Closer To You (Tales of the Sweet Magnolia Book 1) (2 page)

“Nope, there are no white knights or cowboys to come to the rescue and ride off into the sunset with anymore.” The blatant wishful tone in her voice surprised even her. She gave Burt a shy grin. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be, but don’t you give up, Miss Lilly. There may yet be a few good ones left out there. You just never know where they may turn up.”

“Maybe, but I think they stopped making them after you.” Affection for the old man filled her heart.

Lillian checked her watch. She’d need to hurry if she wanted to snag a copy of
Tombstone
on her way home. She grabbed the book and the box. She would have time to research both of them. Her social life was about as exciting on the weekends as during the week. Lillian tucked them in her tote.

“Night, Burt.” She side-stepped his work as she headed out the front door.

“Sweet dreams, Lillian.” She heard Burt say softly.

***

Lillian sighed as she plopped her purse down on the antique dry sink by her front door. She’d managed to salvage it from an old furniture store that was being torn down to make room for a new mini-mall. It was a love of old things that made her appreciate history. There was romance in the bygone eras. Sometimes, Lillian felt as though she’d been born in the wrong time.

“Hey, Wyatt.” She scratched the three-legged cat under its chin. “Have you kept a sharp eye on things today?” Lillian plucked a
Tender Vittles
pouch from the basket on the kitchen counter and offered it with an enthusiastic grin. The finicky cat sniffed the bag and walked away, meowing in protest.

“Fine. You can just wait until after I change.” She arched her brow at the feline, turned on her heel, and headed for her bedroom. “I’ll be watching your favorite movie tonight, should you care to join me, your lordship.” She chuckled as she peeled off her cardigan and hung it in her closet next to the other items in her color-coordinated clothing system. Her sister called the arrangement anal, while Lil insisted she was simply organized, effectively cutting the time in getting ready each day in half by having a complete set of mix and match attire.

Lillian’s heart twisted with a quiet ache. She missed her sister terribly and made a mental note to call her soon. Between her job and Lori’s as an International tour guide, they hadn’t seen each other in months and hadn’t spoken in weeks. She did have to be cautious when calling her little sister. Lori was independent and didn’t like to feel as though she was being checked up on. But within moments into their conversations, Lori was usually spilling all the torrid details of her dating experiences.

It was a difficult line not to cross for Lil, from being a big sister to being a parent. A drunk driver killed their parents when Lori was only seventeen, a senior in high school. By then, Lil had graduated from college and was working as the new assistant at the University of Nevada library. Despite the difference in their age and personalities, they managed to form a close bond and get through the traumatic loss together.

Her thoughts drifted to the time Lori had challenged her to step outside her comfort zone. Her younger sister had come home, arms laden with shopping bags from Niemen Marcus and Victoria’s Secret. Lilly knew she had to have spent her entire paycheck.

“I suppose I’ll be taking care of the cable bill again this month?” Lil asked, raising her brow to her cover-model-slim sister. Lori was tall, lanky, and took after their father, in contrast to Lil, who received their mother’s genetically curvaceous features. Lori swung her long blonde hair over her shoulder and smiled, accentuating her bright, blue eyes and amazing cheekbones. “Wait until you see what I got you today.” She grinned and pulled from one of the pink and black designer bags a leopard print bra and something that looked akin to a fancy slingshot.

“What on earth is that?” Lil asked, eyeing the object dangling from her sister’s slender fingers.

“My dear sequestered sister, this is my way of dragging you into this century,” Lori replied, wiggling her brows.

“You’re kidding, right?” Lil stuffed a bookmark in the old
Louis L’Amour
book she’d picked up at the library.

“Oh no, I’m certainly not joking around here. You are in dire need of some excitement, some color in your life.”

“My life has plenty of color.” She waved off her sister as she sat at the end of the couch, curling her legs under her. Her sister ignored her and pulled out another miniature ensemble, this one lipstick red. “You seriously don’t think I’m going to wear that, do you?” She stretched her arms over her head and yawned.

“Look at you. It’s only eight-thirty and you’re yawning,” Lori shrieked.

“Because I was up late last night reading.” She shot back out of frustration that maybe her sister was right.

Lori plopped into a chair across from her. “Look, you’re not my mother.” Her expression softened.

“I know that,” Lil scoffed, still, the truth of her words stung.

“But you act like you are. You need to be out, having fun, meeting people.”

“You mean guys.” She leveled Lori a look. “Like you?” she commented drily.

Lori eyed her warily. “Maybe like me. I’m a junior in college. It’s in my job description to have a little fun, don’t you think?”

Suddenly, Lil realized that her sister was no longer the young girl she had comforted every night for months on end. Maybe she’d taken on the role more seriously than she’d intended. But she’d become what she thought Lori needed. It was clear Lori didn’t need that anymore. “Well, there’s nothing wrong with being sensible, is there?” She defended her pragmatic ways.

“Sis, you go to work and come home. You read your western books and watch your western movies.”

She eyed her sister, worried that her younger sister was scrutinizing her lifestyle. “And this is wrong because…?”

Lori sighed, and closed her eyes.

Lilly sensed her sister’s frustration. “Okay, okay. If it’ll make you happy, I’ll try one of these things on.” She held out her hand and wiggled her fingers, anxious to get back to the peace and quiet of reading her book. “It looks like butt floss,” she remarked studying the stringed brief.

“It will make you look good. And when you look good, you feel good,” Lori announced, and handed her the leopard print set.

Lilly laughed at the memory. As it was, she didn’t go back to the paperback that night, but rather stared at herself long and hard in the mirror, sensing a shift inside. The tables had turned. Her sister had taught her an important lesson. Perhaps in her effort to protect Lori, she’d walled herself in from taking risks, from experiencing hurt again.

Prompted by thoughts of her sister, Lil picked up the phone and punched in her cell number. Lil glanced at the clock, unsure of what time it might be in Australia, but the phone clicked after the first ring.

“Hey, you! You must have felt me thinking about you. There was this really,
really
cute guy that just walked by. So what’s up, big sis? I haven’t heard from you in a while. I wondered what was going on with you.” The sound of her effervescent voice warmed Lil’s heart.

“So I didn’t wake you? I wasn’t sure what time it was down there.”

“Nah, we just finished lunch and I sent my troops off to explore the marketplace here in Darwin. What a fantastic place! You should see it, Lil,” her sister remarked. “I have lots of reward points I could get you here by tomorrow.”

“It sounds like fun and I’d love to, but the truth is I haven’t got the time right now.” Lil brushed her fingertips over the fine sheen of dust atop of the radio alarm clock, trying not to think too much, about just how much time she did have.

“Ah, the riveting world of library science keeping you running in all directions, eh?” Lori teased.

She sat on the edge of the bed and crossed her ankles, noting how drab her shoes looked. “Just a lot of meetings next week. There’s a new shipment of young adult books coming in and a new month’s worth of periodicals to register and find a spot for. And oh, there’s a fundraiser for the Friends of the Library coming up.”

“It sounds like your hands are full. So when are you going to carve out a little time for yourself? Maybe get out and kick up your heels? Have a little fun?”

This was one of the differences between them. Lori didn’t mind the moving around, the changes in time zones and sleep deprivation. There were no strangers in her life; everyone was a potential friend. Lil envied her sister in some ways because of her choices.

“Are you keeping that promise you made to me?” Lori asked. Lil heard the humor laced in her voice. Granted, it had been a while since she’d done anything that qualified as
totally insane
.

“I went on that whitewater rafting trip,” she answered, realizing even as she attempted to defend herself, how long it had truly been since she’d done anything exciting.

“Lil that was last summer. What about recently?”

“I did get a new comforter for my bed.” She ran her palm over the smooth fabric. “It’s a gorgeous Bordeaux color. You’d love it.” 

“It sounds positively decadent, sis. And has it seen any action, by chance?”

Lil tipped her head in disbelief. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me. What good is having a beautiful bedroom if you’re the only one who sees it?”

“Lori, let’s not go there,” Lil warned.

“You can’t tell me what to do, and I will go there if I please, Lil,” Lori stated in an emphatic tone.

“Kiddo, that lifestyle is fine for you, but it’s not for me. I want more than an occasional one-night stand, no offense.”

“None taken,” she responded. Her voice softened. “Life is short, Lil. I don’t need to explain that to you. You have this dream of finding some All-American hero to give you a happily ever after.”

“Is that so wrong to hold out hope that there’s someone like that out there and that somehow we’ll meet and you…know that it’s right?” Lori had, once again, in a way only she could do, scratched the surface of Lil’s soul.

“Nothing at all wrong with having a dream, but sometimes you need to get out there and make it happen. We get one chance, Lil. Make it count. You never know where that elusive cowboy of yours might be waiting.”

Lil pressed her lips together, holding back tears that the truth of her words evoked. “You know how very proud I am of you?”

There was a short laugh on the other end of the line. “Because I’m so wise, right?”

“Maybe…a little,” Lil conceded.

“Good, I’m glad we cleared that up. Now, what insane thing are you going to do this weekend?”

She chuckled in response. “Well, first things first, the air conditioner has been acting up again, so I’ll probably rattle the cage of my landlord.”

“Oh lord. Did you hear anything I said?” Lori whined into the phone.

“Listen, I’ll do some research, okay, and get back to you.” Lil rolled her eyes and smiled. Lori, despite her wanderlust, was a constant in her life. Secretly, she wished she could just take off to wonderful, exotic locations like Lori. “Really, I promise. I’ll see if I can squeeze the time to take off and do something wild and crazy, okay? Would that make you happy?”

“It’s not about me, and I don’t plan to hold my breath. But I’m serious, the offer stands. I’m here for another full week and with my reward points I can have you here tomorrow. Think about it, down under with all these insanely gorgeous guys.”

A profound sense of loneliness washed over her. “Hey. Are you coming home for Thanksgiving?” She purposely changed the subject.

“For the moment, it looks like it, but maybe we should consider doing something different this year?” her sister offered. “Listen, I have to run, I see my peeps heading my way. Take care and I better hear soon about some excitement other than that air conditioner of yours. Speaking of, any chance the landlord is cute?” 

“Lori, he’s at least a zillion years old and has missing teeth.” Lil scoffed.

“Love you,” Lori said quietly.

“Love you more,” Lil responded and hung up. Clad in her skirt and lace camisole, she flopped back on the bed, grateful for how cool the cover felt against her skin. She stretched her arms over her head and lifted one foot, flicking off one of the low-heeled shoes and carefully removed the other, reaching down to rub the ankle she’d twisted earlier. Though sore, there was no swelling to speak of, nothing that a good soak in a tepid bath wouldn’t remedy. However, the humiliation of dealing with teens far too street-wise for their age lingered in the back of her mind.

She stood, slipped her thumbs under her waistband, and shimmied out of her skirt. As she pulled the cami over her head, she heard the sound of the glass windowpanes rattling with the wind of an impending storm. Lil passed by the oak vanity mirror and paused. Her thoughts drifted to the conversation she’d had with her sister as she assessed her image. Skeptical that she was capable of letting go, of taking risks, she wondered if she had the courage to “put herself out there” as Lori suggested.

She pushed aside the niggling concern that it was vain for her to appreciate her shape, or the way her dark mahogany hair tumbled over her pale shoulders. The animal print bra and thong accentuated every curve and the very thought of modeling it for the heated dark-eyed gaze of
Mr. Right
from her dreams caused gooseflesh to rise on her arms. She was not the
fuddy-duddy
that those teens thought her to be, nor was she the good girl that Miss Clausen assumed she was.