I wasn't following. "What money?"
"From the safe deposit box."
Now, I knew which money he meant. He meanthismoney, in the form of all that cash that he'd been saving since who knows when.
I said, "But that's your money."
He shook his head. "It'sourmoney. And I say we pay him back now, so we don't owe him anything."
"But we can't," I said.
"Why not?"
I smiled. "Because tomorrow's Sunday."
He didn’t smile back. "So we'll write a check."
Jake's voice cut across the foyer. "Listen, dickweed. You don'tneedto write a check. I don't want your fucking money."
"Too bad," Joel told him, "because you're gonna get it. I'm not owing you anything." His jaw tightened. "And neither is she."
I made a sound of annoyance. "Oh, just stop it!"
Both guys turned to look. Joel said, "You mean him, right?"
"I mean both of you." Again, I heard myself sigh. This wasn't how I planned to do it, but if I didn't say something now, they'd probably be brawling in the entryway.
I looked to Joel and just blurted it out. "He didn't sleep with Sally."
Joel's eyebrows furrowed. "Who?"
"Sally," I repeated. "That whole thing was just a big lie to protect you." My voice softened. "To protectallof you."
Jake said, "Who's Sally?"
I turned to him and said, "Oh come on. You know who."
But the way it looked, he didn't. With something like a laugh, he said, "If I screwed someone named Sally, I think I'd remember."
I looked back to Joel. But from the look on his face, he didn't know who I meant either.
Feeling suddenly uncertain, I looked from brother to brother. They both shared a look, as if to say,"Who the hell is she talking about?"
I made a sound of frustration. "Oh, come on.Youknow. Your dad's girlfriend?"
For a long moment, neither one of them spoke. And then, Jake started to laugh.
I whirled to face him. "What's so funny?"
He was still laughing. "Oh, man. You're kidding, right?"
I felt my gaze narrow. Was he making fun of me? It sure felt like it. I looked back to Joel. To my extreme annoyance, he looked ready to laugh, too.
Well, this was just great.I was glaring now. "Whatever the joke is, could one of youpleasefill me in?"
Joel shoved a hand through his hair. "Well, the thing is, her name wasn't Sally."
I stared at him. Thatwasthe name he'd told me, right? I tried to think. Had Luna told me a different name? I couldn’t be sure either way.
