Page 121 of Look on the Bright Side

“Yeah. Brought me her panties as proof and said something like, ‘She’s not very loyal, is she? Sorry to be right.’ ”

Horribly, it sounded exactly like him. “Oh, Dante.”

“Yeah. I mean, it was a very convincing presentation, so kudos to him for that. I broke up with her—she didn’t seem to mind—and she went to Lorenzo, who completely blew her off. Then she told me she wanted to get back together. Much to her surprise, I declined the offer. The end.”

“Oh, my God. I’m so sorry.”

Dante was quiet for a second. “The thing is, Lark…he really did think he was doing me a favor. And that I would need something…big…to see her for who she was. I’m not telling you he’s a horrible person. Just that he has a very bad way of…relating to people.”

“You’re defending him?” she asked.

“No. Not really. I mean, I don’t want to trash-talk my own brother. He’s not…well, he got you, so what do I know? Maybe he’s great and I just can’t see it.”

“I’m not really dating him,” she blurted. “I’m just…a prop, sort of. A companion for the wedding and family stuff. We’ve never even kissed.”

He looked confused for a second. Then he tilted his head, and his eyes got a little hard and flat. “You’re not dating him? My whole family thinks…are you serious?”

“I felt really bad about lying to your family,” she whispered.

“Yeah. You should.”

She bit her lip. “He wanted your grandmother to think he had somebody. To be honest, Dante, I think he’s lonely.”

“And whose fault it that?”

“His. As you said. He has a bad way of relating to people. His head is so far up his ass he can’t see how much you all love him.”

Dante looked at her a long second. “Well, that’s one take on it. Jesus. You’ve been lying this whole time?”

She set her water glass down on the table. “Dante, I…I said I’d do it because your grandmother was on hospice. It seemed like her dying wish was for Lorenzo to have someone who loved him. So I said yes. And also because Lorenzo is a little pathetic, you know? He wants so much for you all to be impressed by him and believe he’s got his life together. He thought having me around would…distract from the truth, maybe. That he’s gifted, sure, but has no idea how to connect with people.”

“What’s in it for you? I mean, I find it hard to believe you’d just do this out of the goodness of your heart. It’s a pretty big ruse, and we met you, what? In May? So three months of this, just because?”

“Um…well, he had some contacts in the field I want to work in. I never planned on being in emergency medicine forever.”

“Right. You still want to be an oncologist.” Emotions flickered through his eyes.

“But…well. Never mind.” It didn’t seem right to dump her uncertainties on him.

Dante didn’t say anything for a minute, then stood up. “Well. Nice seeing you, Lark.”

“Are you…are you mad at me?”

He threw up his hands. “Yes! You just told me you’ve been lying to my family for the past couple of months. I’m not happy.”

“But you understand, right?”

“Not really, no.”

“I was trying to do something nice, Dante. That’s all. I got kicked out of my residency. I panicked, and Lorenzo gave me a possible way back in. He went to med school with the head of Dana-Farber. So I said yes, because I thought it would make Noni happy and also because all I was ever supposed to do was become an oncologist.”

“Because of your guy. Justin.”

“Yes. Exactly. And now, I don’t even know if I want that. But I’m not dating your brother. Not at all. And I…I’m starting to…I like you, Dante. A lot.” Her knees ached with nerves, and her heart was thudding against her ribs.

He sighed, then ran a hand through his dark hair. “I’m not really sure what to do with that. But for now, I think you should go.” His voice was gentle, and it made it that much worse.

With that, he walked her out, waited till she was in her car, then closed the door and turned off the porch light.

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