Chapter 5: Rain

I got in because the rain was running down my neck.

That is what I told myself.

The car smelled like leather and cold air and something dark.

Gregory turned the heater up without being asked and pulled out of the drive without a word.

The wipers beat back and forth.

"You didn't say anything in there," I said.

"No."

"Your sister-in-law called me a cheater and a thief over a roast. You sat there and looked at a fork."

"I know what I did."

"Do you? Because from where I sat, it looked like cowardice."

His hands tightened on the wheel.

"Yes," he said.

I waited for the excuse.

It didn't come.

He just drove, with the streetlights sliding over his face, and a muscle moving in his jaw.

"That's it?" I said. "Yes?"

"You asked a question. It's the true answer."

"That's the most annoying thing a man has ever said to me."

"Colin said worse at dinner."

"Colin lies. You just stand there like a very expensive coat rack."

He made a sound.

It took me a second to understand it was a laugh, short and rough.

"A coat rack," he said.

"A tall one. With good tailoring."

"I'll take the tailoring."

"I wasn't complimenting you."

"I know," he said. "I'm collecting what I can."

I turned to the window so he wouldn't see me smile.

We crossed the river into the city.

The rain turned the road into a black mirror full of red tail lights.

"Why did you ask me to dinner?" I said.

"Because you're the only person who has ever walked out of that boardroom without turning around."

"That's not a reason. That's an observation."

"Then here's the reason." He didn't look at me.

"You came to Christmas two years ago in a green sweater. You spent three hours on the floor teaching a six-year-old to knit."

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