Page 53 of Mile High Ex's Dad
I look at my son and feel, with some weariness, that I have been having variations of this conversation with him since he was old enough to mistake ego for dignity.
“No,” I say. “You embarrassed yourself.”
His face darkens. “You took her side in front of everyone.”
“You were wrong in front of everyone.”
“That isn’t the point.”
“It is exactly the point.”
He takes a step closer. “You don’t know what she’s like.”
The words interest me. More than they should.
“No?” I say. “Then enlighten me.”
He hesitates. Just slightly.
There it is. The problem with men who have enjoyed too much indulgence for too long. They are often certain of their grievances and very hazy on their evidence.
Ethan folds his arms. “She likes attention.”
I think of Sienna on the terrace last night, shaking and trying not to let me see it. I think of the way she kept her head down through breakfast, the way she seems to prefer usefulness to notice. I think of the fact that when she disappeared from the plane months ago, she left without leaving a last name, anumber, or any of the usual little hooks women use when they want to be found.
No. Attention is not her vice.
“She does not strike me that way,” I say.
Something in him snaps a little at that. “Of course she doesn’t.”
I let the silence draw out.
Then, very evenly, I ask, “What is she to you?”
He looks at me and says nothing. Which, of course, is an answer.
Interesting.
When he finally speaks, his voice is tighter. “Nothing.”
That word is a lie. I know it. He knows it. The only question is what kind.
Before I can decide how much I want to push, Camille calls out Ethan’s name. He gives me one look before leaving.
Just as soon as Ethan leaves, Yuri appears by my side. I’m distracted, still watching Sienna from the other side of the field. He follows my line of sight toward the house and says nothing for a moment. Then, because he has never had a survival instinct worth admiring, he says, “Ah.”
I glance at him. “Ah?”
“So that’s why you’ve been behaving like a man with a head injury.”
“I was shot last night,” I remind him.
“You get shot once every few months. This is different.”
I say nothing.
Yuri’s mouth twitches. “Is she the same woman?”
