Page 61 of A Conflict of Interest

“You do have a knack for that,” I said, once I pulled away a few inches. She smiled.

“Reading, or kissing?”

“Yes.” I kissed her again before I stood up, picking up the plate. “I’m cleaning up this time and you cannot stop me.”

“You’ve already been spoiling me this morning.”

“So why stop now?”

She laughed, standing up. “That’s a good argument. Thanks, Kelce.”

I was in the middle of cheerfully scrubbing dishes—and let it be said that Kelcey Huntingtoncheerfullyscrubbing dishes was not the most common sight in the world—when a quick knock came from the door, and I glanced over to where Veronica made a face, dropping her laptop on the couch just as she’d picked it up.

“Not a spurned lover coming around for revenge, I hope,” I said, and she shrugged, heading for the door.

“Odds of that happening twice in the same holiday season are slim. I survived one Christmas tree.” She unlocked the door and pulled it open, and my stomach dropped at the sound of the woman’s voice immediately from the other side—Veronica’s mom Maria’s voice.

“Oh, Veronica, sweetheart, I’m so glad you’re okay. Is everything all right?”

“Mom?” Veronica moved to block the door, putting her foot behind it to stop it from opening wider. “What are you—what do you mean, okay? Did something happen?”

“Well—you didn’t come to the apple bake party!”

“Oh yeah… I forgot about the apple bake party. Mostly I don’t actually care about it much. Sorry, I’ll, uh, send a card or something—”

Veronica’s mother was a beast, because she pushed the door open anyway, sending Veronica stumbling, and didn’t even seem to recognize Veronica had been trying to close her out. She stepped inside, dressed in a loud Christmas sweater and her hair up in a knot, and she was halfway through saying something before her eyes caught on me standing there with a dish sponge in my hand. “You don’t need to send a card, don’t be silly, I just wanted to make sure—oh,” she said, stopping suddenly. “Oh, my god. Oh—Kelcey—I didn’t—”

“Mom, can youleave?” Veronica said, her hands on her hips, and I cleared my throat, putting the sponge down by the sink.

“Um… hi, Mrs. Preston. Don’t worry about it, Veronica and I are, um—we’re just working on a project.”

Maria swept suddenly over to my side to give me a hug I was not physically prepared for. “Oh, darling, it’s so wonderful to see you,” she said. “Veronica was talking about how terribly she misses you and wishes she could have you back—”

“Mom.” Veronica fell backwards against the wall, groaning into her hands. I prickled with awareness.

I mean, I knew what the situation looked like… a domestic scene here with me wearing Veronica’s pajamas in the morning cleaning up from our breakfast. And it wasn’tincorrect.But it just—this wasn’t how I was planning on anything going. “Um… we were just working on a project,” I said, even though I felt bubbly deep down inside at the thought of Veronica talking to her mom about how she wanted…

Maria stepped back, squeezing my upper arms, beaming brilliantly at me. “Oh, I’m sure,” she said. “I’m sure yourprojectis going wonderfully. Oh, Kelcey, we have allverymuch missed having you around… it’s wonderful to see you again. Are you coming with Veronica to the family gathering tonight?”

“Oh. Um.”

Veronica stepped up between us, smiling patronizingly at Maria. “Mom, are you sure you don’t want to keep the space for you and Dad and the Goulds?”

Maria went red-faced, scrunching up her face at her. “Veronica! You don’t need to make crude comments just because you don’t understand!”

“I understand very, very well.”

“What do we understand?” I said, and Veronica shrugged at me.

“Mom and Dad have started swinging with Matthew Gould and his wife—”

“Veronica.Don’t say things like that to poor Kelcey.” Maria looked like she’d pass out. I beamed at her.

“I mean, if the four of you are happy, then that’s wonderful,” I said.

Maria put her nose up. “Really, I can’t believe we’re all here talking about this.”

“I’ll let you know how things are going with tonight and if I’m able to make it, Mom,” Veronica said, ushering Maria towards the door. “Now please give us some space. Bye-bye.”

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