Playing All the Angles (16 page)

“Yes, and I want to know your answer.”

Another long pause. “We saw each other at family functions. We argued a few times over your relationship. We hadn’t seen or talked to each other in ages when I showed up to the shower.”

“When you did talk…” Isabelle knew she was beating a dead horse, but she couldn’t help herself. “What was it about?”

“When we did talk, it was me trying to run him off of you. We haven’t had a friendly conversation since you brought him home. Well, I guess that first one was semi-friendly, but then I was caustic after that.”

“I hate that he’s slept with you too,” Isabelle said quietly.

“I know,” Eve agreed gently.

“It’s like how you always stole Alora’s boyfriends.”

Just as gently, Eve said, “No, it’s nothing like that at all. With Alora, it was the way to get my foundation back. Alora stole everything that was important to me: Mum and Dad’s affection. You weren’t old enough to see it or to remember it, Issie, and by the time you were old enough, I’d made my defenses. With Alora, I was just fighting for ground. When Dominic and I met—do you want to hear this?”

“I do.” Isabelle nodded, her attention rapt for more than one reason, not the least of which being that Eve was speaking in her real tone of voice and was talking about herself, giving Isabelle an in to vulnerabilities. It was rarer than a unicorn.

“I was at a party,” Eve said slowly. “And I was with a guy I’d been dating. The night prior, he’d gotten rough. I told him I wanted to end things, and he said no and got as rough as being at a party would allow, telling me that I was his or no one’s. I saw this guy standing nearby. He was good-looking. He was big. He looked like he could take the guy I was with. Then he turned and looked at us, looked at me, and there was some definite chemistry. So, I walked over and asked if he had a car. He did. I asked him to show me.

“We went outside to his car, and we shagged. The guy came out, like I’d hoped he would, and saw it. Obviously, it was Dominic I was shagging, right? He and Dominic squared off. Dominic threw three punches, and the guy was down. It was the last I saw of him. Dominic was furious at me, rightly, and told me off. I told him he’d gotten what he wanted, and it was a small price to pay. Then we introduced ourselves and went and had pie.

“After that, we went out off and on, but we were too much alike to work. We’re both bastards, and neither of us could commit. Neither of us wanted to. But we did become decent friends. When he went off to try to make his band work, I just let it go because I was trying to get my life on track and grow up, and he wasn’t a good influence to that. Then he turned up with you…and that’s that.”

“You slept together a lot?”

“We shagged a lot. I never let him sleep over. He never let me sleep over either, for that matter. We were always kicking each other out of somewhere for some reason. And, Issie, he usually had a regular girlfriend, too. Like some girl who thought she was the only one. Some good girl. A nice girl. Like you. He always wanted his sweet, good, clean girlfriend for the public eye, and his whores on the side. Plural. So, when he turned up with you, I figured it was the same pattern.”

Isabelle was quiet. There was more revelation there than she could process at the moment, so she grabbed on to what she could. “Was it the same pattern?”

“I don’t know. I do know that you fit what he said he always wanted.”

“I was nineteen when we met. He was twenty-five,” Isabelle said. “Patrick had just gone. Not even a full month. He was different and exciting and wasn’t going to leave me for God.” As she said it, she felt herself starting to cry. She’d never admitted it before. “I just had lunch with Patrick, Eve. He’s here working at Mercy. He’s a pediatrician doing his residency.” Her reunion with him came pouring out while Eve sat and listened, and finally, she ended with, “And I’m married to Dominic. And I love Dominic so I can’t see him again, and I want to see him again.”

“I’m not the one to give you advice, sweetie.”

“You give me advice about Dominic all the time. Why stop now?”

“I can give you advice about Dominic because I’ve been down that road. Any advice I give you is going to begin with ‘run’ and end with ‘as far away from Dominic as fast as you can,’ and you don’t want to hear that.”

“No, I don’t. But, Eve, I still feel something for Patrick.”

“Of course you do. He was your first love.”

Isabelle closed her eyes, letting Eve’s voice soothe her, simply glad to be talking to her sister again. She was stretching for a reason to keep her on the phone when she heard a voice in the background and asked, “Where are you? Are you at the studio?”

“No, I’m in Birmingham.”

“Birmingham? What for?”

“I came up with my neighbor. He’s from here.”

“Oh…oh. I should let you go then.”

“No, I told him I was taking this call for as long as it took.”

Isabelle looked at her watch. “It’s taken almost an hour. I’ll let you go. I love you.”

“I love you too. Be good to you.”

Isabelle sat for a while longer, stretching her brain and trying to remember anything of Eve from that time frame. There was a void, though. Eve had been absent from all family contact back then, even alarmingly so. She had skipped two Christmas holidays, hadn’t returned anyone’s calls or e-mails, and had just disappeared. Now and then, she’d sent out a note copying everyone. She would talk about being busy at school, the parties that came with the internship she had at Stella McCartney’s, and mention the weather. The only thing Isabelle knew was that Eve had been in an accident with a boyfriend. Their mother had come across a society photo from a fashion house after-party showing a slice of Eve’s left half, and she was wearing an amazing scarf as a sling for an arm in a flesh-toned cast.

Seeing the cast, their mother had called Eve at her internship and demanded an explanation. “Motorbike smashup” was what she got. Now Isabelle wondered, and she wondered if Dominic would know anything of it. Isabelle had always just thought it was hilarious and totally Eve to have a flesh-colored cast.

Walking home, she tried to think of more, digging for any memories, and came up against a wall that was painful to the touch. Her parents and Alora had just let Eve go. No one seemed to care. When she had questioned it, they had always dismissed her with “Eve’s different, darling,” or “Eve is just very independent. She’s happier alone,” or “Just enjoy the peace.” She’d been too young to do anything, really. She had tried to keep in contact, but she’d been a teen and in love, and there was school and her own parties. The only time she could remember her mother seeming at all concerned was after the photo. And then the response had been: “Classic Eve.”

They had Marcus to thank, or despise if you were Alora, for Eve’s reappearance at all. Eve later told Isabelle that he’d demanded to see her family, thinking she’d been exaggerating them. Otherwise, she would have stayed out of the picture much longer.

“I adore you, baby sis.” Eve had smiled. “But the rest of the fam gives me hives. Dad’s never forgiven me for being a slut, and Mother’s never forgiven me for being born so close on Alora’s heels. Neither has Alora, for that matter. You’re a darling, though.”

“You tried to sell me online,” Isabelle had reminded her. “You hated me.”

“It’s because you were so sweet and cute.” Eve had laughed. “It’s funny. Alora’s got the domestic goddess thing down pat, and she’s got a good heart—for anyone who isn’t me—and she’s sweet. But she has nothing together outside her personal life. She’s never been school or career-minded. She’s only ever wanted to be a wife. She’s got nothing outside of Doyle; only God knows why. No, no, listen. Hear me out. I’ve got the good head, but no heart. My personal life is usually spiraling out of control, but I’ve got a fantastic career. Look at me: I’m always a mess. You…you’re the one with the whole package. You’re beautiful, and you’re sweet, and you’re smart, and you’ve got a brilliant career ahead of you doing something you love, and you’re going to have a great home life with or without Dom because you have all the pieces to the puzzle. You’ve got a good heart and a good head. Lora and I have our bits and bobs, but we pale in comparison to you. And that’s why I wanted to drown you when we were little. Even then, it was clear you were the superior sibling.”

“You wanted to drown me?” Isabelle remembered how her voice had squeaked and Eve had laughed again.

“It was my great fantasy that you and Alora would die horribly, and then Mother and Dad would have to love me because I was all that was left. Then Marcus pointed out that they probably would have just hated me all the more since I’d lived and you two had died. Still, I was ten. You don’t think that far ahead when you’re ten. Mind you, I’d tear anyone to shreds who tried to hurt you now. And secretly—never breathe this—I’d do the same for Lora. I was a shit sister to her. Still am. But I’m too old to switch it up now.”

Isabelle had left that conversation feeling closer than ever to Eve, but further away, too. There was a gulf between them, so vast they might as well have not been related. She wondered if Eve felt that way too.

At home, she was still pondering when Dominic arrived. As he put down his keys, he asked, “Are we still fighting?”

She looked up at him and shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

He was visibly relieved. “Good. I’ve missed you, love.”

She managed a small smile. “Yeah, me too.”

He took a seat across from her. “Do we need to talk?”

“I don’t know if I want to talk more. I talked to Eve today.”

He seemed to lose his color, but he kept his composure. “Good. Yeah, good.”

“She told me how you met. It made me start thinking of how messed up my family is.”

“I’m sorry.”

Isabelle sighed. “We’re not supposed to know it, but Nonnie told me. My parents had to get married because of Alora. They’ve changed the dates on all their wedding documents, but she was an accident. Then Eve was a huge accident and was apparently the exact opposite of Alora, who was a quiet, sweet baby who slept through the night. And my dad was traveling, you know? He was trying to build his business. He was away a lot…are you getting what I’m saying?”

He sat forward. “Eve’s not your father’s?”

“Nonnie didn’t think so. She looks just like Mum. Lora and I look just like him. Apparently, they nearly split over that in the beginning.”

“Damn.”

“Exactly. But they made it through that, and Dad raised her as though she were his without ever bringing it up again.”

Isabelle went on, listening to her own voice as though outside herself as she talked about her mother, who’d had to give up her acting career before she could make a name for herself. With one baby, she might have been able to continue, but not with two in diapers. She’d been left alone with two small babies, barely out of her teens, scraping to make ends meet until Isabelle’s father had gotten his restaurant business going. Then they were on the move again as demand for his talent grew. Her parents had planned to have Isabelle, and even though she’d been a girl and not the boy he’d wanted, she’d been “his” baby. He had missed out on Alora’s and Eve’s babyhoods entirely, so he did everything for Isabelle, and she was Daddy’s girl.

“I think Alora saw me as an ally and a toy alternately. I think Eve saw me as a black hole?”

Dominic shrugged at the question in her voice. “Eve never talked to me about her family, babe. Ever. As far as I knew, she sprang fully formed out of the head of Zeus. She never said a word.”

“Was she at Stella McCartney when you met?”

“Yes,” he answered warily.

“Did you two have a motorbike accident together?”

Dominic shook his head, confused. “No. Why?”

She related the story she’d heard. “I guess I thought maybe it was you. You and motorbikes and all that.”

He shook his head again, a different expression on his face. “Eve wasn’t ever in a motorbike smashup as far as I know, Issie. One of her boyfriends beat the hell out of her. More than one, but that was the worst, I think. She seemed to attract that then, seemed to court it. It’s nice she’s outgrown that…I hope.”

Isabelle nodded. “I hope so too,” she said, her brow creasing. “She told me how you met, that you got her away from the guy who was treating her badly. I think she learned the difference then.”

Dominic couldn’t hide his surprise. “She actually told you about the guy roughing her up?”

“Yeah. It was a shock, but now the fact that there was no motorbike smashup doesn’t seem so surprising. I’m sorry that she didn’t have anyone to turn to when she was going through all of that. Before you, I mean.”

He seemed to choose his next words carefully, weighing them out in pairs. “She never really turned to me, Isabelle. Just…the nature of our relationship meant she couldn’t hide it from me, either. So, I said my piece when I could. I do think she kept coming round because I was different, though.”

“She kept coming around because you were good to her.”

“Yeah.”

“And she could confide in you without you judging her.”

“Yeah,” he agreed.

She looked at him, considering the picture she had painted. It was a better one than him having just been another punk knocking her sister around. For the moment, she decided to go ahead and believe that was how it had all played out. “I’m sorry that I’ve been so difficult about this. It just really took me by surprise.”