Sisters in Love (Snow Sisters, Book One: Love in Bloom Series #1) (25 page)

“Kaylie, you’re like you are
because
of Dad, not because you’re like Dad.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. You’re afraid of commitment, but not
incapable of commitment. You’re afraid of being blindsided, like
Mom was. That’s why you try to do it first.”

“Oh God, really? I do that? That’s
awful.”

“No, it’s not. It’s called
self-preservation.” She knelt in front of Kaylie, placed her hands
on her knees, and looked into her confused and sad eyes. “What does
your heart tell you to do? And, Kaylie, you don’t have to make a
decision today.”

“I’m eight weeks pregnant. I have to make a
decision soon.” She burst into tears and fell sideways on the bed,
burying her face in the pillow.

“You have weeks to decide, not seconds.
Remember when you were little and you couldn’t decide between
chocolate and vanilla?” She lay down next to Kaylie, her hand on
her back. “Dad told you that you had to choose, and you said—”

“That my heart would choose, but my brain
didn’t have to,” Kaylie said into the pillow. “Follow my
heart?”

“Right. What does your heart say?”

“Every time I think about
not
having
this baby, I fall apart. But I’m afraid to love Chaz. I don’t think
I can stand being hurt like Mom was.”

“But do you think you love him?”

Kaylie turned her red-rimmed eyes toward
Danica. “I know I love him.”

“Yeah?”

Kaylie nodded, swiping at the tears that
stained Danica’s pillow. “You really don’t think I’m like Dad? You
don’t think I’ll wake up one day and not want my family anymore, or
find some other guy too attractive to turn down?”

Danica lay on her back and stared up at the
ceiling, taking Kaylie’s hand in her own. “Have you ever met a man
and thought that you couldn’t live without bedding him? Or do you
bed them because they’re there and you’re bored, or because you
want to bed them before some other girl in the bar does?”

“You sound like a therapist again.”

“I know,” Danica said quietly. “This time I
have to. I want you to think about your answers, and you don’t have
to tell me. You only have to be honest with yourself.” Warmth
spread through Danica. She’d watched Kaylie standing at the edge of
a precipice for so many years, and now she was finally able to
help—if only a little. Now it was all up to Kaylie. She could have
her happily ever after if she so desired, and if not, Danica would
be there to help her pick up the pieces—like always.

Kaylie put her head on Danica’s shoulder.

“No matter what you decide, I’ll support your
decision.”

Danica leaned over the kitchen counter,
watching Blake eat breakfast. She couldn’t believe how much her
life had changed and how freeing it was to allow herself to live
outside the shadow of her profession. So what if people talked? Who
would know he was her client, anyway? As she mulled it over, she
realized that she’d already made her decision. What she felt was
love—thick, unavoidable, spectacular love. She was going to
relinquish her therapy license and find a way to open the youth
center she’d always dreamed of. It was time to stop living how
other people wanted her to, and, instead, live the life that would
make her the happiest. Looking at Blake, she knew she’d made the
right decision.

“Aren’t you gonna eat anything?” Blake stood
and went to her. He wrapped his arms around her and whispered in
Danica’s ear. “Dr. Snow, I think I might need a private
session.”

She placed her hand on his unshaven cheek.
“I’m not going to be Dr. Snow for much longer. I’ve decided to open
the youth center I’ve always dreamed of.”

“And leave the safety net you’ve spent so
many years constructing?” Blake asked.

“Look at you, all attune to someone else’s
issues. You must have had a very good therapist.”
Danica pressed her hips in to his. “It’s not just the right
thing to do. It’s what I want to do. I’ve just never had the
courage to let myself move in that direction before.” She kissed
his cheek. “See, you’ve helped me grow as much as I’ve helped you.
Oh gosh. I have to go meet Michelle.” 

He kissed her softly, pressing his hips in to
hers. “I would never interfere with your plans. Michelle is lucky
to have you in her life, and the youths of Allure will be equally
as lucky.” 

Blake and Danica had stayed up half of the
night talking about Kaylie and what it had been like for Danica,
living in her shadow. While she reminisced, she realized that she
hadn’t been living in Kaylie’s shadow at all. She was living right
beside her, but always with a watchful eye and a modicum of
jealousy wrapped in worry. She told Blake about Michelle’s mother
and how hurt Michelle was over the lies about the father she never
knew. Blake had turned to her with an earnest look in his eyes and
said, “I will never lie to you. I’ve seen the wake of hurt Dave
left behind, and I’d rather face an argument than ever have you
feel like you weren’t the most important thing in my life.”

I love you
crossed her mind, but not
her lips.
Baby steps
.

“So, what should I do when I need advice?
Make an appointment? Leave you a note? Call you
Doc
?” He
laughed.

“Hmm. I’ll have to see if I can fit you in
around the kids’ schedules, I suppose.” She laughed. “How about
just saying, ‘I need a little advice’?”

“Sounds good to me. Did I tell you that Sally
called me? She said that Rusty agreed to talk to someone with her,
a counselor.”

“That’s great news. Maybe he can even spend
time at the new youth center when it’s open.” Danica knew the road
ahead for Dave’s family—families—would be a long one.

“Yeah. It’s a start, anyway. Oh, and I’m
taking Rusty next weekend. Maybe we can bring Michelle and all go
to a movie.” He lifted his eyebrows.

“Listen to you. A matchmaker.”

“No. I was selfishly thinking of necking in
the back of the theater.” He laughed, then looked at the clock and
gulped down his last sip of coffee. “I have to get to AcroSki. I’m
interviewing a part-timer today to take over a few of the
administrative things Dave had been in charge of. Are we driving to
the wedding together?”

They’d become so close over the last
forty-eight hours that it felt to Danica as if they’d been a couple
for years. She’d already assumed they would go to the wedding
together. It was a little surprising to realize that there was a
whole world of people who didn’t know they’d found each other. “I
wouldn’t want it any other way.”

Danica drove into the Village with Michelle,
humming along to a Top 40s radio station. Michelle wanted to go to
a particular used bookstore to look at inexpensive art books, which
Danica took as a good sign. Michelle was showing interest in
something other than hiding behind her imaginary wall.

“You’re wearing that blue scarf again,”
Michelle noticed.

Danica touched the scarf. “Yeah.”

“You look really nice. Happy,” Michelle
said.

“Yeah? Thank you. I am.” Danica shivered,
thinking of being wrapped in Blake’s arms.

Danica pulled into a parking spot and they
headed for the bookstore. “You like being here, don’t you?”

“In the Village? Yeah, a lot. It’s so
different from being in town.” Michelle reached into the neckline
of her shirt and withdrew her Imperfect necklace, patting it
against her chest. “I’ve been thinking about what you said about my
mom.”

They walked up the steps to the bookstore and
stood on the brick stoop. Michelle brushed her hair from her eyes
and looked thoughtfully at Danica. The difficulties in her life
showed in the shadows within her eyes.

“Maybe if I talked to her it would, I don’t
know, help.”

Danica wanted to jump up and down and clap
her hands. Instead she spoke calmly. “I think it will. You know I’d
be happy to come with you if you want me to.”

Michelle nodded and pulled open the door.

Before following her inside, Danica looked up
at the sky and breathed in the cool air. Everything in her life was
finally coming together. If she had her therapist hat on, she might
become cynical and tell herself to be prepared for the next shoe to
drop. She smiled to herself, knowing that soon the therapist side
of her mind wouldn’t always have to be on high alert. She refused
to let her practical side overtake her happiness. She knew the
risks; Blake could go back to his player ways at any moment. He
might become bored. He might resent her for trying to change
him—no, that last one wasn’t true. Blake had come to her wanting to
change. She replaced her therapist’s eye view with that of her
normal, womanly self, tucked the thought into her heart, and walked
into the bookstore.

An hour later, they left, Michelle armed with
various art books and Danica armed with two books about
pregnancy—just in case Kaylie decided to move in that
direction.

She dropped Michelle off at Nola’s house.
After Michelle went inside, Danica felt a familiar constriction in
her chest. Disappointment. Michelle hadn’t brought up talking to
her mother again, as Danica had hoped she would. She checked her
watch. She had two hours before she had to be at the church for the
pre-wedding pictures. Correction: She and Blake needed to be there
in two hours. Her pulse quickened as she headed home.

The chilly evening air blew through Blake’s
hair as he stood on Danica’s front stoop and watched the sun
disappear behind the mountain. His palms sweated, despite the
thirty-degree temperature. His stomach swam in circles for the
first time in years. Blake turned as Danica met him on the porch,
locking the door behind her. Shades of mauve swayed in the breeze
beneath the hem of her coat. Blake gasped a breath at the sight of
her. How could one woman look more beautiful every time he saw her?
Her natural curls blew across her face, and she laughed as she
tried unsuccessfully to tame them with her hand.

“They have a mind of their own,” Danica
joked.

“They’re gorgeous. You are gorgeous.” He
kissed her on the lips, once, twice. Then he couldn’t help it; he
pulled her to him and let his passion lead him into another
insatiable kiss.

She came away with her cheeks flushed.

“I’m sorry, but…” He shrugged, hoping he
could control the heat that found its way to his groin.

Hand in hand, they walked to the car, where
Blake opened the door for Danica, feeling like an overeager
teenager taking the hottest girl to prom. After closing her door,
he stood in the cold watching her smooth her dress. He felt his
heart swell in a way he had never before experienced, and thought
of Dave and Sally. Their relationship might have been going through
a hurricane, but somehow Blake thought that had the accident never
occurred, they would have weathered the storm. Even though he and
Danica were only in the early stages of their relationship, she
already owned a piece of Blake’s heart, and he couldn’t imagine
losing her.

Danica turned to pull her seat belt across
her chest and caught him staring. She wrinkled her forehead in
question. He hurried into the driver’s seat as Danica read a text
on her cell phone.

“They didn’t call off the wedding, did
they?”

Danica read the text from Michelle.
Will
you come with me to talk to my mom tomorrow?
She typed
yes
into the phone. “No,” she answered Blake. “Everything is
just perfect.”

They stood across from each other during the
wedding ceremony. Blake with the groomsmen, beaming in their
tuxedos, and Danica alongside the bridesmaids, lined up like
brightly colored flowers, beautiful and enticing. Camille looked
lovely in her satin gown, but what struck Danica was the look in
her eyes. She and Jeffrey had been dating for three years, and
there was no way to describe how she looked at him other than
dreamy
. Her cheeks were soft, her eyes attentive, and her
body language emitted simple and pure love. Her shoulders faced
Jeffrey’s, her posture straight, yet slightly leaning toward her
future husband, and her lips were slightly parted, turned up at the
edges in a wanting, comfortable smile. She and Jeffrey had written
their own vows, and Danica listened intently to Camille’s promise:
…to always consider your feelings, to give you time to nurture
your friendships, and to try not to jump to unfair conclusions.
She’d never heard such thoughtful vows. What would she hope for
from a spouse? Danica had never given marriage much thought. She
hadn’t had time, and love had left almost everyone she knew in some
state of mental chaos. Fate had never existed in her world—until
now. Now she felt the delicate fingers of love lacing themselves
around her heart, and she was helpless to ignore them. She wondered
if Blake felt the same, and glanced up at him. He was looking
directly at her, with that same look in his eyes as Camille had.
Danica’s knees weakened; her pulse sped up.
Blake
. She
wanted love, honesty, and Blake. Camille and Jeffrey kissed and the
guests applauded, breaking through her reverie.

“I made a decision,” Kaylie whispered.

Danica blew Blake a kiss from across the
aisle and turned toward Kaylie. Her makeup barely concealed the
dark circles beneath her eyes.

“I had a long talk with Chaz last night. We
were up till dawn,” she said.

“And?” Danica didn’t know if she should hope
they were going to have the baby or not. She only wanted Kaylie to
be happy, and she knew Kaylie possessed enough love to be a
wonderful mother, even if she was scared shitless. She also knew
her sister well enough to know that once she made up her mind,
there would be no turning back. Ever. She reached for Kaylie’s hand
as Camille and Jeffrey walked down the aisle, hand-in-hand, ducking
under the flower petals the groomsmen threw above them.