Evening Stars by Susan Mallery Read Free Book Online Page A

clapped her hands together. “I can’t believe I’ve been on the island nearly a year and this is the first time I’m meeting the infamous ‘my son, the doctor.’”
    Nina groaned. “Seriously? They had you over?”
    “Uh-huh. It was great. He’s handsome. I wasn’t expecting him to be so ruggedly good-looking.”
    “He’s okay.”
    Andi hesitated. “Is this hard for you? Should I not fill you in on the details and tease you?”
    Nina wanted to say yes, but that was ridiculous. She squared her shoulders and instead said, “Of course it’s fine. Dylan and I were over years and years ago. I never think about him.” Or she hadn’t until this past weekend. Which was his fault. If he hadn’t stopped to help her, she would have been completely fine. And happy not to have him on the brain.
    Because he’d never called back. Not that she wanted him to. She didn’t. She wasn’t interested. But she would have enjoyed having him call so she could have told him that to his face. Or at least his ear.
    “He’s single,” Andi announced. “I asked if he was seeing anyone.”
    Nina leaned against the counter and clutched her coffee. “You didn’t.”
    “Why not? I’ve never met him before. Asking questions is a part of polite conversation. He didn’t have a date, so I asked if he’d left someone special behind, and he said no. It was a natural bridge to ‘Are you seeing anyone?’ He said he wasn’t.” Her smile was smug. “So it’s a clear field.”
    Nina held in a groan. “I don’t want a clear field. I’m not interested. What part of ‘it’s been decades’ doesn’t make sense to you?”
    “It’s been only one decade and you were both young.” Andi pulled the mug out of the microwave and dropped in her tea bag. “Oh, and his parents mentioned that they’d been instrumental in your breakup. They feel bad about that.”
    Nina felt a tic starting under her right eye. “You talked about me?”
    “Not a lot. But I think it’s interesting, don’t you?”
    “That my boyfriend let his parents dictate his love life? No. That’s not interesting.” Not that she was surprised by the admission. Dylan’s parents hadn’t worried at first. Nina would guess they’d assumed, once he got to college, the relationship would naturally end. But it hadn’t. He’d come home on weekends, and they’d spent breaks together. By the summer after his second year of college, the elder Harringtons had been pressuring them both. Nina hadn’t been about to give in, but Dylan had finally ended things with her.
    Which she supposed she could accept. What had really hurt was he’d tried to make it her fault. He’d said... She reminded herself it didn’t matter what he’d said.
    Andi pulled out the tea bag and set it in the sink. “He was a kid.”
    “He was twenty.”
    “Still, he wasn’t completely mature or he wouldn’t have let you go.” She smiled. “I liked him. He seems intelligent without being annoying about it.”
    Nina knew that was a reference to Andi’s parents, who were both brilliant. “I’m not going to be dating Dylan.”
    “Why not? You’re single. He’s single. What if the flame still burns?”
    “There’s no flame. There’s not even ash. I’m sure Dylan is a great guy.” After all, he’d stopped to help her long before he knew who she was. Which meant he’d been willing to have a stranger drip on his expensive leather seats. “But I’m not looking to get involved with him.”
    “You never date,” Andi started. “It would be fun for you to go out. I’m not trying to be pushy, but why not—”
    “You are being pushy. I can find my own guy.”
    Her boss shook her head. “I’m just trying to help.”
    “I appreciate that, but you can let this one go. Dylan and I are long over.”
    In the end, it wouldn’t matter, Nina told herself. Dylan hadn’t called, wasn’t going to call and she didn’t want him to call. Problem solved.
    Andi’s smile faded. “You’re my