Page 47

I hadn’t thought about it, but I guess I hadn’t. “Anyone with eyes can see she is the most beautiful person ever to walk the earth, she’s sexy and striking, but her appearance is the least interesting thing about her. Her mind, her resilience, her sense of humor, her mannerisms, her voice, and her talent supersede her appearance.”

They were all quiet for a moment but then went easier on me after that, switching to stories about their own misadventures and roasting each other’s love life.

Kenny had apparently been waiting for just the right moment to make his social entrance, and he picked it with the tactical precision of someone who’d spent his entire adult life reading power dynamics and adolescent popularity contests as though they were different versions of the same rulebook. He detoured through the crowd with a can of beer gripped in one hand, his posture loose and self-assured, a pace that said “I’m not trying to draw attention, but you should absolutely be looking at me.”

I noticed Mikayla out on the tideline, still on the phone, one hand slicing the air in expressive frustration as she paced the damp sand. Her voice carried intermittently, the cadence clipped and musical, and every so often she broke off to stare at the horizon like a general planning a siege. I knew if she looked over and saw Kenny, she’d eye him with the same unsentimental efficiency she applied to a budget spreadsheet—catalogue, assess, disregard—so for the time being, I let him have his moment.

He was dressed in the kind of weekend casual that probably cost more than my entire ensemble: a powder blue quarter-zip over a white tennis shirt, slim-fit khakis expertly tailored to suggest both athleticism and affluence, and deck shoes so pristine there was no way he’d ever been near a boat.

He bypassed the log seating around the fire and instead found the aunts and me off to one side trading stories like poker hands. Reba and Laura were in the midst of a friendly squabble over whether the s’mores tasted better with dark chocolate or the classic Hershey’s, but the moment Kenny joined us, both women straightened up like field mice spotting a hawk.

The temperature around us seemed to drop a few degrees, despite the bonfire’s heat.

Kenny smiled, all teeth and calculated humility. “Ladies, Damon. Hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

Reba smiled politely, but her mouth barely cracked. Laura offered a nod and turned her body ever so slightly away, the universal signal of polite disinterest. Only Aunt Beverly held his gaze, her expression somewhere between bemused and predatory.

“Not at all, Kenny,” Beverly said, her voice syrupy sweet but with a razor’s edge. “We were just hearing about how Damon met Mikayla. It’s quite a story. Involves a rooster who took a liking to her.”

Kenny blinked, nonplused, then tried to steer the subject back to familiar terrain. “Yeah, well, animals love Mikayla. She’s always had that effect. Even on people.”

He shot me a look that was meant to be friendly, but it lingered a bit too long. I gave him the barest of nods, a gesture balanced between challenge and boredom. I’d already pegged him as the kind of guy who looked at every interaction as a pissing contest, even when the only prize was a fleeting sense of superiority.

Kenny looked at me, sizing me up. “So, Damon, how’s it been getting to know Mikayla’s world? Quite a shift from ranch life, I’d guess.”

I played it straight. “Not as different as you’d think. Cows and CEOs both respond to being spoken to clearly.”

Reba stifled a snort, and Laura’s mouth twitched.

Kenny looked like he was about to say something, then changed his mind. He cracked his neck once, a nervous tic. “You know, we dated a long time ago. Back in high school, actually. She was the brains of the operation even then. Ran student council, debate, mathletes, you name it.” He said this like it was an inside joke, but none of the aunts laughed.

I knew that with people like Kenny, people who needed to turn sideways to walk through doors because their ego was so big, me having no clue who he was would bother him. I smiled, bland and noncommittal. “Huh. She never mentioned you.”

That got his attention. His smile faltered, just for a second, and a flicker of something—genuine, unvarnished irritation—passed through his eyes. “Never?” he asked.

I shook my head, dead serious. “Nope. Only ex she’s ever spoken about was the last one. Walked in on him balls-deep in his assistant, apparently. Guy tried to apologize by hiring skywriting, as if that would somehow make up for him being a dishonest prick. What a loser.”

Reba whistled. “Men are so predictable.”

I let that statement hang for a moment before pushing the knife a little deeper. “And when he was caught, the guy tried to flip it around, make it her fault. Tried to gaslight her, you know? Real piece of work.”

Kenny was fuming. I could see him studying me, trying to suss out whether or not I was fucking with him. What he didn’t know was I grew up with three brothers, I was a master shit stirrer.

I knew I could leave it there, not push this any further, but where was the fun in that? “Can you believe that? What an absolute idiot. Any man who has the chance to be with Mikayla and fumbles that hard is a fucking joke. Right?”

Reba gave me a tiny approving nod. Laura looked like she wanted to clap. Beverly’s eyes narrowed, watching Kenny like he was a suspect and she was a detective and already knew where the bodies were buried.

But Kenny, to his credit, didn’t storm off. He took a measured sip of beer, forced a smile, and said, “I’m going to grab another drink. Anyone want one?”

“No thanks,” I said, giving him a lazy smile. “I’m pacing myself.”

“Ladies.” Kenny’s chin dipped and he walked off toward the coolers, his back somehow less straight than when he’d arrived.

I felt Beverly’s eyes on me even before he left the huddle. When she spoke, her voice was low, the way a person might ask for a secret ingredient in a recipe they planned to steal.

As soon as he was out of earshot, Mikayla’s aunt stared up at me, her eyes searching mine. “You know that Kenny was the ex that cheated on her, right?”

“Yes, ma’am. I do.”