Page 75 of Stone Rules

A few weeks ago we went to a hamburger joint because Charlie was having a craving. I rarely drink around her because I don’t want her to feel deprived that she can’t. But that particular night, someone was having a party and they were passing out wine so I accepted a glass. I told her how much I liked it.

And she remembered. I can’t stop my boyish grin.

I kiss her on the cheek and invite her in. I follow behind her as she walks around the expansive open-style floorplan, taking in everything slowly. Her eyes rake over my brown leather sofas, my ten-seat dining room table that has never sat more than one, my chef’s kitchen that usually gets used for microwaving frozen meals or reheating take-out.

She walks to the wall of windows, admiring the floor-to-ceiling panoramic view of the city. “You’re loaded,” she says, turning to me and swatting me on the arm.

“Me personally, no,” I say, earning ayou’re-full-of-shitlook from Charlie. “Okay, well, technically, yes. But I didn’t earn it so I never look at it that way. My grandparents were very well off and when they died, they pretty much left everything to my brothers and me.”

“They cut your parents out of their will?” she asks, surprised.

“Believe me, they didn’t need the money,” I tell her, reminding her they are both doctors. “When you put a neurosurgeon and a neonatal cardiothoracic specialist together, that makes for one hell of an income.”

“When did your grandparents pass away?” she asks.

“My grandfather died about six years ago. He was eighty-one years old. He was sitting at his desk when he had a massive heart attack. When my grandmother found him, his glasses were still perched on his face. He died instantly. Peacefully.”

“I’m sorry,” she says, touching my arm, looking up at me in sympathy. I know she knows I’m thinking about Cat. Every time I think about death, I think about her. They go hand in hand.

I take the opportunity to put my arm around her as we both admire the view. “He had a great life and was healthy right up until the day he died. He was lucky.”

“And your grandma?”

“She was lost without him. They had been married for sixty-three years. Got married as teens and never spent a day apart. I never understood how you could be with someone day in and day out and not ever get sick of them. Not until I met you, that is.” I lean over and place a kiss on her head.

“You aren’t ready to toss me to the curb yet?”

“Never.” I run my hand along her jaw, wanting to kiss her, but needing to finish my story. “Anyway, my grandmother died on the day that would have been their sixty-fourth anniversary just ten months later. They said the sorrow of that day more than likely caused her own heart to simply fail. Tragic, but in kind of an awesome way if you think about it.”

“Wow,” she says. “I love that story. You should tell Baylor; she’d probably write a book about it.” She motions around the penthouse. “So you inherited all this when you were only twenty-two?”

I nod. “Yes. And my brothers were pissed as hell because they were younger than me. They weren’t allowed to touch their part of it until they turned twenty-one.”

“And by that time, Chad was already into acting,” she says, knowing pretty much everything about my family. “But Kyle still decided to go to medical school? Even though he had all that money waiting for him?”

“People who want to be doctors are a rare breed, Charlie. They don’t do it for the money, yet most of them make bucket-loads of it. They don’t do it for the glory, yet most of them are heroes. And Kyle is just like my parents. It didn’t matter if he inherited two dollars or two million; he was going to become a doctor no matter what.”

“I like Kyle even more now,” she says.

My jaw tightens. “Just don’t like him too much. I don’t like to share, Charlie.”

She laughs, pulling away from me to continue her perusal of the room. “I love the flowers.” She walks over and smells one of the red roses. “The rest of the place is so masculine; they really soften it up.”

“I’m glad you think so. Maybe someday, the entire penthouse will have a woman’s touch.” I raise my eyebrows at her so she gets my meaning.

“Hmmm.” She walks over and runs her hands across the sleek quartz countertops, ignoring my insinuation. She looks at the oversized oven, double-wide refrigerator, and wine cooler that line one entire wall of the large kitchen. “Skylar would drool over this kitchen, Ethan.”

“We should invite her over sometime,” I say.

“We?” she asks.

“Hmmm,” I respond, making her smile. “Are you hungry? I could throw on the steaks.”

She licks her lips. “Steak sounds heavenly. I’ll help. But can we wait a bit? I’d love to see the rest of your place. That is if you don’t mind.”

I was hoping she would say that. But at the same time, I’m terrified of what she’ll think. “Right this way.” I hold my hand out to her and she grabs it.

I’ll never get tired of holding her hand. Charlie is tall. Much taller than Cara was, or even Gretchen. Taller than any girl I’ve ever been with. And because of that, her hands are longer, sleeker than the others, and they don’t get lost in mine.

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