Golden Lies - Barbara Freethy [67]
"Too smart to believe in legends or curses, right?"
"My grandmother had that dragon in her attic for God knows how long. Nothing happened to anybody."
"Are you sure?" She saw his eyes darken and had second thoughts about bringing it up, but it was too late. "The curse is about first daughters. Wasn't your mother a first daughter?"
"Don't be ridiculous. I'm not going to blame a statue for my mother's problems. She created most of them herself. It's just a story, Paige. It doesn't mean anything. It isn't real."
She'd been working around antiques too long not to believe in the power of the past, but she didn't know enough about Riley's mother to pursue an argument.
The door opened and Alyssa stepped out.
"I figured you'd be waiting," she said with a sigh. "How is your -- our ... I don't even know what to call him."
"He's the same," Paige said quickly, not eager to get into labels either. "Is Mr. Fong a friend of yours?"
"Since childhood."
"You came to ask him about the dragon, didn't you?"
"He didn't tell me anything he didn't tell you."
"But he might," Paige said. "We need to work together."
"I'll think about it, but right now I have other things to do."
"Alyssa ..." Paige didn't know what she wanted to say, but she felt as if she had to say something. "I'd like to know more about you. I think we should talk or something."
Alyssa sent her a wary look. "Why? Just because we share a few genes doesn't mean we have to know each other."
"It doesn't mean we can't, either. Wouldn't it be easier if we tried to get along?"
"Easier for who—you? You've always had it easy. I'm used to it being hard, really hard." And with that she walked away.
"That went well," Paige said. "Alyssa has a chip on her shoulder that's almost as big as yours."
"You can't just expect her to open up her heart to you. She's protected it for too long."
"I think she has the Great Wall of China built around it. I can understand her distrust of my father, but why doesn't she want to know me? What have I done to her?"
"You haven't done a thing. But you had everything she didn't, especially a father. It would be natural for her to resent you."
"That wasn't my fault. And I do feel bad about the fact that my father ignored her. He shouldn't have done that, and when he's better, I'm going to tell him so." Riley didn't look as if he believed her, so she added, "I won't sweep this into the closet like a dirty little secret."
"I doubt your mother will let you make anything public. It is a dirty little secret, Paige. And if it gets out, your high-society friends will have a field day gossiping about it."
He was right. Victoria would fight any kind of public disclosure. But this wasn't about the public acknowledging Alyssa; it was about her father doing the right thing.
"Come on, Paige, it's time for a break," Riley said. "You owe me lunch."
"Fine, I'll buy you lunch. Just remember when you're ordering that I don't come into my trust fund until I'm thirty."
"How old are you now?"
"Twenty-eight."
"Looks like we're going to have a very long lunch."
Chapter Thirteen
"I told you I wasn't cursed," Riley said as he pulled into a parking spot directly in front of a restaurant called the Mad Hatter on Union Street. Because it was a popular shopping street just a few blocks from the marina, Riley had indeed scored a coup.
"I didn't say you were cursed. I said your mother might have been," Paige reminded him. "The curse has nothing to do with sons."
"That's because men don't believe in curses."
"Need I remind you that it was a male emperor who put down the curse?"
He smiled at her. "You can remind me over lunch. I'm starving. Let's go."
Paige followed him into a small sidewalk café. A hostess wearing a top hat with sequins and feathers asked them if they'd prefer to sit inside or out. Out of habit, Paige chose an inside table, but almost immediately regretted her choice when they were seated at a cozy table in a dark corner of the room. It was difficult to keep their relationship in perspective