Chapter 10: The Lake Club

"I'm going," I told Elias that evening, while I braided my hair in the bathroom mirror.

"To the lake club."

"Yes."

"With Landon Huddleston."

"With my phone," I said. "Recording."

He leaned in the doorway and watched me pin the braid up.

I wore the good black dress I'd bought for my father's funeral and never had the heart to wear again.

I waited for him to forbid it.

Half of me wanted him to, so I could argue.

"All right," he said.

I turned around.

"All right?"

"You know what you're doing. I'll drive you, and I'll wait outside."

"That's insane. It'll be hours."

"I have a thermos," he said, and held it up.

The Lakeshore Club sits on a bluff above Lake Michigan with tall windows and a menu with no prices.

Landon had a corner table, a bottle of red wine already breathing, and a wide white smile when he stood to pull out my chair.

"You came," he said, delighted.

"I'm hungry."

"That's the spirit."

I slid my phone under the napkin on my lap, thumbed the red button, and picked up a menu.

He ordered for both of us, without asking.

He talked about his Porsche, and a boat that I later learned was a friend's.

He talked about Columbus, where he said he'd made his first fortune "on volatility."

I smiled and said "mm" and let him hang himself on the long rope of his own mouth.

By the main course, he'd finished the wine.

"Kasey," he said, leaning back. "Let me tell you what I like about you."

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