Chapter 7

"I look like a whale," Tophyr groused as she looked at herself in the mirror of the bathroom.

Britani Hurst Stateman laughed at her youngest sister's complaint. Having had twins of her own, she understood all too well. Luckily it was their mother who placated her.

"Tophyr, you look beautiful. You're glowing with the extra life you are carrying," Lucille said.

The youngest Hurst daughter cast her mom a blue eyed glare then shook her head. "I've gained ten pounds."

"Well, shoot me," Britani said. "I gained thirty."

"That's because your eating habits suck," Lily Hurst Peters said as she clasped the necklace about her neck. "You ate pork rinds and chips for a month."

"Let's not forget the ice cream and cookies you had as well," Jason, Britani's husband, joked.

Britani slapped his hand when he poked her in the ribs. "How have you kept your shape, Toph?"

Derek snorted. "She doesn't eat anything with any wheat or fat and she walks everywhere."

"That's good, isn't it? It means she will be in shape when the baby's born," Everett said. He was Lily's husband and it was obvious they didn't have any kids.

Percy nudged his brother-in-law into the wall. "Leave her alone. She feels bad enough as it is."

Tophyr smiled in the mirror at her twin then lifted her eyes as the door opened. Caroline stalled as she looked around the room at the entire Hurst family assembled. She stepped down and walked over to her before she had the chance to escape. She latched on to her arm and pulled her against her. Caroline looked down at her and had to smile at the infectious smile coming from the other woman.

"Toph?" Alex asked, his arm tightening around his wife's waist.

"Dayton invited her," she replied.

"By your slight push?" Jim Hurst asked. When her smile widened slowly and took on a mischievous look, he nodded. "That's what I thought."

"Caroline's been working in the gallery with me. She's very good at what she does and if any of you give her a hard time for being here for Elizabeth and Daniel's anniversary, I will punch you."

Percy nodded. "That I believe. Did you hear that Elizabeth's sister came with a nineteen-year-old as her date?"

Caroline stared in shock as the other people in the room turned to talk to the youngest son. "It takes that little to get your family off the prowl?"

"We don't gossip outside the family but inside it's a free for all. Percy's the one who knows all the juiciest news considering he works at one of the busiest, gossipiest places in the city," Tophyr replied.

"He's still working at the coffee shop?" The younger twin nodded. "I guess it suits him."

"It does but you're not here to talk about my family. You're here to impress my aunt- and uncle-in-law."

"Last time I saw them, Elizabeth was giving me the death glare and Daniel was about ready to toss me out. I don't think they're going to like me being at their party." She frowned when the other woman smiled. "What did you do?"

"My aunt and uncle don't know you're here. I had Dayton slip the invitation to you without them knowing, even though they approved the guest list. It was the only way to get you and Damian to stay in the same room for longer than an hour at a time."

Caroline felt color rise in her face. "You have been attempting to set us up. I can handle my love life, Toph."

Tophyr blew a raspberry. "Please. You're the only one in this city no one will touch with a ten foot pole because they think you're after their money?"

"And Damian doesn't think that?"

She shook her head, her blond curls bouncing wildly with the movement. "Damian wasn't here when the so called "scandal" took place. He was in Africa for four years taking pictures of anything and everything he saw. There was no way he heard of any of this."

Caroline thought about it for minute. Tophyr was correct. Damian had been out of the country for the last four years and the four years before that he had been at school. When he was eighteen she heard he had been at a boarding school for boys. She had also heard he had had some interesting female companions while in Africa. Whereas she had information on him, he had none on her.

Her hands flew to her mouth as she looked at the one person she could deem her best friend. Tophyr was biting her lower lip with her head tilted to one side.

"He really likes me."

The blue eyes that held questions suddenly flared to life with relief and joy. "Yeah. I've known Damian all his life because he knew Alain and went to school with Britani.

I've never seen him this fixated on a girl but once. That ended horribly for him and I don't think he ever wanted to settle down. Until maybe now." She pitched forward as an arm came around her shoulders. She turned her head to see her twin staring at her. "What do you want, Percy?"

He smiled broadly then turned his gaze to their guest. "My genius of a sister isn't boring you is she?"

"Actually no." Caroline looked over their shoulders. "Derek, is Tophyr right about your cousin?"

Derek stepped up, knocked Percy's arm off, and pulled his wife to him. "What about him?"

"Tophyr says your cousin has had only one girlfriend in his entire life."

"I didn't say that," the woman in question argued.

"You didn't have to. It was implied. So is it true?"

The only Stark in the room shrugged. "Her name was Emily. They were together throughout high school."

"Emily Mason," Britani said. "Yeah, I remember her. They started going out in middle school and it progressed into high school."

"Was that Tito's younger sister?" Alain asked. Mia was at his side. They had left Alonso with Mia's older brother Matthew.

Britani nodded. "Yeah, Tito was her older brother and Carter Mason was her cousin. Carter was the same year as Tito but he never came to school. Emily was a good girl and very sweet. She would do anyone a favor and not ask for a thing in return."

"So when did she and Damian get together?" Caroline asked. This whole story was fascinating and she wanted to know what happened to him.

Derek made a face as he thought about something that had happened thirteen years ago. "I think it was within the first three months of high school. Damian has always been a little on the shy side so when he finds someone he truly likes he latches on to them."

It made sense as to why he was persistent in getting to know her.

Derek shifted until he helped his wife into a chair beside Jim had brought over for Tophyr then took her hand. "Emily was the only girl I ever saw Damian take an active interest in. She came to all of the family functions and even watched our dogs when we had to go on vacation and she couldn't come."

"What happened to her?" It was an innocent enough question but the looks on their faces said it was a tense one. She looked between them. "What is it?"

"On senior night Damian's senior year, they won the inner city tournament. He took Emily out to celebrate. On the way home they were ambushed by a couple of thugs. Damian tried his best to stand up to them but it all went downhill fast. Then it got worse. A rival gang came out of nowhere and started a new fight. Emily was shot in the crossfire," Alain said.

"After that Damian withdrew from public school, enrolling in a private school and finishing out his senior year there. From boarding school he went straight into college. After that, we didn't see him again for three years. He didn't even tell us he was graduating college and he didn't say that he got hired by National Geographic either. One minute we think he's in Rhode Island and the next he's on the cover of People magazine with a blond chick on his arm."

Derek's voice had dropped an octave when talking about his cousin. It showed how close he used to be to his cousin and how he missed his friendship.

Caroline rubbed her bare shoulders. A chill had set in because this was something she had never heard at all. She had heard of tragic events in people's lives but she had never known someone to have lost someone so dear.

"What do you want from me?" she asked.

Tophyr levered herself into a standing position, rubbing at her back gently. "We want you to get to know him even more. He's a good guy, just a little misunderstood."

"Plus he's interested in you," Derek added.

She wasn't given time to answer as there was a knock at the door. Dayton stuck his head in and nodded. Derek held out his free arm to her and she looked at it then up at him.

"I get the honor of escorting two beautiful women into the party," he said.

With a nod of approval from Tophyr, Caroline took Derek's arm and they followed the procession of Hursts out the door.