Would I Lie to You? by Trisha R. Thomas

Author:Trisha R. Thomas [Thomas, Trisha R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-54969-3
Publisher: Crown/Archetype
Published: 2011-06-21T16:00:00+00:00

QUICKSAND

VENUS wasn’t through her front door before the sound of the ringing phone sent her already overworked adrenal glands into high gear. She paced, thinking of what she’d say to Airic. She’d avoided him long enough. She picked up the receiver and carried it to her bedroom, peeking at the caller ID box. It stopped ringing but the readout remained. Unknown caller. She picked up the little plastic casing, then slammed it back down. “Identify the gah-damned caller! What good are you?”

She moved back into the living room, where the machine kicked on. She waited, holding her breath, listening.

“Hey you, just checking on my girl Sidney gave his blessing for me to fly out there, so holler if you need me. Plus, I could use the getaway. There’s some stuff going on at this end; either way, I think—”

Wendy’s voice cut off with the machine. Her tone was too low. She sounded tired. Venus wondered if her friend still cared to switch places as they often talked about. The Single life versus Married with Children. Which life was more consuming? More eternally exhausting?

The phone rang again. Venus assumed Wendy was calling back, planning to finish her message. She picked it up quickly.

“You’re there.” The warm touch of Jake’s voice.

Venus sat down on the thick sofa, pulling her feet together on the edge of the cushion. “I’m here.”

“Everything all right?” Jake sounded far away, an echo of space in his words.

“Everything?” She stared at the raggedy toe polish, wearing off at the tips.

“I must’ve caught you at a bad time. Honey sitting there beside you?”

“No.”

“Just a woman of very few words tonight, huh? Okay, I see.” The pause seemed longer with the air between them. “I was only calling to see how things went, how your mother was doing. How you’re doing.”

Finally, the sound of a crashing wave. She had a feeling he was outside, standing on his deck. The swift wind blowing, carrying his voice out to sea.

“I’m fine. My mom … she’s at home. My dad and Timothy are taking care of her. We didn’t have a good departure earlier, but I’m going to make a fresh go of it tomorrow.”

“Good, she needs you.”

“How do you know?” She managed to scratch off all the flaky polish on her big toe. She liked it better that way, natural, clear of trying to be something it wasn’t. She ran her thumbnail over the rest of them, looking for another loose chip to pry.

“I know because you’re easy to need. When you left the studio today, I found myself watching the clock.”

“Hmm. Interesting. Why do men always proclaim their need after I’m already gone?”

“I couldn’t figure it out either, why in the world I was missing someone who didn’t miss me. Thinking about someone who wasn’t thinking about me. That’s not my style at all,” Jake confessed.

“So what was your conclusion?” Venus felt the day’s events drifting off like the waves in the background. Certainly the last few hours had turned into a distant memory.

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