Page 20 of So in Love
Crystal wasn’t sure she’d said.“Redmond Stowe.”
Brooke, who’d been taking a drink of cider, started to choke.Beside her, Kelsey lightly hit her back.“You okay?”They exchanged concerned glances.
Nodding, Brooke took a deep breath.“I’m okay.Did you say Stowe?”
Crystal’s Spidey sense jerked to attention.“Yeah.”
Brooke and Kelsey looked at each other again, their eyes widening in concert.
“What?”Alaina said, sounding slightly alarmed, which was how Crystal felt.
It was Brooke who finally spoke.“Stowe is Cam’s—and Luke’s, obviously—mom’s family.”
Well, fuck all.Crystal’s gaze strayed to Jamie at the bar.He chose that moment to look in her direction too, and they locked eyes for a moment.The edge of his mouth tipped up.It wasn’t a smile but a hint of…something.Heat flooded her insides, and she forced herself to look away.
“Maybe they aren’t related,” Alaina said.
Brooke and Kelsey both stared at her as if she’d sprouted a second head.
Alaina rushed to say, “No, seriously!Back in Blueville, there were two families named Dick—yeah, Dick.Anyway, they weren’t relatedat all.And Blueville’s about the same size, right, Crystal?”
Crystal had been listening to the conversation but her brain had lingered on Jamie.More accurately, on New Year’s Eve.The way his mouth had just curved.He’d done that several times, usually right before he did something particularly fantastic to her.Hell.
She shifted on the bench and took another drink of cider.A good,longdrink.“Uh, yeah, Blueville’s about the same size.”Small and judgmental-sized.
Brooke and Kelsey exchanged looks again and shrugged.“I suppose it’s possible,” Kelsey said.“But I doubt it.”
Crystal realized she could settle this.“Darryl did find a Stowe in Ribbon Ridge—Randy.I don’t suppose that rings a bell?”
Both Kelsey and Brooke exhaled.“That’s their uncle,” Brooke said, sounding resigned.“Well, that sucks.”
“Do you think they don’t know?”Alaina asked.
Kelsey blinked.“No idea.Not that it’s ever come up.‘Hey, have I ever told you that my family is descended from a KKK leader?’”
They all stared at each other.“Uh, yeah,” Crystal said.“Awk-waaaard.”She drew the last syllable out, and they all nodded in agreement.
Alaina sipped her sparkling water and looked at everyone, half wincing.“Still, we have to ask, right?”
Kelsey straightened, sitting taller.“I think so.I can do it.”
Crystal’s gaze drifted to Jamie again.He was drinking a beer and chatting with the bartender.Damn, he was sexy.And young.Tooyoung.
Only five years—or so,her mind argued.
Gah, he’d been in middle school when she graduated high school.He’d barely been driving when she and Alaina had been partying in LA.He was still in histwenties, while Crystal…wasn’t.
And why was that a big deal?
Because Tommy had been a year younger than her.Younger meant immature and so many other things she didn’t want to deal with.
“Actually, why don’t you let me handle it?”Crystal suggested, surprising herself.“It makes more sense for me to approach them.You’re both attached to that family now.I’m not.If they get upset or I piss them off by asking, no harm done.”
Kelsey tipped her head to the side.She didn’t look convinced.“But they know we’re all involved in this project.And they know I’m coordinating the history exhibit.”
“True, but let me break the bad news—if they don’t know, that is.”
Brooke nodded.“Okay.How do you plan to do it?”
