Faith and Lies (Vera Reid, Reid Family Book #2)

Part 21

"I can't believe it." Echo said to Vera and Romy as they set the table. "I mean... he didn't just win..."

"... he completely obliterated the competition." Romy finished with a chuckle and a grin. 

"He did okay." Vera muttered with a frown, trying not to show how upset she was. She'd never lost, not once, not since she was 12.

"Ha!" Echo said with a big smile. "He did more than okay."

Echo was certainly enjoying this much more than she should. Shouldn't she be on her sister's side? No, not today. Today she was enjoying that her sister had lost at the one game that Echo should be the champ at. 

"Whatever." Vera said, typical sore loser. For the most part, the Reids were not ungracious losers, but there was a lot going on in Vera's mind at the moment. She'd watched Tom laugh and joke with her family, watched him talk casually and comfortably with Luke, and still felt like she was watching an old movie. Was this really happening? Hadn't this man just dumped her a couple of weeks ago? It was too strange to be real and yet somehow, it wall worked well. She needed to speak to him in private, otherwise she wouldn't feel at ease, not really. 

"Here, take these to the living room." Romy said, handing Echo a plate with more snacks. "Dinner is still another 20 minutes."

"Love too." Echo said, practically humming as she scooted out of the room. Her disposition had really changed since Luke arrived the day before. Vera wondered if they'd had a fight when she first arrived. Echo had always been the silent, sullen type but ever since she'd met Luke it was like something deep inside her blossomed. Echo was constantly surprising them with new sides of herself. They'd originally thought this was Luke's doing, and maybe it was to a certain point, but the more time that passed, the more they realized that Echo had grown beyond the bounds of her relationship. There was no stopping her and Vera was excited to see how that would develop in the years to come. Was it possible that she and Tom could make up? Would they share something like that some day?

"We don't have a lot of time." Romy said suddenly, making Vera turn to her in confusion. 

"What?" Vera asked, confused. 

"Come on." She said, grabbing Vera and pulling her back into the kitchen from the dining room. 

"What's going on?" Vera asked as she did so. "Something on your mind?"

Romy nodded, glancing behind her one more time to make sure no one else is around. 

"I did something you won't approve of, something that I'm not even sure I approve of. But before I confess it, I want you to know two things- I realize I was wrong. I shouldn't have done it and I apologize." Romy said, looking confident and stoic as ever. "The other thing is that I did this because I was concerned. There was no malice intended here."

Vera raised her brow. 

"Okay." Vera said. "Just tell me, I promise not to be mad."

"You will be and you have a right to be." Romy said. 

"Fine, I will be but I'll forgive you and I won't give you the cold shoulder. Now tell me what this is about." Vera said, starting to become worried. 

"I hired someone to look into Tom." Romy said, her chin lifted up. Vera's eyes widened and her jaw dropped. She stared at Romy for a second, processing the words and feeling like she would yell. Instead, Vera gritted her teeth back together and took a deep breath. 

"Okay. I see..." Vera said, feeling like she would rage. 

"I can see how angry you are." Romy said, feeling for the words, "But I want you to know what I found out."