Page 23 of Fragile Kiss (Fragile 2)
The only noise in the room for a little while was the buzz of the heater. Andrew fixated on his feet, his brow furrowed. Lillian remembered his deep-thinking face from when they were younger. He had always done the same thing when something was really wearing on his mind.
“So this woman wants you to help her?”
Lillian nodded. “She wants to fly me out tomorrow.”
Andrew’s eyes almost bugged out of his head. “Tomorrow?”
“Yeah. Short notice. I’m pretty sure she’s loaded, Andrew. She said she would cover all my expenses. Accommodation, flights, transport—everything.”
“How do you know she’s legit?”
“Cayden only works with the elite. The top ten percent. If he was at her house seeing all this for himself, it must be legit.”
“Good point.” Andrew looked back at his feet. “I don’t know, Lillian.”
Here it comes. She knew he would give his opinion sooner or later. She had just been hoping for later. Preferably after she was already in Los Angeles, if she ended up going. “Don’t know about what?”
He gave her a “don’t be stupid” look. “You know exactly what I’m going to say.”
“I know exactly what Amelia would say,” she tried to argue, but caught herself in her own trap. “I guess it would be similar to what you would say, since you’re siblings and all.”
“What would Amelia say, then?”
“What were you about to say?”
“I don’t think you should help this woman,” he said simply, not wavering in his gaze at her. “If she wasn’t so closely connected to Cayden, then by all means have at it. She must be loaded enough to sponsor your trip and have a house in Los Angeles.”
“So you don’t have an issue with me not knowing her or anything?”
He shook his head. “Not particularly, but that might be because she’s so close to Cayden. So it’s likely that I would if that connection wasn’t there.”
Lillian frowned. “This whole thing seems like a catch 22.”
“I just wish she could be linked to someone else. Anyone.”
“I don’t know anyone else in Los Angeles, though. But it’s a nice thought.”
Andrew made his thinking face again. “Anyway, you have clients here.”
“Actually, I was thinking about calling them to cancel this week.” At Andrew’s surprised expression, she quickly explained herself. “I mean, I only have four appointments this week, and they’re all people I see pretty much every week. So it’s not a big loss.”
“But they’re depending on you.”
“They would be fine for one week, Andrew. It’s just organizing their houses. It’s not brain surgery.”
“I can’t understand it.”
“The organizing part? I know, you’re crazy messy.”
“Hey,” he pointed at her, “I’m much neater now than I used to be.”
“Fair enough.” She took a sip of wine, lamenting that she could see the bottom of the glass already.
“That’s not it, though. I just—I’m just confused by you. It seems like every time I think I can predict what you’re going to do or how you’re going to handle something, I’m wrong.”
Gray Cat jumped onto the chair and curled up in Lillian’s lap. She scratched the cat’s ears. “How am I responding differently now?”
“What do you want, Lillian?” Andrew asked sharply. “It’s really hard to help you when you’re vacillating between decisions.”
