Page 45 of Passions in Death
Becca nudged him back as Shauna shook her head. “Hovering,” she murmured.
When he only lifted his hands in a helpless gesture, Eve continued.
“What about your previous relationships, Shauna? Besides Marcus Stillwater and Jon Rierdon.”
“I talked to Marcus this morning.” Tears swam into her eyes, but she didn’t shed them. “He’s coming over as soon as he can get away from work. This is taking over your apartment, Angie.”
“Just stop. It’s yours, too, as long as you need it.”
“I have to find another place. I can’t live there now.”
“We’ll deal with that later,” Becca told her. “It’s nothing to think about right now.”
“I’ll help you.” Donna put an arm around her. “When you’re ready.”
“All right. Okay.” Shauna took a moment to settle again. “I haven’t talked to Jon in I don’t know how long. We didn’t have a big fight; it just wasn’t working for me. Last time I saw him, it’s been several years easy, I guess. At Jodi’s party, right, Bec?”
“Yeah, he was there. He brought a smoker.”
Shauna managed a smile. “She was, wasn’t she? I came solo—I think that soothed his ego some. He has a pretty big one. Anyway, I dated some after Jon and before Erin, but nobody serious. And before Jon—are we going back that far?”
“Details matter.”
“Well, there was Simon Pugh. I had such a crush on him. He didn’t have one on me.”
“I didn’t like him,” Becca muttered.
“Don’t I know it. We dated for about three months. Me exclusively, him not so much. Then he dumped me.”
“Wall Street guy,” Becca filled in. “Full of himself. It was a meet-cute, shared cab.”
“He was a little bit of a prick,” Greg commented, and Shauna managed a weak smile.
“He really was. And I can’t imagine he’s given me a thought since he dumped me. I dated in college, but that was mostly party time and, we’ll say, passions of the moment. If we’re still going back?”
She gestured toward Greg. “High school.”
“Shaunbar.” He sent her a look of affection. “We were The Couple in high school.”
“Good times.”
“Good times,” he agreed. “Then the emotional parting for college. You cried buckets.”
“I did.” The memory made her smile a little more. “Then I got over it.”
“You did. And all of that netted me the grand prize.”
“Aww,” Becca cooed when he took her hand and kissed it. “We all knew each other in high school—I think I mentioned that. They were The Couple, and I was The Very Serious Student.”
“Honor society, class valedictorian,” Shauna continued. “Wheeze.”
“Proudly. Then Shauna and I reconnected—or just really connected—and when Greg moved to New York, we had a kind of mini-reunion. That wasn’t long before the cab ride with Snobby Simon. We had a double date. Well, Greg and I weren’t really dating, more hanging. Now that I think about it, it was our mutual dislike of Simon Pugh that springboarded us into really dating.”
“Do we have to thank him for it?” Greg wondered.
“Nah.”
“You make me happy.” Shauna spoke softly. “Seeing the two of you together always makes me happy.”
