“I ordered you the toasted gouda cheese and tomato soup. And your sweet tea should be coming soon too.”
That was the benefit of being a twin, even a nonidentical one. Vera always knew what I wanted in cases like this, and I intuitively sensed her preferences too. It used to annoy us as teens, but now it provided a comforting familiarity in a world turned upside down.
“Thanks.”
“So, how’d it go? How did it feel to trap again?”
“It was pretty easy. I’d hoped for something far more exciting.” I removed my sunglasses and rubbed my eyes. “What’s the deal with the Covington property?”
“Oh, I got the dirt. Old man Covington’s going into a nursing home. His kids decided to sell. They’re all out of state, you know.”
“Ah. So they got greedy and gave in to a developer. Douche canoes.”
“You’ve really become quite foul-mouthed.” Vera glared at me. For some reason, she’d never embraced the family tradition of colorful swearing. “It was some out-of-town guy from up north.”
“Do you think the city council will approve the development? That sign on the property seems pretty final.”
She raised her voice to be heard over the din of conversation. “A new council was just sworn in at the beginning of the year. There’s a new member who might shake things up a lot. The vote on rezoning the property is coming up soon.”
“The new council member, do you know how they’ll vote on the rezoning?” I couldn’t believe that I, a twenty-five-year-old woman who had more college debt than years left in life, was talking about adult things like zoning. Between this and dealing with Dad’s estate, I barely recognized myself.
Vera shrugged. “During the campaign, he refused to say what he thought about that particular parcel of land.”
“Which probably means he’s in favor of development.”
“Maybe not.” She had a defensive tone in her voice. “We’ll see.”
“Who’s the new council member? Anyone we know?”
“Tyler Carr.” She stared at her napkin as if she’d never seen one before.
“Tyler Carr, as in homecoming king and Wahoo High football quarterback? The guy who called us nerds and geeks and whores and sluts for several long and terrible years?”
“He’s not so bad now,” she mumbled.
I snorted out ahmphsound. “By ‘not so bad,’ do you mean he’s not cooking meth like half of our graduating class? Or do you mean he’s found some white-collar job that allows him to perform some lucrative grift so he can drive around in a stupidly expensive luxury vehicle?”
“Shhhh.” Vera leaned in. “He’s sitting at that table nearest to the kitchen. Don’t be too obvious but look a little to the left. He’s a legitimate businessman, Maggie. Not everyone in Florida is corrupt, or criminal, or shady.”
“Yeah, right,” I muttered.
With a sly little grin, I shifted my eyes and scanned the crowd. Tyler was far across the crowded room. He was a generically handsome guy with close-cropped brown hair and a midnight-blue suit. The glint of an expensive-looking wristwatch caught my attention. He was dining with a man I didn’t recognize. “Oh yeah, there he is. He looks as smarmy as I remember. Eight years hasn’t changed his ass face.”
Vera’s expression pinched. “You should give him another chance. He’s a decent guy.”
I shifted back into my seat and stared at my sister warily. She’d recently gone blonder and done some special Brazilian keratin treatment to straighten her hair. This set us apart as twins even more. My hair was natural, curly, and the color of toasted chestnuts.
At least, that’s what my hairdresser up north had said.
Vera had always been the prettier, daintier twin. Although she’d probably deny that since she’d gotten vitiligo, a condition that turned patches of her skin white, back when we were in high school. That had made her insecure about her looks ever since.
I sensed that she didn’t want to talk about Tyler. Hell. I hoped she wasn’t secretly dating him. Since I’d arrived home, she’d been uncharacteristically cagey about her private life. She’d also been taking a ton of exercise classes. Vera had the worst taste in men, and at the ripe old age of twenty-five was desperate for the happy-ever-after she read about in books.
Me? I was taking a break from men. At least for the next year or two. Not because I’d been burned or scorned or anything dramatic. It was time to focus on me. I’d had enough shitty relationships, enough dates with dudes who wanted to screw and scram.
I changed the subject. “We’re going to have to find a new place to release the small gators.”
The server appeared with our food, and Vera took a stack of business cards out of her purse and handed one to her.