“What?”

“Yes, and he likes me, too. I’m moving in with him.”

“Tara! What are you doing? Who is he? Where does he live? Since when are you seeing him? Why didn’t you say you met somebody? Do we know his family?” The questions were fairly shooting from her mother’s mouth.

“You don’t know him.” Tara took a deep breath before landing the blow. “He’s a waiter. And he’s the nicest guy I’ve ever met.”

“A waiter?” Her mother’s shrill voice nearly pierced her eardrum.

Tara pressed the End button on her cell phone and disconnected the call, then turned the phone to silent. If she weren’t waiting for a call back from Paul, she’d turn her phone off altogether in order to avoid her parents’ calls, but at the moment she had no choice but to simply ignore them and let them go to voicemail.

16

“Looks good,” Jay commented to the general contractor and pointed to the sweeping staircase that led from the two-story entrance hall up to the second floor. “When are you ready to stain the wood?”

“Maybe in a couple of days. My guys are busy with the living room right now.”

“Great progress.”

A knock at the open entrance door made him swivel.

“May I come in?” Hunter asked, grinning.

Jay motioned him to enter. “Just watch where you step. I don’t wanna pay out a huge settlement if you slip and break your leg.” Then he looked back at the man who supervised the multitude of workers on the property. “Thanks for the update.”

His general contractor walked through the hall and disappeared into the kitchen.

“Wanna see the upstairs?” Jay asked, nodding to his friend.

“Sure.”

They walked up the staircase.

“Thanks for the car,” Jay started. “Appreciate it.”

“Yeah, about that.”

Jay slanted him a curious look. “Mmm?”

“First, I thought you were planning some sort of prank with it, but then I saw the chick with you. Somehow I seem to be missing something. Why wouldn’t you want to take a hot babe like her for a ride in your Ferrari?”

Jay walked ahead to the master bedroom and entered. “It’s complicated.”

Hunter leaned against the door frame and crossed his arms over his chest, grinning. “I have time.”

“I really don’t know where to start,” Jay answered evasively.

“Start with her name. Who is she? I don’t think I know her.”

“Tara Pierpont.”

Hunter shrugged and stepped into the room, his eyes roaming. “Doesn’t ring a bell. Where did you meet her?”

“At the Gilberts’ party.”

Hunter shook his head. “Well, at least one person scored at that event. What a disaster that turned out to be. You can’t go anywhere in the Hamptons right now without hearing talk about that fight. Poor Paul. Do you think we should call him to see if there’s anything we can do?”

“He’s back in New York. His sister told me.”

“And Holly?”

“I don’t know. Olivia didn’t mention anything about her, and I wasn’t about to ask.” Particularly since he’d been beating up Olivia’s husband at the time, though he wasn’t going to admit that to his friend.

Hunter pulled his cell phone from his pocket and dialed. “Let’s check up on him and see if he’s all right.”

He pressed the speaker button, and Jay could hear the phone ring, when his own ringtone suddenly sounded. He looked at his cell. “Speak of the devil.”

He pressed answer, then the speaker button, while Hunter disconnected the call on his phone.

“Hey Paul, we were just talking about you.”

“Who’s we?”

“It’s me, Hunter,” his friend replied, bending closer to the phone in Jay’s hand.

“Hey guys. What are you doing?”

“Jay’s giving me a tour of his new house,” Hunter replied.

“Cool place, huh?” Paul asked.

Jay didn’t give Hunter a chance to answer. “So what’s up with you? I heard you’re back in New York. Are you all right?”

“Never better.”

Jay exchanged a look with Hunter.

“You sure?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Well. Just thought, you know, the party, Holly. Hey buddy, we just wanted to see if there’s anything we can do.”