“Well, I am. That’s what I’m talking about.”
“What you should be talking about is what you think of this Talbot guy, since you had sex with him, more than once, which is something to my knowledge you don’t do very often—or at all lately.” She hastened to add, “And if you and Carly have been holding back on me, you’re in trouble.”
Camilla brought her knees up. “No, you’re right. I haven’t. Maybe that’s why I went combustible all the sudden. Like dry tinder with a spark of something. Mason was just the…lighter.”
Her sister tilted her head. “Is that how it was? You didn’t, ah, simply like the guy.”
She was silent, trying to figure out how to answer that. She ended up deciding on honesty. “I liked him a lot.”
Brandy nodded. “So that’s what you should be thinking about now. The two of you.”
“There is no two of us. You don’t understand, he’s… He’s never even had a girlfriend.”
“My God! You popped your boss’s cherry?”
“No,” she muttered. “Of course not.”
“Good, because that wouldn’t have been normal for a guy that age. I’d be guessing gay.”
“Not that it’s any of your business, but he was very hot in bed.”
“Of course it’s not my business. Tell me more.”
Camilla flipped her head and toweled her hair. “He doesn’t have relationships.”
“That’s what they all say. Believe me. Brad was saying that right up to the altar.”
“No, he’s odd…different.”
Brandy eyed her. “Different… So what’s wrong with that?”
“He didn’t even know what to say to Mom and Dad.”
“What boyfriend does the first time?”
“He’s not my boyfriend.” She rubbed her hair more vigorously. “You don’t understand.”
“Do you like him or not, Cammy?” Brandy persisted.
“Yes, I like him, but I don’t think it’s in the cards. It’s not just that he’s different, it’s that we’re too different, from each other.”
Brandy took the comb she had brought out of the bathroom with her and tugged it gently through Camilla’s wet hair, a soothing motion that reminded her of childhood, one sister or another getting her ready for school, her mother the general overseeing the process, making lunches, calling out instructions.
Had it really been so easy then? Probably not. A few years after she was born Joey came, and life wasn’t easy after that. Wonderful, but not easy.
Which reminded her of the question Mason had asked. The only question. If that was her brother.
“He’s so awkward with people sometimes. I wonder how he would really take Joey.”
The comb paused. “Well, fuck him then.”
And they both laughed. Once her hair was smooth, Brandy handed her back the comb and stood up. “Don’t you think you should give him a chance and you’ll see? He might surprise you.”
She leaned over and kissed Camilla’s cheek. “Sounds like you need to talk, you two.”
“What do I do about my job?”
Brandy folded her arms across a chest that was heading slightly in their mother’s direction, perfectly comfortable with the ten extra pounds she had put on since her marriage. Like most of her sisters, Brandy was happy. What was wrong with Camilla that she was not, even with all the love surrounding her?
“Get a new job. Or better yet, do something else. I hate to say this, Cammy, but you’ve never liked being a lawyer.”
“Feel free to say it,” she muttered. “I say it all the time.”
“Exactly. Even when we flew out to Reno—”
“Oh, don’t bring that up again.” She flopped against the back of the couch. “I know, I know, I get flirty when I drink.”
“That wasn’t what I was going to say.” Her blue green eyes were serious. “I was going to say that there you were, just passed the bar, had a lucrative high-paying job on Wall Street and, honey, you were not happy. In fact, though you tried to hide it, you were desperately unhappy, and I’ve always thought that was because you felt like you were closing a door, not opening one.”
“You don’t understand about all the student loans I had to take out.”
Brandy headed to the door. “No, I guess I don’t. Because I care more about whether my little sister is happy than I do about whether she defaults on her student loans.”
“They’re not dischargeable in bankruptcy,” she called to her departing form as Brandy gave one last wave and left.