Must Be Magic (Spellbound) by Sydney Somers Page B

next to him on the sand did she realize she’d made the decision to sit with him. Though the breeze felt nice on her skin, she drew her knees up and wrapped her arms around them.
    “This may sound like a strange question, but was your father ever involved in a car accident?” Focusing on that kept her from wondering if they would have treated each other so horribly if they’d known the truth years ago.
    “Not that I know of. Is that what you two were talking about?”
    She kept her gaze trained on the moon’s simmering reflection. “No. That was something else.”
    “Was it something you want to talk about?”
    Even if she knew whether it was worth talking about, if it even mattered after all this time, she wouldn’t know where to start. She was still reeling from the discovery, but the one thing she did know was that she didn’t want to fight with him. Not tonight.
    She settled on, “Not right now.”
    “So what’s with the question about the car accident?”
    “Curiosity.”
    He snorted and plucked a small stone from the sand, tossing it into the water. “The only car accident I know anything about is the one that killed my grandmother.”
    “Your dad’s mother? And you’re sure your father wasn’t in the car at the time?”
    “Yeah. You want to tell me what this is really about?”
    “Just something my dad said.” She shrugged.
    “So was this you asking, or your dad?”
    She frowned at the irritation in his voice. “It’s not like that.”
    He didn’t appear convinced. “If your father has questions, maybe he should ask them and not send you.”
    “Wow. Do you have to work at assuming the worst where my family is concerned, or does it just come naturally?”
    She thought about leaving, then changed her mind. There had been enough misunderstandings between them without adding another to the pile. How many times had they lashed out at each other because they’d both been too angry and stubborn to just talk about what happened?
    If they had…
    Not ready to let her thoughts go down that road just yet, she concentrated on their conversation. “They used to be friends. Our fathers,” she clarified. “My dad said everything changed after the car accident, but wouldn’t say more than that.”
    “I didn’t know that. My father’s never had anything good—”
    “To say about us?” she finished, guessing where he was headed. She watched him from the corner of her eye. “What were you and your dad arguing about tonight?”
    “If I tell you, will you tell me?”
    “Probably not.”
    He laughed. “At least it’s an honest answer.” He tossed another rock. “I quit my job and he’s not happy about it.”
    She frowned, wondering why she hadn’t heard about that. Dante would have considered that cause to celebrate. “When?”
    “A couple of days ago.”
    “Did you have another job offer?” She couldn’t imagine straightlaced Bryce Lancaster quitting on the fly.
    “Nope.”
    “Did you blow an important case?” That possibility seemed almost as crazy as him quitting. And she was damn sure Dante would have broadcasted that little detail over a megaphone.
    Bryce shook his head.
    She rubbed her chin on her knee, trying not to think too hard about what would make him walk away from something he’d worked so hard for. “So what are you going to do now?”
    “I have no fucking idea.” He tipped his face up toward the stars as though he might find the answer there. He threw the last rock and lay back on the sand, one arm folded beneath his head.
    She lay back too, taking in the impressive number of stars that filled the night sky. “You’ll figure it out.” There wasn’t a doubt in her mind about that.
    “You really believe that, don’t you?”
    She nodded, smiling at the surprise in his voice. The old Bryce had refused to take no for an answer when she’d passed on his dinner offer, pursuing her until she finally agreed. He wasn’t any different in the courtroom, pressing