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After a long shower in the luxurious en suite, I put on dark jeans, a turquoise shirt and a black sweater. As per Kyle’s instructions, Willow came to my room and took me downstairs for brunch. I was nervous at facing Kyle’s family, but with Willow as Virgil to my Dante, I navigated the inferno of the Paxtons’ inner circle with a calm facade.
Brunch was served buffet-style in a sunny yellow dining room right next to a huge Mediterranean kitchen. To my shock, the ladies were decked in cocktail dresses, heels and big diamonds. For brunch. I ignored the sneers my casual attire drew. No wonder Kyle wanted to buy a designer atelier for me—fashion was life and death for the Paxton ladies. And a lot of the men.
“Stressed, Depressed, but Well-Dressed” was the slogan here.
Ever the gracious hostess, Marissa made me a plate filled with every dish from the buffet table as her Pomeranians, Chanel and Lulu, yipped and ran in circles around us before running off to join the other poodles and pets owned by the Paxton tribe.
Drunk this early in the day, Marissa yelled every word in my face and gave me two blood orange mimosas and a rum Witches Coffee along with my food. I took the drinks with a polite smile and dumped them in a plant when she wasn’t looking.
Walking around the Paxton cliques with my plate, I searched for a friendly face. All I saw were hostile, judgey eyes and without Kyle, I was unarmed. I felt like I was back in high school...a shunned outcast wrapped up in her freak flag.
Eventually, I was relieved to find a seat next to Willow and Clive in the dining room. After a crazy night of partying with Tyler, they were in the throes of vicious hangovers and looked like roadkill. When I teased them and said they looked like wet rags in sunglasses, they responded in grunts and groans. Tyler and his entourage were still out of commission.
I was happy to see Kyle’s kid nephews and nieces running around the house this morning. Colt recognized me from the museum and I had fun listening to his adorable plans to fly to Europa, a moon of Jupiter, he informed me.
Min-Jun hung protectively over Colt but she did not say much. She asked about Kyle and looked up every time someone entered the room. I hoped her interest in Kyle was due to the custody battle for Colt and not something more intimate.
To my disappointment, Kyle did not return at the time he had promised. My Clockwork Android seemed to be losing his powers.
After brunch, I left the noisy breakfast room and walked back to the bedroom, hoping Kyle was there. I was on the stairs when I heard heels clicking across the marble floor.
I spun around to see Denise strutting up to the stairs in a green silk dress. Stylish and exquisite as always, she dazed me with a sugary smile. “Oh, hello. Are you off then?”
“Not yet,” I replied.
“How was Christmas at casa Paxton?” she asked in a chatty way as if we were besties.
“Good.”
“I hope you got a full family primer this weekend.”
“Yes. It was great.”
I turned to go and stopped when she tapped my arm.
“Hey, where’s the fire? Royce and Kyle are still holed up with their father.”
Mindful that I could be bait in her arsenal against Kyle, I continued up the stairs. “No fire. Just going up.”
“Me too,” She got closer and went straight for the jugular. “So you and Kyle. Who knew? I didn’t when I met you. Explains a lot. Kyle never used to come to Ann Arbor and now he practically lives here.”
“Well, he’s on the museum board and his father wanted him home for the holidays.”
“You know, I don’t buy that. Kyle is only committed to self-preservation. He doesn’t dance to anyone else’s tune. Surely you know that by now.”
What the hell? “I really must go. Excuse me.”
“Aren’t you a quiet little charmer? It’s always the quiet ones who will get you.”
Keep on walking, Juniper.
Don’t feed the troll. That is what she wants.
My logic did little good and the offended part of me stopped dead in my tracks. “Get you? I don’t know what you mean.”
Denise had a fake smile plastered across her fuchsia lips. She lifted her hands up in the air. “I mean, you kept a big, bad secret from your coworkers. Dating the big boss.”
“It’s all very new. Not a secret.”
At this point, my smile faded, all my pulse points on alarm. In spite of my annoyance, I admired her combat tactics. She was a master at gauging soft spots. I tried to walk around her but she blocked me.
“Enjoy him while you can, honey.”
“What do you mean?”
“We both know about Kyle’s schedule of depravity. Women flocking to him, happy to be used for months. All in exchange for cash and carry. Fits Kyle’s self-centered way of life. But it is so retrograde to us girls, isn’t it? Positively medieval. Is it worth it for such a short little time with Kyle? Let me know when he is done with you.”
Speechless, I could do nothing but stare at her. I paled and my mind buzzed in tension. Kyle had assured me only Evan and one of his lawyers knew about his system. So how did Denise?
Unless, she is a past Summer or Winter?
No. No. No.
It can’t be.
“So, are you his Summer?” she asked.
I just stood there with a slow hysteria collecting inside me and she scanned my face looking for clues on what I was thinking.
“Well, are you his Summer? Even though it’s winter?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I am Kyle’s girlfriend.” My voice was strangled.
“Oh, aren’t you a loyal little darling. I do hope he is worthy of your loyalty.” Denise chuckled, her violet eyes shimmering with fake admiration.
I wanted to slap that smug smile off her face. With a fish. Instead, I turned my back on her and started walking up the stairs. “I know you worked in media but you should mind your own news.”
“Wait,” she called after me.
“Why?” I swiveled around and looked down as she was two steps below me. “Look, Denise, I am not a fan of female-on-female bashing. Life already sucks enough. Every time we devalue one of our own, we do ourselves no solidarity favors. So lean in, shake it off or dream Zen—whatever is on your Pinterest board, okay? P.S. being a mean girl means you’ve got insecurities and esteem issues tearing you from the inside. Go fix yourself. Leave me alone.”
Juniper drops mic.
Pig-headed, arrogant and relentless, Denise ignored my words and still came after me. I sighed. Apparently Marissa was not the only one stuck in her own echo chamber in this house.
“So what did Kyle offer you? A better job at the museum? Fire one of your rivals and hire you to their position? Hmm. But I don’t see you as the clawing-to-the-top type.”
“No, that is your specialty.” I finally found my nasty voice.
Though taken aback, her polite and pretty mask did not slip. “Oh yay, she bites. Good to know you have a pulse. But you’re more of a bleeding heart, aren’t you? Let me guess...you wanted donations. You went to him with your begging bowl. That melted his callous heart and he broke a few rules for you.”
“Your attacks mean nothing to me. All you have is ad hominem fallacy.” I was trying to feign nonchalance.
She smiled and folded her arms. “What happened? Did you get a crushie wushie? Kyle does have a bad boy appeal. Did you chase him until he gave in to your aw-shucks charms? It must have been quite a shock to learn you only get the privilege for five months.”
“Denise, you’ve crossed a line.” I took a deep breath to cool my rage. “I did not pursue Kyle. And I don’t need to justify my actions to you or anyone else.”
“Aren’t you cute? Or maybe you’re smart...just waiting and lying and hoping and dreaming that a Prince Charming can come along and swipe away your lower class problems. Keep on dreaming, darling—the Paxtons are not the marrying kind.”
Fury ripped my logic and patience to shreds. Hands clenched in fists, I faced her. “Look, lady, I don’t want to get married. At all. That’s your dream. Get out of my way.”
Rat droppings. I let her get to me.
“Come on now—banging your big, loaded boss: your family must be so proud. He is many, many, many steps up from the lowlifes that you no doubt dated before.”
“Oh my God! Leave me alone. How about we agree not to talk for the next few months?”
I was quaking to my toes. How is she still smiling with such killer poise?
Seeing her savor my discomfort, I realized she had tricked me into this conversation.
Next few months. Next few months. Next few months. Oh no.
Why did I say that?
I had just given away that I was, in fact, stuck in Kyle’s system for the next few months.
Her smile went from bitchy gloating to planet conquest level. Then, in a second, her features softened. “Hey. Listen, I am sorry. I should not have spoken to you the way I did. It’s been a stressful weekend. Before you get your feathers in a fluff, I think we should be friends.”
Bewildered, I stared at her in shock. I was not expecting an apology. Denise was a mixed bag of crazy and polite. I was reminded of Lady Macbeth who looked like the innocent flower but was the serpent under it.
Could Denise be bipolar?
No, she was too in control of her guile for that. But she was pathological. I could imagine her childhood. She definitely had a few people yelling at her to always be polite and walk with a good posture and dress ladylike, no matter what life threw at you. At times like this, it could not disguise her inner crazy, no matter how much she tried.
I could not accept her apology. “Friends with you? I’ll pass. You are one delusional lady.”
“Oh come on,” she said with an unsure smile. “Royce and Kyle are brothers, after all.”
“And you’re the one who tore them apart.”
“I did not. In fact, I want to bring them together. You have no idea how hard I try to patch things up. It’s all I do. Balloons pop all the time. Prick. Prick. Prick. I can’t patch them all.” She paused, mashing her carnation lips in a pout. “As I was saying, we’ll see a lot of each other in the next few months until the next Winter comes along. So the next time our paths cross—”
“You should keep on walking.”
“Hmm. Your anger is a good match for Kyle. Get couples therapy. Did you hear he broke Royce’s jaw at Thanksgiving?” With a little pleased cat smile, she walked slowly down the stairs.
My shoulders shook in contained rage. Kyle was right. Denise was dangerous and I had just been carpet bombed by her. What had happened to me? In the last few days I had lost my tooth, my edge, my anger, my dignity, my tongue, my voice.
Leave now. You have overstayed your welcome.
