Page 31 of The Best of Friends

“She has her moments. And I’ve never forgotten what she did for me. I don’t know why I did what I did. It was the strangest thing. I never took anything again.”

“She’d been looking for a reason to run, and you gave it to her.”

“I know. That’s the irony. She took the fall, but I was punished anyway. My best friend left.”

“That had to be hard.”

“You have no idea. I already felt alone, and that got only worse. When Elizabeth started asking me to help her with her parties and stuff, I was so grateful to feel as if I still had a place to be. It was like belonging. But no matter how much I do, I can’t make them family. I tell myself they are—I pretend. We all pretend, but it’s not real. The truth is, I’m Elizabeth’s unpaid assistant. She parades me out when she wants to show the world what a good person she is.”

Somewhere in the telling, she’d forgotten who she was talking to. But as the echo of her words lingered in the car, Jayne realized what she’d just said to Rebecca’s brother and Elizabeth’s son.

She covered her mouth with her fingers and stared at him. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, dropping her hand back to her lap. “Oh, God. I can’t believe I said that. It was very thoughtless and—”

“It’s okay.”

“It’s not, David. I don’t know how to apologize.”

“You don’t have to. I’m aware of my mother’s faults. And Rebecca’s. There’s a reason I’ve spent the past ten years traveling the world. It was a whole lot easier than going home.”

“You’re being very nice, but—”

“Hey.” He looked at her, looking more amused than annoyed. “Don’t call me nice. I’m a guy. We don’t want nice. Nice doesn’t get us the girl.”

“You don’t have any trouble getting the girl.”

“That’s true.” His smile returned. “As to what you said, I’m pretty damned impressed you’ve figured it all out. Most people go their whole lives without having a clue as to why they’re not happy.”

“I have more than a clue, but whoever said knowing the problem is half the battle was an idiot. Knowing the problem doesn’t help at all. I still have to solve it.”

“You’re thinking of moving to Dallas. That’s something.”

“Yee-haw.”

“I’ve never been to Texas.”

“Me, either. I’ll let you know what I think.”

They turned down a long driveway that curved twice before ending at a four-car garage and a large house. They were at the top of a hill, with what looked like miles of undeveloped land around them.

David parked the car and pulled a folder off the backseat. “Four bedrooms, three and a half baths, sixty-seven hundred square feet. Ten acres and a view.” He shook his head. “Five point five million.”

Dollars. He meant dollars, she thought, hoping she didn’t looked stunned by the amount. The Wordens were rich—she knew that. But every now and again, they managed to surprise her.

“It’s really all about location,” she said as she got out of the car. “You can always redo a room, although good bones are important. But the one thing you can’t change is location.”

He climbed out as well, then rested his folded arms on the roof of his car. “You’ve been talking with my mother.”

“She made me take notes.”

He laughed. “Are you planning to influence me?”

If only she could, she thought, unable to look away. Tiny shivers tiptoed down her spine. Then she remembered her big confession and wanted to crawl back in the car.

“I doubt I could.”

“You’d be surprised,” he said. “Come on. I see the Realtor’s car. When she’s done giving us the tour, we’ll ditch her and go jump on the beds.”

“You do know how to have fun.”