Sisters in Bloom (Love in Bloom: Snow Sisters #2), Contemporary Romance (24 page)

“But how can I know what to do?”

He sat back and shook his head. “I don’t understand the real dilemma here. You’ll do whatever feels right. You haven’t even met the company reps yet, so you have time.”

“They’re coming out Thursday.”

“Thursday? That’s fast. Okay, so you’ll talk to them then and make a decision after you meet with them. I’ve heard the name before, but I don’t know anything about them. I feel like I should for some reason.”

“Probably because you love me and want to make sure they’re on the up-and-up.”

He smiled. “That must be it. So, tell me what they said.”

“I don’t know much, just what Alex told me. They loved my songs, my sound. They said they thought they could make me a big hit.”

“Wait till they meet you. They’ll know they’ve made the right decision.” Chaz walked Kaylie to the front and kissed her goodbye, and she left feeling like a world of stress had been lifted from her shoulders. Her belly tightened as she climbed into her car. She leaned back and waited it out. “Settle down in there,” she said to her belly.

Danica spent the morning juggling phone calls. Between that, vendor payments, and the thank-you calls to the parents who had volunteered, she hadn’t left her office since she’d arrived. She finally ventured out around noon, and found Gage at Sally’s desk.

“Hey, where’s Sally?”

Gage pointed toward the closed door to the little kitchenette. “She’s on the phone.”

“How’s she doing? I didn’t see her when I came in.”

“Okay, I think. She didn’t say anything, so I didn’t ask. Did you talk to her this weekend?”

Danica shook her head. “Couldn’t reach her.”

The door to the kitchenette opened, and Gage and Danica snapped their heads in Sally’s direction. Danica realized how obvious they were and scrambled for an alibi. “The county. Yeah, they’re running an investigation.”

“Can it. I know you’re dying to know what happened.” Sally pulled her hair back and secured it with an elastic band from around her wrist. She crossed her arms over her slim waist. “I don’t know much, but here’s what I could get from Rusty. I guess Brad has been hitting on Michelle, and at the dance, he asked her if she wanted to join the ski team this coming fall.” She had dark bags beneath her eyes, and when she spoke, it was as if all the air had left her words before they left her lips. “He said it would be cool if they could take Little Hellion, and Rusty said the way Brad looked at him made him feel provoked.”

“The way he looked at him?” Danica asked. “When I talked to Brad, he didn’t even seem to know Dave had died, much less died at Little Hellion.”

Sally shook her head. “I don’t know what to say. We’re going back to Dr. Marsden again. Rusty said he’d go, so we’ll see what she says.”

“Good. That’s probably smart.” Danica wished she could help them more, but she knew not to mix too much business with too many personal issues, and lately, it seemed like everything in her life was a bit incestuous. “What about Michelle and Rusty?”

“I don’t know. I tried to talk to him about it, and he doesn’t really tell me anything.”

“He’s a teenage boy,” Gage said. “He’s not gonna tell you much, and honestly, you’re lucky if he really does go see a therapist. I mean, at his age, no way would I have gone.”

“He’s right, you know.” Danica saw defeat in Sally’s eyes. “Do you want some time off?”

“Of being a parent?” Sally joked.

“From here?”

Sally shook her head. “No, I like to be here. It helps keep my mind off of things. I just thought he was doing so much better.”

“He was,” Danica assured her. “He hadn’t seemed so angry or anything until recently, and if I know teenage boys, this has a lot more to do with Brad and Michelle than with Dave and Little Hellion.”

Gage stood and Danica made a snap decision. “Why don’t you guys go down to the café and grab lunch. You could both use an hour out of the office, and I can handle things here.”

“Sally?” Gage asked.

Danica pretended to look at a paper on Sally’s desk, but gave total concentration to every word that passed between Gage and Sally.

“You don’t have to,” Sally said quietly.

“I want to. Come on. We don’t have to talk about Rusty. We’ll just eat.” Gage put his hand on the small of Sally’s back and guided her toward the door.

Danica pressed her lips together to suppress her smile.

“What should I do?” Kaylie asked Danica as they rifled through a rack of baby clothes.

“What do you want to do?”

“You know that’s no help, right? You sound like Dr. Marsden.” Kaylie lifted a pink jumper and showed it to Danica.

“How would you know what Dr. Marsden sounds like?” Danica’s eyes grew wide with understanding. “You’re seeing Dr. Marsden? Really?” Then she looked at the pink jumper and said, “Go neutral. You don’t know if it’s a girl or a boy. Do you?” she asked hopefully.

“No. I told you we weren’t going to find out, and yes, I’m seeing her. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but I really wanted to do this on my own.”

“I’m so proud of you.”

Kaylie rolled her eyes.

“Sorry, but Little Miss Therapy is for Losers is seeing a therapist? How is Rhonda?” Danica held up a light green onesie.

“Oh, I love that! Put it in the cart. Who’s Rhonda?”

“Dr. Marsden.”

Kaylie tossed a yellow jumper in the cart. “Rhonda? Really? I saw her more as a…Martha or Mildred, maybe. I really like her. She’s kinda, I don’t know, not very feminine, and she asks really direct questions, but I like her. Anyway, I figured that if I had a chance in hell of not becoming Mom that I had to do something pretty quickly.”

Danica shook her head. “I never thought I’d see the day.” She laughed.

“Yeah, yeah, so hell has now frozen over. What do you think of the blue one?” She held up a jumper with yellow flowers along the feet.

“That’s cute. She’s a great therapist, and she really helped me when I first started out. It’s a shame what she’s gone through.”

Kaylie put the jumper in the cart and looked at Danica. “What?”

Danica shook her head. “Uh-uh. That just slipped out. I can’t tell you her personal business. You know that.”

Kaylie sighed. “Well, she has no photos in her office, so maybe she’s gay.”

“She’s not.”

“Well, she must not have kids, or a husband.”

“Stop,” Danica said sternly.

“Fine, whatever.” Kaylie looped her arm into Danica’s as Danica pushed the cart to the next circular rack of clothes. “I need some guidance, and I feel like I’m stuck.”

“I can’t tell you what to do. This is your career, your life. But I will just remind you that once you hold that cute little spawn in your arms, you may not want to leave it for anything in the world.”

Kaylie sneered.

“What? I didn’t say evil. You know I can’t wait to meet it, whatever
it
is.”

“I know. What if I don’t sign with the record label? What if I don’t go to LA? I could end up hating Chaz, or worse, the baby.”

“You could, if you were a selfish bitch.” Danica put two receiving blankets in the basket, obviously ignoring Kaylie’s deadly stare. “Look, you’re not a selfish bitch. That’s the point. If you decide to stay home, then it’ll be your decision, and you can’t blame him later on down the line, or the sweet little evil spawn baby, either. If you decide to go, then you can only blame yourself. Whatever decision you make, you have to take responsibility for it.”

Kaylie put her hand on her hip. “See, that’s what I mean. How come Dr. Marsden or Chaz couldn’t have said that? You’re right. Whatever I decide, I can’t use it against anyone else later. It will be my mistake—or not.”

“Okay, now that that’s settled. Blake got the house!” Danica closed her eyes and cringed.

Kaylie knew her sister was waiting for her to scream, or hug her, or do something, anything other than leaning on a rack, rubbing her stomach, and clenching her teeth, trying to breathe through another Braxton Hicks contraction.

Danica opened her eyes. “What? No reac—” Danica rushed to Kaylie’s side. “Are you okay? What’s wrong?” She put her arm around Kaylie and guided her to a chair by the cash register.

“I’m fine.” Kaylie waved her off. “It’s just those practice contractions. I get them a lot.”

“Yeah, well, you need to see your doctor.”

“I talked to her already. She said it’s fine.” She stood up when the pain passed. “Okay, see, I’m fine, and I’m so glad you’re going to be my neighbor!” She hugged Danica before she could brace herself.

A quick trip to the doctor’s office assured Kaylie that everything was fine with her baby and what she’d been feeling was indeed Braxton Hicks contractions.
Your baby is practicing for its big day
, the doctor had confirmed.
Try to stay off your feet a little more, and enjoy your last few weeks of freedom.

Danica spent the rest of the afternoon working at the center. By the time she left No Limitz, the evening air had turned brisk. She pulled her sweater around her shoulders as she headed to the rear parking lot, where she found Rusty leaning against the driver’s side door of her car. 

“Hi, Rusty. You okay?”

Rusty wore a gray sweatshirt with the hood pulled down low over his eyes; his hands were tucked deeply into the front pockets. He lifted his eyes. “I’m all right.”

“Do you need a ride? I think your mom’s still inside.”

“No, thanks.” He took off his hood and Danica saw worry in his eyes. “Did something happen? Are you okay?”

“Nothin’. I wanted to tell you that I’m sorry about the other night. I shouldn’t have hit Brad. He’s a good guy.”

Danica set her purse on the car and leaned against the side, next to Rusty. “Yeah, he seems to be.” She looked at his eyes again and wondered what was weighing so heavily on him. “Did something happen that you want to talk about?”

He shrugged.

“Is there anything I can do?”

He shook his head. “I’ve never really had a brother before.”

“Yeah, I know.” Danica wondered where he was headed with the brother talk.

“So, when Brad was hitting on Michelle, well.” He shrugged again.

She didn’t want to ask too many questions for fear that he’d recoil and stop talking, but she wanted to know what Rusty was feeling, how he viewed his relationship with Michelle. “Are you and Michelle dating?”

He shook his head. “Naw. She’s into Chase.”

“Right.”

“And he’s kinda my brother, so—”

You’ve come a long way
. Danica stifled the smile that threatened to break the mood of their talk. She hoped she’d read his intentions correctly. “So, you were keeping Brad from going after his girl.”

Rusty nodded. “I can’t tell my mom. Please don’t tell her.”

“She’s worried about you.” Danica looked at the building, stuck between her friendship with Sally and gaining Rusty’s trust.

“I know, but it’s all just weird, you know? She doesn’t even really know how often Chase and I talk.”

“I’m sure she’d be pleased that you two are friends.” 

Rusty looked at her and flipped his blond hair from his eyes with a quick snap of his chin. “Please don’t tell her. She’d get all weird about it, and she’d offer to take us places and want him to come along, and…”

“I get it. She’d want it too much, and it would make it awkward. I won’t say anything, but you know she’s really worried that hitting Brad was all about your dad.”

“I didn’t know what else to tell her.”

So, someone saying something about your dad is less of a threat than saying something about Chase?

Chaz felt his blood boil as he stared at the documents that Max had just handed to him. Two pieces of paper. That’s all it took to bring his perfect morning to a screeching halt. He felt Max’s eyes on him as she lowered herself into the chair across from him.

“I’m sorry,” she said tentatively. “What are you gonna do?”

Kill Lea. Rip her to shreds
. Chaz gritted his teeth as he lifted the pages off the desk and reread them.

“You’re sure about this? One hundred percent?” He didn’t look at Max. He couldn’t. He was ready to blow up, and she would fall into his line of fire, even if she wasn’t his target. Goddamned Lea had found another way to creep into his life.

“Unfortunately. I triple-checked.”

“She’s a partner at Benton Records. You realize what this means.” How could he tell Kaylie that the offer of representation was little more than a ploy to tear them apart? He looked at Max and, for the first time ever, wished she’d never walked into his office. Chaz knew she was simply the bearer of bad news, but that didn’t stop his overwhelming desire to start the day over and somehow skip this part altogether.

“Chaz, maybe she only owns the label, but she’s not involved in the representation side. She owns so many businesses, she probably doesn’t even realize she owns this one.”

She was trying to placate him, and it just made him angrier. This was not a forgotten business any more than the trip to Hawaii had been necessary. She could have told him about Jansen over the phone—hell, she could have written an email. But that’s not how Lea worked, and knowing what he did now, he realized that the whole thing had been a ruse, a way of thrusting herself in between him and Kaylie.

“I can’t tell Kaylie. She’ll be devastated. She wants this label more than anything she’s ever wanted.” He dropped his head back against his chair and scrubbed his face with his hand. “Jesus. She’s never going to go away, is she?”

“We could hire a hit man,” Max joked.

“Careful. I’m just about at that point.” He had to figure this out. If he called Lea and told her to back off, it would only further engage her fantasies. Cooper was taking care of the festival, but there was no Cooper to take care of Kaylie.
Damn it!

Max stood to leave and leaned over the desk, touching Chaz’s hand thoughtfully. “I think you should tell her. She loves you, Chaz. She knows Lea is crazy, so this shouldn’t come as a surprise.”

“She’s meeting with the company reps today. I’ll see how that goes. Maybe she’ll come to her own decision and decide not to take the offer anyway.” Chaz sighed, putting the pieces together in his mind. “This explains why they said she’d need to go to LA right after the baby’s born and travel heavily right after. Lea’s just trying to drive a wedge between us. Goddamn it. Will she ever stop? There must be a way to stop this shit.”

“Sorry, Chaz. Is there anything you want me to do?” Max stood in the doorway, the worry in her eyes only further fueled Chaz’s anger.

He shook his head. “I gotta think.” He reached for the phone and called Cooper.

Twenty minutes later, with all hopes of Cooper putting some sort of stop to his newest nightmare squashed, Chaz wondered how in the hell he was going to break Kaylie’s heart.