Page 25 of On the Rocks

“That’s not the p—wait, what does she do?”

They all laughed at me.

“Are you blushing?” Vincent asked.

“Shut the hell up.” These were my closest friends. It was harder to lie to them than it was to lie to myself. Did Cora affect me? Yeah, maybe. Shewasincredibly attractive. But could I stand being around her for more than ten minutes without needing a stiff drink? Absolutely not. Still, the thought of her checking me out, liking what she saw…I couldn’t pretend it was abadthought.

“Daddy, can I go look in the greenhouse?” Hailey asked, pulling at Dominic’s sleeve.

“Maybe when we’re all done eating,” he said.

I jumped up, spotting my out. “Come on, Hailey. I’ll take you to look at the greenhouse.”

“Oh wait!” Dee said, getting to her feet. “Let’s do the cake first.”

“There’s cake?” Trent teased.

Dee nudged him as she passed. “Of course there’s cake. You know that.”

“Cake!” Hailey cried, content to remain at the table now.

I sighed. Oh well, at least the attention was off me. Plus, cake! I pulled out my chair to sit down again, but from the corner of my eye, I saw Dee stumble. Next thing I knew, she was on the ground.

“Nana Dee!” Trent said, bounding to his feet.

I reached her first, crouching next to her. “Jesus, Dee, are you okay?”

“I’m all right,” she croaked, attempting to roll over. “I just…I tripped over my own feet. I’m okay.”

“Sit up slowly,” Trent said as we helped her adjust her position.

“Are you sure you’re not hurt anywhere?” I asked. “Did you bang your head when you hit the ground?”

“No, no. I’m fine. Don’t fret.”

Don’t fret?“You broke your fall with your arm,” I said. “We should at least check to make sure nothing’s broken or sprained or?—”

“It’s not a big deal,” Dee said, but Trent was already gingerly pushing up the sleeve of her cashmere sweater.

“Have you fallen recently?” he asked, pointing out old bruises. “What is all this?”

Dee bit her lip, her brow furrowing. “It’s nothing. Really, I?—”

“Dee,” Vincent said as he came to stand by my side. “Please don’t lie to us.”

“Oh, all right, maybe I’ve had a few more dizzy spells lately,” she admitted, clicking her tongue, trying to sound dismissive even as she avoided eye contact with all of us.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Trent asked. I could hear the growl in his voice. I knew he wasn’t angry though; he was worried.

“Because I am fine,” she insisted. “Now help me up.”

We did, slowly pulling Dee to her feet, all of us on edge. It’s like we were waiting for her to spontaneously crumple.

Dee put her hands on her hips. “See? Good as new.”

“Dee,” Paul said. “This sounds like an ongoing problem you’re ignoring.”

I caught Trent’s eye. We all remembered that dizzy spell Dee had a little while ago. The one that led to her falling down the stairs. At the time, we’d thought it was an isolated incident, but apparently not.

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