Blood Noir - Laurell K. Hamilton [36]
The next thing I knew, she and Jason were hugging. She damn near smothered him in a nice chest. The height difference was considerable, with her on the tall end.
Jason drew back enough to say, “Anita, this is my sister Julia.”
Sister? No one in my family hugged their brother like that. Then I got a Julia hug, and realized it wasn’t the least bit sexual. She was just one of those enthusiastic huggers. I was the same height as Jason, so I had more proof than I wanted that she was about as well-endowed as I was. Dear God, even Richard’s family wasn’t this touchy-feely.
Jason laughed and rescued me. “Let her breathe, sis.”
Julia backed off, but kept an arm around my shoulders. “It’s just so good to see you, little brother. And I don’t think you’d have brought a girl home if it wasn’t serious.” She hugged me again, a little less furiously, but still I was really wondering how to get away from her.
Her shirt said Browning and Schuyler Gardening Center with a few plants done in line art. The shirt was a shade of yellow that most people couldn’t have worn, but it looked fine with her coloring, and great with her summer tan. It looked like she’d tan almost as dark as Richard’s family, and they had American Indian in their background.
I wondered if Julia was a half-sister.
“You run the gardening center?” I asked, hoping to distract her from the hugging.
“Me and my hubby, Brian. He’s minding the store so I could come visit Dad.” The sunshine faded a little from her big brown eyes. It was like watching a flower sag from lack of water; you just knew if some good news came soon she’d perk back up.
“Let—Anita—go—sis.” Jason said it laughing. He took my hand and drew me away from his sister.
She flashed him a grin. I knew that grin. It was a totally different face, but the grin, that was Jason’s.
I slid an arm around Jason’s familiar waist with a sense of relief. Strangers hugging me, aah.
“Hello, Jason.” A woman who looked too much like Julia not to be another sister stood in the doorway. She was wearing a navy business skirt suit with a white shell. Sort of a more conservative version of what I was wearing. I was betting she wasn’t wearing a gun under hers, though.
“Roberta, hi. This is Anita.” He led me forward, and she moved to meet us. I tensed for another hug, but she offered a hand instead.
She had a firm, but not too firm handshake. It felt like she shook hands a lot. I gave her a smile, grateful she hadn’t touched me more.
Conservative but nice makeup brought out the brown eyes that dominated her face. It was her best feature. Where Julia had a delicacy to her height, Roberta was tall. The bones of her face were too square for beauty. She’d done well with the makeup to sort of carve out the face she wanted you to see. She was attractive, but it was an almost masculine beauty, for lack of a better word.
Where Julia’s hair had been carelessly cut just above her shoulders, Roberta’s was carefully styled past her shoulders.
“Are you really his girlfriend?” she asked me.
I let myself look startled. “Why would you ask that?”
Iris came up, touching Roberta’s arm. “You’re being rude.”
“No, I don’t want Dad upset.” She turned those eyes back to me. “Are you really Jason’s girlfriend, or just someone he brought here because Mom panicked?”
I looked at Jason. I was trying to figure out how to answer this question and not lie. I guess I simply hadn’t expected anyone to be this bold about it. “You in the habit of bringing girls home who aren’t your girlfriend?”
“I brought home a few fuck buddies, but other than that, no.”
“Jason,” his mother said, in that tone that mothers have that lets you know you’ve been naughty.
“Why are you being mean, Bobbi?” Julia asked.
“My name is Roberta,” she said, as if she had to say it a lot, “and I’m not being mean. I just want to be clear. Dad will know if you’re lying, Jason, and that will bother him more than the truth.”
The admin shook some hands and made herself scarce, going for the elevator. Peterson and the suit took up posts in the hallway. The