I leaned back. “You seem confident.”
“I can act confident. There’s a difference,” she confessed.
“Yeah,” I said. “There is.”
She played with the edge of one card. “I think people see my dad, my mom, my last name, med school, all of it, and assume I have this built-in certainty. But half the time, I’m terrified I’m not enough.”
I hated that she felt that way. A part of me felt that way too. I was the son of a hockey great. I didn’t know if I’d live up to my last name. Add to it I was screwed over by Amy and publicly humiliated.
“You are,” I said. “And I know what that can feel like. Son of Oli Russell. Cheated on at his own wedding.”
Her eyes softened. “It’s hard. My mom is this well-known doctor, and Dad, well, you know Dad’s record. I just feel so ordinary.”
“There isn’t anything ordinary about you. You’re special, Catherine.”
Her smile was small. She looked at me for a second too long. “Thanks.”
I grinned. Playing cards was turning out to be a lot more dangerous than I expected. We kept playing. The questions got easier and harder at the same time. Favorite childhood memory. Worst habit. What scared me most.
I said, “Letting the wrong person close to Isla.” Then, after a second, I added, “Letting the right person close and still losing them.”
She didn’t say anything for a while after that. It wasn’t like me to be an open book, but something about Catherine had me slowly unraveling.
Then my phone rang. I looked at the screen. It was my older sister, Quinn. I hit ignore.
Catherine lifted a brow. “Not answering?”
“My sister.”
“Shouldn’t you answer?” she asked.
“She’ll call back if it’s important,” I assured her.
The phone rang again ten seconds later.
Catherine smiled. “Seems important.”
I sighed. “Or she’s being annoying.”
“Answer,” she urged.
I picked up. “What?”
“Wow,” Quinn said. “Rude.”
“I’m busy.”
“Busy?” Her voice sharpened. “Are you and Isla okay?”
“She’s at camp,” I reminded her.
“Right. Sorry. Are you okay?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“The kids are fine. Thanks for asking,” she giggled.
“Are you and the kids okay?” I asked.