Page 79 of This Life and All the Rest
I nod a thank you, then pull out my phone and send Andrea a text. I should have just done this to begin with. I don’t even know why I didn’t. But I’m here now, so I turn to head up the stairs.
“Where are you going?” Claire calls, trailing me once more.
I whirl on her, stopping her in her tracks in the middle of the stairwell.
“I’m checking my dad’s office. Maybe Andrea put it in there.” I turn back around and walk toward the office. Claire follows, but I ignore her. I sift through some things on the desk and check the bookshelf. Nothing. Then my phone buzzes with a text from Andrea.
Sorry! I had to run into work. I haven’t seen anything come for you, but Iwill let you know if it shows up. You’re always welcome to come back and stay atthe house. Then you’ll know right away.
Despite my immediate irritation with Franco, I can’t help but smile. Andrea is trying to make me feel welcome, but there’s no way in hell I’m staying here. I send back a simplethanks, then turn to Claire.
“Not here,” I say simply, then push past her.
“I told you it wasn’t.”
Her voice is sharp, like she wants to provoke me, so I ignore her. I bypass the kitchen and head straight for the front door.
“Where are you going now?”
I sigh and turn around, keeping my hand on the doorknob.
“To go paint.”
“At Macon’s?”
“Yes, at Macon’s,” I say flatly, then raise an eyebrow. Are we really doing this again? Are we not past it? I swear her eye twitches as she watches me. “What, Claire?”
“You’re just spending a lot of time with him, is all.”
“It’s really none of your business who I’m spending time with.”
I turn again to leave, and her voice stops me in my tracks.
“Are you sleeping with him again?”
The agitation and barely restrained anger in her voice set my teeth on edge. When I spin around to face her again, she can tell. Her eyes flare, and her jaw tightens. I take one step forward.
“It’s none of your business who I’m sleeping with, either.”
Her jaw drops, her eyebrows slant, and she jerks her head.
“He’s yourbrother,” she hisses.
I can’t help it. I scoff and roll my eyes. She’s fucking unbelievable.
“Let’s get one thing straight, Claire.” I speak slowly and annunciate my words. “Macon is no more my brother than you are my sister. And you willneverbe my sister.” I drag my eyes down her body and sneer. “Now fuck off.”
She sputters something else at me, but I don’t turn back around. I walk calmly to my car and shut the door with less force than I feel vibrating through me.
Because I’m pissed, I send Franco an angry message telling him to mail my fucking painting, and then I call Sam.
The moment she answers, my chest loosens. She’s my reminder that not every person on Earth is unreliable or a trash heap.
“Babe,” she says brightly, “how’s your dad doin’?”
The very topic of my dad knocks the encounter with Claire out of my head. If I told Sam about it, she’d probably order a hit, and I’m not there yet. It’s better that I keep it to myself for now.
“Better. He knows me, at least.”
