Page 25 of Out of the Shadow

Feeling a bit foolish, I blurt, “Did you ever date anyone other than Dad? I mean, you’ve been married forever. I can’t imagine it.” I’ve never asked her before, and she’s never offered the information.

She smiles and tosses the remaining popcorn into the trash. “I did, actually. I guess I never told you, but your father and I split up when he left town to go to Vietnam. During that time, I dated a boy named Christopher.” Her eyes veer away from our task and stare off into space. “I fancied myself in love with him for a while.”

“You did?”

“Yes. He was very handsome and smart. Son of the chef at a local restaurant. Man, he could cook,” she says with a laugh.

Not finding this a laughing matter, I press, “What happened?”

After a minute, she returns back to the present. “Well, your father came back. All it took was one look at him and I knew. I broke up with Christopher that night and have been with your father ever since.”

Which only serves to prove my point. “Because he’s your soul mate.”

She shrugs. “Yep. Your father has always been the one for me. Even when I was with Christopher, I knew a big piece of my heart belonged to someone else.”

Yes, I do know. My heart will always belong to Dante. Now and forever. Even though he’s never returning.

My sister pops into the kitchen, bringing in some cups, which she loads into the dishwasher. “Have you seen a photo of Angie’s co-star yet, Mama?”

“He’s nothing special,” I protest a bit half-heartedly. Empirically, he is quite something.

“Ha!” Juliana fishes out her phone from her back pocket and shows our mother.

Mama takes the phone and immediately starts fanning her face, which is a touch too dramatic, if you ask me. “Oh, wow. I didn’t know men could look like that in real life.”

“Can you imagine seeing that troll in the office every day?” My sister eggs Mama on, all the while giving me the side-eye.

My mother looks at the screen again before passing the phone back to my sister. Pursing my lips, I protest, “He’s just a guy. Not even a real estate agent. Yet. Really, he’s just a paid actor.”

Except that doesn’t feel fair anymore. King actually likes real estate, and I can’t deny he poured himself into preparing for that test. Still, I decide not to share. It’s much better for him to just be my colleague.

I’ll always remain true to my one soul mate.

King

I TAKE A DEEPbreath and walk into Russo Real Estate. The place bustles with activity today, our first day of filming. Cameramen and sound operators fiddle with their equipment, while people in jeans run around with clipboards in their hands double-checking God knows what. The director walks up to me. “King. Great, you’re here.”

“Hey, Kaitlyn.” I take in all the commotion around us. “So, this is your rodeo. What’s the plan for today?”

“You and Angie are going to have a contest to see which one of you can bring the most new clients into the office.”

This sounds too easy—there has to be a catch. They’re going to make us do something embarrassing like wear a hot dog suit. Wait, they wouldn’t do that, would they?

“What am I going to be wearing?” Please don’t say hot dog suit, please don’t say …

“A bathing suit.”

Relief washes over me. Chuckling, I say, “I had an awful vision in my head, but a bathing suit, I can do.” I’ve worked hard to sculpt my body, and I’m not averse to showing it off. Besides, now I’ll get a much better look at Angie’s lush curves.

Hey, where did that stupid thought come from? No way she’s going to like this anyway.

Kaitlyn gives me a conspiratorial look. “What did you think we were going to ask you to do, King?”

I shake my head. “Oh, no. Not going to give you any ideas.”

She smiles and explains that we’re going to pound the pavement and invite people to come into the office and sign up as agency clients, whom the show may film later in the season as potential buyers or sellers. Only those who sign on the dotted line—which includes a waiver to be on the show—will be counted toward the contestant’s final tally. It will be in our best interests, of course, to bring in the highest volume of people.

Kaitlyn finishes, “The bathing suits highlight the fact that we’re in an ocean community.” And, I add to myself, will be a ratings bonanza. Finished with her explanation, she points me toward the sad conference room, where wardrobe has set up shop.

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