needed to talk to Maggie about Dale. She was our only full biological sister, and she’d been a baby when our mother had died, so we’d all been protective of her when she was growing up.
Things changed when Da and Theresa married, and after that, Theresa’s biological niece and nephews had also joined the family. It hadn’t made us any less protective, though. It’d been nearly impossible for any of my sisters to go on dates when we’d been growing up.
Honestly, I’d always suspected that Maggie had been glad when she’d realized that her musical talent could take her to the other side of the country and out from under the watchful eyes of her big brothers. London must’ve had the same idea because she’d come here as soon as she’d been able as well. Not that I blamed her. She was the youngest of all of us, the only daughter of Da and Theresa, so she’d gotten the worst of it.
Speaking of…
“Is London dating anyone?”
“Not as far as I know,” Carson said. “I doubt it, though. She’s always talking about how dumb it is to date people you work with and how many hours she’s working.”
“What about you?” I made the question more casual than when I’d asked about our sisters.
Carson didn’t really talk about his relationships. In fact, he’d never mentioned dating anyone. Ever, as far as I was aware. Granted, he could’ve dated people after he’d moved to New York, and none of them had been serious enough to take home to the family. Hell, I’d had some casual relationships and hadn’t ever brought any of those women home.
“Work is going well,” he said before finishing his beer. He didn’t look at me as he went to throw the bottle into his recycling bin. “I have a few new designs I’m working on.”
“I heard a rumor you were hired to design a wedding dress for some big-shot actress.”
Carson gave me a sideways look. “I didn’t know you followed celebrity gossip.”
“Paris is home for a couple weeks.”
“Ah,” he said with a smile. “That makes more sense.”
A buzz interrupted our conversation, and he went to let our sisters into the loft. I followed him, and a minute later, Maggie and London were coming in with ice on their hair and smiles on their faces.
Maggie was first, and I caught a glimpse of a shadow in her turquoise eyes before we hugged. By the time she stepped back, whatever I’d seen was gone, and only her normal content expression remained. Then London was embracing me and already talking about how much she’d missed me.