Kyle shook his head.
“She dated him right after graduation. He was twenty-six. The precedent was set.”
“Twenty-six isn’t anywhere near forty-one.”
“She ever tell you who she dated her freshman year at college?”
Again Kyle shook his head.
“Her Linguistics Graduate TA,” Liam smiled. “Then in her sophomore year she dumped him for her Sociology professor. And that guy was married with two kids.”
Kyle understood the point. “But still …”
“She ever tell you how old her dad is?”
“She didn’t.”
“Sixty-five,” he said. “More than twenty years older than my sister. He’s a banking guy. My sister was his trophy wife. His second marriage. They’ve been divorced for about five years now. He’s already on his third wife.”
“I didn’t know.”
Liam shrugged. “She’s got an Electra complex,” he said. “They both do. I’m sure my sister was looking to replace my dad because he was taken away from us so young. She was looking for someone to fill that role, I guess. Her shrink says it might be something else, it might be that she was looking to find someone to replace my grandfather.” Liam shrugged again. “But who knows, right? At least she recognizes she has it, and she knows Allie’s got it too. We’re definitely a dysfunctional mess.” He chuckled. “But what family isn’t, right? You played into Allie’s hand. I might be her uncle, but I know what she looks like, and I know she gets what she wants.”
“Still …”
“Still nothing. Forget about it. I didn’t even read the texts. Never told my sister about them either.”
And that was it. He didn’t discuss it with Liam any further. Nor Allie. But he did speak with Nicki, though not about the texts. She’d called a few times to update him on Allie’s progress and thanked him again for helping Liam. Kyle told Liam about the calls. He didn’t want there to be any secrets. Not to that level. Liam just smiled, seemingly relishing the potentially awkward budding relationship and the continual closeness of Kyle to their family. Not that Kyle knew where, if anywhere, it was heading. But there seemed to be something there, some connection between him and Nicki. He didn’t know where they might take it, but he wasn’t afraid of venturing down that path. Even though he knew he’d have to tell her about his texts to Allie. But he didn’t care. In fact, he was actually looking forward to where things would lead—on all fronts. Sure, he’d be careful, but he wouldn’t deny that the potential relationship excited him, invigorated him. And so did the odd circumstances that came with it. Liam was right. All families had their own dysfunctional issues. It was just a matter of how they handled them.
And he was pretty sure he would eventually forgive Eddie as well. He knew as time passed their friendship would endure. Maybe not to the same degree as before, but it would rekindle again at some point. It just needed more time.
As he approached Liam at the table, Kyle saw chunks of bread hanging in the man’s beard and a few poppy seeds stuck in his teeth.
Kyle smiled.
The man was a bit of a mess and was definitely odd, but he had become a friend as well. A good friend.
One Kyle was thankful to have.
About the Author
Stephen was raised in the suburbs of Long Island and now lives with his wife and son in New York City. When not crusading on behalf of the design professional community, he enjoys writing thrillers with a supernatural touch.
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