The Anti-Social Season (First Responders #2)

Chapter Seventeen

Seventeen

T hea wanted to crow with glee. She hadn’t been at all sure how Mrs. M would feel about Simon being here. After all, this property was the older woman’s home, and even though Thea lived in the little accessory house, she was always aware of that fact.

She hadn’t even had time to consider how Simon would feel about Mrs. M. At least, not consciously. Some people, her sister included, found her friendship with the older woman odd. As soon as she’d said yes to Mrs. M’s breakfast invitation, she was flooded with the worry that he wouldn’t value her landlady and friend the way she did. But she should have known better. The tension that seized her gut when she’d accepted the offer was now leaching away.

He clearly valued the older woman and her perspective. And that gave her a warm glow, watching them chat about libraries, his job, social media and the training he’d been giving Thea. It turned out that Mrs. M had been on a school library advisory board when her kids were young. “Not one of those horrible book-banning ones either,” she said, pointing a spatula at Simon.

“Kindred spirits, then,” he replied.

“You bet.” She got out napkins and cutlery and handed them off for him to set the table while she dished up breakfast. Then they were sitting and eating and laughing over some of Simon’s stories about kids’ reference questions, which managed to be utterly astonishing and awfully cute.

“Ah, yes,” Mrs. M said. “Raising three children taught me that they were always going to surprise me. I never did get used to the way just any old thing would fly out of their mouths. I kind of miss it sometimes. Though we all say that Katrina never did have a filter installed between her brain and her mouth. Especially as regards her brother.”

“Is he her boss as well as her brother?” Simon asked in evident horror, and Thea was reminded that he’d had to sneak out of her house because his sister was so bossy.

Mrs. M shook her head. “No, thank goodness. At least, not yet. They’re both vice presidents. The current CEO was the chief financial officer when my husband was alive. But whenever he decides to retire, that succession battle is going to be bloody. Kyle is already entitled enough, much as I hate to say it. I often wonder where I went wrong with him.”

Thea scooped up a forkful of eggs. Mrs. M had a knack with them—they were fluffy and delicious.

“It didn’t even have to be anything you did,” Simon said.

“What do you mean, dear?” The older woman looked at him with keen interest.

He shrugged. “The world tells men we are automatically in charge.”

Thea nodded agreement. “It takes some powerful conditioning and for the man in question to really consciously reject those messages for it to stick.”

Mrs. M sighed. “I suppose that’s true. It’s certainly true of Kyle and some of the members of the board. Truly tedious men. Not like our Simon here.” At that, her eyes glittered with humor and mischief again. Simon’s cheeks went pink at her words.

“Oh, are we sharing him now?” Thea asked, gratified to see his face flame even hotter at that. “Sorry, I’ll stop,” she said, regretting the teasing immediately. It definitely wasn’t his type of thing.

“Thanks,” Simon said softly, stacking their empty plates and cutlery and getting to his feet, shaking his head at Mrs. M’s objection. “No, I can at least put some things in the dishwasher since you cooked. Want another cup of coffee?”

“ Such a nice young man,” Mrs. M said, winking conspiratorially at Thea. “For what it’s worth, I approve.”

Simon didn’t usually love being talked about like he wasn’t there, but there was a kind of warm theatricality to Mrs. M. Even before she voiced her approval, he could tell he was being tested. He didn’t mind. He was glad Thea had someone looking out for her. He refilled her cup, then loaded the dishwasher in the sunny kitchen.

“What do you young people have on tap for today?” Mrs. M asked.

Thea’s gaze met his as he straightened up, closing the machine. “I don’t know that we have any plans. What about you?” she asked.

Mrs. M sighed. “I have the decorators in today to get the old place trimmed up for the holidays.”

“Decorators?” Simon asked.

She chuckled, a small self-deprecating sound. “Yes, I have decorators in to swag greenery and lights, hang wreaths, set up my little tree in the den, and set up a truly grand tree in the formal parlor. We didn’t used to do it that way when Mr. McAnally was alive and the kids were still living here, but I’m not up to doing all of that by myself. And the house needs to look nice for the annual Boxing Day party I host.” Her face lit with a sunny smile. “You should come, Simon. Thea will be there.”

“I honestly wish I could, but I’ll be in California.” His gut felt hollow at the thought.

She nodded, her face shuttering to a mask of correct politeness. “That’s right. With your family. Where you should be, of course.”

But Simon wasn’t really sure that was true anymore. While last year’s trip had felt mandatory, he hadn’t thought much beyond it. Was that really going to be his life? Traveling to the West Coast every Christmas to make sure everything was just so for Ash? When his family had lived here, it was easy to shove aside the thought that maybe he was only valued for what he contributed, not who he was. This year was making that thought inescapable. As horrible as the realization was, he also felt a trickle of something—relief, maybe—that he’d identified the real reason why he didn’t want to travel.

“I have a few last-minute presents to pick up for my family,” Thea said. “Nothing big, just stocking stuffers, but my family likes those almost more than the big presents. Well, the adults do,” she amended with a grin. “For the nephews, the bigger the better as far as they’re concerned.”

“I need some more wrapping paper,” Simon said.

“Sounds like you and Thea have a date with a big-box store,” Mrs. M said. She was back to being all twinkly and unsubtle about the fact that she liked them as a couple. But Simon wasn’t even sure if Thea was up for another date, let alone being a couple. He needed to pump the brakes on this.

“Thea might have other plans,” he said.

“Thea is definitely headed to the big-box store for small toys, socks and everything in the tiny travel section aisle,” she said, getting to her feet. “If you want, we can go together.”

Well, okay, then. Maybe Thea didn’t have other plans. That didn’t mean she was on board with the couple-y stuff Mrs. M seemed to be pushing.

He’d have to make sure he didn’t come on too strong.

Thea led the way back to her house, Simon trailing behind. But before they could open the front door, the sound of a car coming down the long driveway made her turn. “Oh good grief,” she muttered when her sister’s minivan pulled into view.

“What’s the matter?” he asked.

“My big sister. Incoming.” Apparently, she hadn’t taken the umpteenth clue-by-four to the head yesterday about showing up unannounced.

The minivan came to a stop and Gia jumped out. “So, you are alive,” she said, lifting one eyebrow as she took in Simon in yesterday’s clothes. Not that Gia knew that, but it felt like she did.

“Simon, this is my sister, Gia. Gia, this is Simon Osman.”

Gia coolly took Simon’s hand and shook it. “You were her date.”

He nodded.

“From last night.”

“Yes.”

“Interesting.”

The crests of Simon’s cheekbones went red, and Thea wanted to snap at her sister. But decades of dealing with her sibling meant she knew that snapping would only fuel Gia’s judgment. Instead, she folded her arms casually and drawled, “What’cha doing here all of a sudden?”

Her sister shifted the strap of her handbag on her shoulder. “We’d talked about going shopping this weekend.”

Thea felt her eyes narrowing. “Yeah, we’d mentioned it was a possibility, but we didn’t talk any further about it. You certainly didn’t say anything when we talked yesterday.”

Gia shrugged and her gaze slid away from Thea. “Well, you weren’t answering your phone this morning, Henry has the boys, and I was in the neighborhood...”

Giada Lucia Martinelli-Jaszek, you fucking liar. She kept those words inside since she couldn’t call her sister out in front of Simon. Not when she’d already embarrassed him. But there was no possible way her sister just “ended up” in this neck of the almost-literal woods.

Simon stirred then, muttering something about getting his stuff from inside her house. Considering how much of his stuff was still in her bedroom, that was probably a good idea. When the door closed behind him, Thea gave her sister her best face-melting glare. “ In the neighborhood? Where exactly were you headed? It’s not exactly like I’m between you and Costco. Or literally anything else.”

Her sister didn’t say anything, her eyes flicking to the side and her mouth twisting in annoyance.

“Just what I thought. What the actual hell is wrong with you showing up like this out of the blue?”

Her sister’s eyes snapped up to meet hers. “What the actual hell is wrong with you , sleeping with someone on the first date?”

Thea’s rage expanded in her chest until she felt she might explode. “The actual hell that it is none of your business, big sister .”

Giada’s finger stabbed at her, accusing. “That’s right. I’m your big sister and I always will be and I was worried about you. A one-night stand out here in the goddamn wilderness? What were you thinking?”

Thea rolled her eyes and flailed her arms, ending the gesture with pointing at Mrs. M’s massive home. “I don’t live in the wilderness. I was thinking that I know Simon, he’s a really good guy and we’d have a nice time together. And I was right. And you may always be my big sister, but I’m a grown-ass woman now and you don’t have to pretend like I’m your child. Don’t Nic and Matty keep you busy enough?”

Gia’s hands landed on her hips. “Yeah, they do, but you’re so goddamn impulsive and always have been, that when I didn’t get any responses to my texts or phone calls until it was practically the goddamn afternoon, I got worried.” But there was something shifty in her sister’s eyes as she said it.

Thea’s jaw tightened. The argument was old and she knew it was no longer relevant, but it still stung. She pointed back at her sister. “You didn’t get worried. You got curious. No, not curious. You got nosy . What, are you trying to live vicariously through me or something?” She flung up a hand, dismissing her sister. “Never mind. You have your own life. Make your own choices.”

Gia’s spine snapped straight. “Yes, I have my own life, but I’m also worried about your choices, Thea. What the hell are you thinking? I’d figured you had settled down after ten years as a firefighter. But now? New job, new man, what’s next?”

Thea shook her head, feeling like flies were buzzing around her face. “Why do you care?”

“Because I don’t want to see you becoming the drama queen all over again.”

Thea rolled her eyes at the accusation, trying to ignore the gut punch her sister landed on her, but Gia went on, relentless. “No. Listen. You sleep with a guy right away, you’re going to get attached, and next thing you know he’s going to be calling you a stage-five clinger and running for the hills. For all you know, this guy’s just using you for easy sex.”

Thea reared back like her sister had slapped her. At that moment, she didn’t care what her sister thought of her. Gia didn’t know Simon at all. A fierce, protective feeling swelled up in her. “I think you need to go now,” she said, her low voice shaking.

Gia’s face went stricken. When Thea went quiet in an argument, shit had gotten real. “Thea, I’m sor—”

Thea held up a hand and, in a similarly low tone, said, “No. I don’t want to hear it now. Just get back in your car and go home.”

She turned her back on her sister and walked into her house, careful not to slam the door.

Simon froze inside Thea’s front door. He’d intended to get his things—especially the things he’d left in Thea’s bedroom—and slide away quietly, but the sisters’ argument was all too audible through the wood. Gia especially had a carrying voice and she used it to stunning effect.

He thought over the last day. He’d had such a good time, been carried along so easily on the wave of, well, everything he and Thea had shared, that he hadn’t thought much outside their little bubble. Even hanging out with Mrs. M was fine. She was, weirdly, a part of the bubble. She didn’t judge, at any rate.

Gia was judging.

She was, apparently, judge, jury and executioner.

Simon winced as Gia called her sister a “stage-five clinger.” Yikes. That definitely hadn’t been his experience. And now he was some predator using her for sex? Outrage flooded his body. He couldn’t hear Thea’s response, but he moved away from the door when the knob began to turn, making it as far as the bedside table, where he picked up his wallet.

She didn’t seem to notice him though when he left the bedroom. She closed the door carefully, as if she was afraid it might shatter, and then leaned back against it. Her face was pale and she took in a deep, shuddering breath. Forgetting his outrage for a moment, Simon pocketed his wallet and strode over to her, stopping just shy of where she stood, his hand hovering beside her cheek. He’d moved without thinking—to comfort or protect or he didn’t even know what—but something in Thea’s posture stopped him from touching her.

Her big eyes lifted to scan his face. “Did you hear all that?” Even her normally confident voice sounded wobbly.

“Not all of it.” Not her reaction to her sister calling him a predator, basically. What had she said in reply? Had she defended him, or did she think his history in grad school meant he really was some sort of serial womanizer?

Thea’s eyes seemed to lose focus and she blinked, then straightened her spine, moving away from the door. Simon dropped his hand and took a step back, giving her space. Her jaw clenched and she gave a little nod. “I guess you have things you probably need to do,” she said.

It took a moment for her words to sink in. But yeah, it was unmistakably a dismissal. Pride snapped his spine straight and outrage made the edges of his vision flicker. “Oh. Yeah. I guess I do.” He walked back to her countertop and scooped up his keys. When he turned, she was still standing in front of the door, her expression unreadable. “Um. I guess I’ll see you next week for work, then.”

She gave another little nod. She didn’t look at him, but somewhere past his shoulder. “Yeah.”

“We don’t have the library conference room—did you have a place where we could meet up?”

She seemed to shake herself, almost as if she’d been in a trance. “Um. I’ll figure something out. I’ll text you Monday.”

“Okay, then.” Shrugging on his coat, he moved toward her to say goodbye in some fashion. Thea moved away from him almost abruptly, as if she’d been stung.

Chest hollow, Simon opened the door. He paused, turning to say—what? He didn’t know, and Thea was glaring at him like she wanted him to leave.

So he left.