Sisters in Love (Snow Sisters, Book One: Love in Bloom Series #1) (18 page)

“Great, I’ll take it. Meet me at the center
lot.”

They looked through racks of eclectic dresses
and skirts. Kaylie, looking twenty-two in her UGGs and tight jeans,
and Danica feeling thirty-nine, instead of twenty-nine, in her
professional work attire. Why did she do this to herself? She’d
have to find a heavy, unattractive friend to go out with so she
felt better about herself.
Oh God. Now I sound like one of my
clients
.

“Dr. Snow!”

Danica spun around at the sound of Belinda
Trenton’s voice.

“Weird seeing you here, outside of your
office,” Belinda gushed. “Shopping?” She eyed Kaylie.

“I’m working on her wardrobe,” Kaylie
said.

It wasn’t often that Danica’s clients came in
contact with her outside of her office, but this was the second
client who had come across Kaylie in as many weeks, and Danica felt
it like a noose tightening around her neck. She’d never realized
Allure was such a small town. She preferred to keep clients and
family separate. “Just checking out a few things.” Danica smiled in
a tight-lipped fashion, hoping she portrayed a professional
courtesy instead of a friendship.

“What do you think of this?” Belinda asked,
waving to her own clothing.

How had Danica missed her black flats and
flare-bottom jeans. They were a big improvement over the painted-on
skinny jeans and heels. “That look suits you well,” Danica said,
beaming with a modicum of pride. Maybe she was helping after
all.

“See, I listen to the things you say.”

Belinda examined Kaylie up and down with a
look of jealousy—didn’t they all? “Love your outfit,” she said.

Kaylie smiled in the uncomfortable way that
said,
There must be a reason you’re seeing my sister, so I don’t
want to associate with you
.

“Well, I’ll leave you two to have fun. See
you next week!”

Belinda left the store, and Danica breathed
freely again.

Kaylie touched her arm and whispered, “Now
that the crazy girl is gone, how about this?” She held up a brown,
suede, thigh-length dress complete with fringe at the bottom.

“Don’t call her that, and what am I? An
Indian princess?” Danica watched Kaylie shove the dress back on the
rack and began going through the clothes with a scrutinizing
eye.

“Sor-ry. I’m just trying to spice things up a
bit.”

Maybe this was a mistake
. “How’s
Chaz?”

“He treats me like a queen. He calls, he
e-mails. He sends flowers.”

She recognized Kaylie’s bored tone. “Sounds
perfect.”

Kaylie sighed. “I guess, if you like that
stuff.” She pulled a simple, black dress from the rack. It crossed
in the front and tied at the hip—a good look for Danica. The trim
was done in a gold, sparkly threading, adding just a touch of
something interesting.

“Me? I’d love that stuff. It sounds like he
really likes you.” Danica took the dress from her sister’s hand and
headed for the dressing room with Kaylie on her heels.

“He does.”

“But?” Danica slipped into the dressing room
while Kaylie waited outside the curtain.

“I don’t know. I really like him, but
everything is too easy. I feel like things will just fall apart and
I won’t know they’re going to.”

Danica peeked out of the curtain. “You’re
afraid of being Mom. You think that just because Dad blindsided Mom
with an affair, Chaz will do that to you?” She closed the
curtain.

“Maybe. I don’t know.”

Behind the curtain, Danica slipped the dress
on and tied it at her waist. She looked fantastic, and she wondered
if she’d lost weight. She never paid enough attention to know if
she went up or down a few pounds until things settled like an old
house and she needed new clothes. “Well, you’re not Mom, and easy
is good, Kaylie.”

She came through the curtain and Kaylie
gasped. “Dan, oh my God. You look so beautiful!”

Danica spun around, feeling young and pretty.
She wanted to flounce around the room and enjoy the feeling. “Do
you think so?”

“I know so.” Kaylie hugged Danica. “Whatever
has come over you lately, it suits you well.”

Danica felt her cheeks flush. “Kaylie,
listen, whatever happened between Mom and Dad was their own shit.
You aren’t Mom; Chaz isn’t Dad. Just allow yourself to be happy for
once. Don’t sabotage it.” She disappeared behind the curtain again,
admiring herself in the mirror before slipping back into her own
clothes.

As she paid for the dress, Kaylie leaned on
the counter, her chin resting on her palm.

“What?” Danica asked.

“How does it feel to be you?” She stood. “I
mean, you’ve got your shit together. You know what to do in a
relationship—even if you don’t have one—and you’re not afraid of
anything.” She sighed. “It must be…nice.”

“If only you knew, Kaylie.” She wanted to
admit her insecurities to Kaylie, but it felt too good to be looked
up to. She smiled, put her arm around her sister, and they headed
for their cars.

The next few days flew by with a flurry of
client meetings, leaving Danica in a state of emotional fatigue by
nine o’clock each night. She’d made the time to call Nancy’s
counselor, who confirmed that not only was she doing well, but that
she’d been a stellar client while at rehab. Dr. Paltron had said
she thought that the weekly urine tests were overkill. Nancy was
among the few adults who she had high hopes for. She was not a
typical rehab patient. According to Dr. Paltron, Nancy had been on
a drinking binge one afternoon and Michelle found her. Michelle’s
father had just died, and she and Michelle got into a fight. Nola
got involved, and Nancy committed herself to rehab. Dr. Paltron
admitted that she thought it was almost an overreaction for Nancy
to have been in rehab, but she understood the concern on Nancy’s
part, given her father’s substance-abuse history; she left Danica
feeling far more confident than before she’d made the phone call.
She’d been under the impression that Nancy had been a drinker for
months. The way Michelle told the story, Nancy was always drinking.
Danica was beginning to see even more clearly how a teen’s
perspective could skew a situation even when they weren’t doing so
on purpose. And she felt bad for Michelle, whose own hurt over the
situation had probably caused her to embellish her mother’s
situation.

The night of Jeffrey and Camille’s party
arrived with an unusual warmth to the normally frigid nighttime
air. Danica was not looking forward to the evening. She’d much
rather be curled up in her favorite sweatpants in front of the
television, or deep into the story of a good book, than be worrying
about how Kaylie and Blake might react when they saw each other
again—but she’d never let down Camille like that.

She arrived in her new black dress and a pair
of her comfortable Nine West heels. She wasn’t about to twist her
ankle again and make a fool out of herself. She walked into the
restaurant, and as she neared the private back room, butterflies
let loose in her stomach. She peered into the room, looking, she
realized, for Blake.

A large hand embraced her shoulder. A whisper
landed in her ear. “Spying or going in?”

Her pulse raced.
Blake
. The ridiculous
desire to turn and kiss him crossed her mind. She pushed it away
and took a deep breath. “Going in,” she said without turning back
to look at him. She took a step forward, secretly hoping his hand
wouldn’t drop from her shoulder. It did. She feigned a smile and
crossed the well-appointed dining room to where the other
bridesmaids had gathered.

“Danica!” Camille squealed. The other girls
gave her a group hug and someone handed her a Manhattan. “Tonight
we’re pretending we’re in New York, so Manhattans all night
long.”

Who was she to deny their fun? She took a
sip, relishing in the sweet taste of vermouth and cherry. She
reminded herself to go easy and watched Blake out of the corner of
her eye. He stood with Jeffrey and the other groomsmen, laughing,
with his head tossed back and looking delicious in his gray slacks
and black sweater. He looked over just as she realized she was
staring. He lifted his glass in her direction.
Damn
. She
turned away and gulped down her drink, motioning to the bartender
for another.

Danica scanned the room for Kaylie, who was
mysteriously missing. “Have you seen my sister?” she asked
Marie.

“I know she’s coming. She called me earlier.”
Marie looked around. “She’s probably out with Chaz. I swear that
man is so in love with her.”

“That means he won’t be around for long,”
Camille mused.

“Yeah.” Marie drew her eyebrows together.
“What’s up with that?”

“You know Kaylie. She just likes to have
fun.” Danica didn’t want to go into any family drama with Marie—or
anyone else for that matter.

“Well, I think she likes him just as much. I
mean, she’s always with him.”

“She is?”
Why didn’t I know that?

“She’s always at his apartment, or he’s at
hers. If I didn’t know Kaylie so well, I’d almost think she’s
smitten with him.”

Danica wondered what all of Kaylie’s earlier
drama had really been about. Could her sister just want her
attention, or was she really worried that she’d be like their
mother?

“Mr. Hottie is heading for you. I’ll
disappear.” Marie winked.

The room grew smaller as Blake approached
.
Get it together. He’s a client
.

“You look ravishing,” he said, then added, “I
mean that in the most professional way, of course.”

Why do you have to be so cute?
“Of
course. Thank you.” She felt herself blush and silently cursed.
Danica watched the waiters bringing salads to the enormous round
table set up in the middle of the room. The others were already
claiming their chairs, and Danica’s heart raced as she realized
that there were only three open seats, two beside each other and
one between Marie and Stephanie. “We should sit,” she said, feeling
uneasy beside him.

He placed his hand—his warm, sensuous
palm—against her lower back and led her to one of the two seats
that were side by side. The heat of his palm drew all of her
attention. She recognized a possessive move when she saw, or
rather, felt it, but she was too drawn in to move away. He pulled
out a chair for her and she sat, trying to ignore Marie’s eager
smile of approval.

Danica found her voice and pushed it past the
nerves that tickled her throat. “Has anyone heard from Kaylie?” She
didn’t dare look at Blake. She felt the heat of him sitting next to
her, and that was difficult enough. She didn’t need to fall into
his gorgeous eyes or smell the alcohol on his breath. Why was that
smell so seductive, anyway?

“She texted. She’ll be here soon,” Camille
answered.

Danica listened to the men talk about “the
old ball and chain” and the women talk about dresses, flowers, and
the impending honeymoon. She couldn’t help but notice that Blake
was silent beside her. She stole a glance in his direction and
noticed the tight lines around his eyes and the clenching muscles
in the side of his jaw. She fought the urge to touch his cheek and
tell him everything would be okay.

He turned to her and feigned a smile. Whether
it was her therapist brain or her womanly empathy, she couldn’t be
sure, but she asked in a whisper, “Are you all right?”

Blake nodded and set his napkin on the table.
“It’s Dave and that woman. I’m just having a hard time with it
all.”

Danica leaned in closer to him. “See, you are
a good friend. If you weren’t, you wouldn’t give it a thought.”

“I met her the other day at the cemetery when
I was…I don’t even know what I was doing there.” Blake looked at
her with pain in his eyes. He leaned in closer, until his mouth was
beside her ear. His breath was hot on her neck, sending goose bumps
down her chest. “They had a child together seventeen years ago, and
she said they weren’t having an affair, but he was getting to know
his kid.”

Danica tried her hardest to concentrate on
the words he spoke, but the feel of his breath was too distracting.
She felt a pull down low in her belly, and she felt her hand
reaching for his leg as he leaned toward her. She pulled her hand
back and leaned away from him.
What the hell am I doing?
She
didn’t think about what she must look like until she heard Blake’s
next question.

“I’m sorry. Should I not have said that
here?”

Shit
. “What? No, that’s fine.” Said
what? she wondered.
Damn it, Danica
.
Pull yourself
together.

“We can talk another time. I’m sorry,” he
said, and turned back toward the table.

“I’m so sorry I’m late!” Kaylie’s enthusiasm
sent renewed energy around the room.

Thank God
.

“We went for a drive this afternoon and got
held up.” Kaylie leaned down and kissed Camille’s cheek. “I’m so
sorry, Camille. You know I would never be late on purpose.”

Danica watched Blake for signs of attraction
toward Kaylie, but his eyes were heavy as he focused on his plate.
She’d made him feel like he’d done something wrong again. What was
wrong with her? She couldn’t deal with that right then. She had to
get through the evening and get the hell out of there. It was
obvious to her that she could deal with Blake only in the office,
not outside of it. “I’m sorry,” she whispered to Blake. “We can
talk about this Monday.” She turned her attention to the discussion
Kaylie and Camille were having about the wedding. Kaylie was asking
if it would be all right if she brought a date.

“A date?” Camille asked. “But when we made
the invitations, you said you would never bring a date—”

“Because it was too limiting,” Marie,
Stephanie, and Laurie all chimed in together.