Burning Down the House Read Free Page B

was halfway into my steak when Dad asked me about the wedding.
    “It was nice. What do you expect - you know Mom, everything was organized to the letter and planned out eight months in advance. You could have come, you know. You were invited.”
    “I don’t think your mother would have been comfortable having me there.” He cleared his throat. “Besides, I hate formal events. So is that the dress you wore?”
    “This? No. I changed after the wedding.” I would’ve looked like a dork wearing a pink taffeta gown on the plane ride here. Instead I had on a comfortable blue cotton sundress and canvas sneakers. As far as I was concerned, I never wanted to see that hideous Pepto Bismol colored dress again. My mother and I definitely didn’t share the same tastes in formalwear. That thing looked like something regurgitated from a sick flamingo.
    “Your hair looks pretty like that.”
    “Thanks. We all got up and went to the salon at the crack of dawn this morning.”
    “You must be worn out by now.”
    “Yeah , I am. It’s been a long day.” I glanced over at Rob, who was silently finishing up his dinner. At least he was eating. Whenever I get depressed about anything, I lose my appetite completely. He’d polished off a sixteen ounce sirloin in record time though.
    “Anyone want dessert?” Dad offered.
    “No, thank s,” Rob and I said almost in unison. I grinned at him but my smile wasn’t returned.
    Some man was waving from the bar, so my father dropped his napkin on the table and stuck some cash in the guest check holder. “I’m going over to speak to Eddie for just a minute. I’ll be right back. If the server comes by, tell her to keep the change.”
    As soon as he walked off, Rob turned his moss-tinted eyes on me. He didn’t say anything. He just looked at me.
    “Not a big talker, are you?” I meant it as a joke but it came out sounding unintentionally flirtatious.
    “ Well, you talk too damn much. You gonna finish that?” He reached across my arm for a piece of buttered bread that was left on my plate. I couldn’t believe it. It was more than I’d gotten out of him all night.
    “Guess not,” I said , watching as he popped it into his mouth. “You think I talk too much?”
    He gave me that raised eyebrow again.
    “I was just trying to be nice,” I enlightened him. “Work with me here.”
    He leaned in deliberately close, as if he was about to reveal some deep dark secret, and I felt a thrill of anticipation. But what he said wasn’t at all what I expected to hear.
    “Look. I don’t need the running commentary from Miss Mary Fucking Sunshine. Trust me, I’m not any happier about this situation than you are. So let’s just agree right now that I’ll stay out of your way if you’ll stay out of mine. Deal?”
    My eyes widened in surprise. Before I could think of a reply to his blunt remark, the waitress appeared out of nowhere. “May I take that for you?” she asked, indicating the check holder.
    “Yeah, thanks. Keep the change.” His eyes were still on mine, waiting to see my reaction.
    I mentally counted to ten while suppressing my temper, reminding myself that he’d recently experienced an overwhelming loss and was obviously hurting. “That’s gonna be a little hard to do, considering we’re both going to be living in the same house.”
    “ Try.”
    “I wasn’t planning on invading your privacy or anything. You don’t have to worry about that.”
    “Do I look worried?”
    “Well, you just grew into a regular charmer, didn’t you?” I couldn’t help myself. Why was he acting like this when all I’d done was try to be friendly?
    “And you haven’t changed a bit, unfortunately.”
    “What’s that supposed to mean?”
    “Use the next ten months to figure it out. Just leave me the hell alone in the meantime. You think you can handle that?”
    I had no chance to answer him because Dad returned to our table then. Rob reverted back to his stony silence and very little was