“I noticed that he slipped out of your birthday party early.” Nora sipped her tea. “What was that about?”
“He couldn’t stand that guy Reid.”
“The well-built blonde?” Willow asked.
“Right.”
“He seemed gregarious,” Nora said.
“If I knew what that meant, I might agree,” Britt told her.
“Gregarious means affable. Convivial.”
Britt smiled. “Way to define a big word with more big words, Nora.”
“Gregarious means outgoing. Social. How’s that?”
“Better,” Britt replied. “And yes. Reid is outgoing and social for the most part. But he and Zander almost came to blows when Reid spilled his drink on Zander’s shirt.”
“Really?” Nora’s brown eyes widened.
Another noncommittal “Hmm” from Willow.
Britt zeroed in on her oldest sister. “What are thosehmms a placeholder for? What are you not saying?”
Willow gave her an innocent look. “Nothing.”
Suspicion needled Britt. “Nora?”
She, too, put on an innocent look. “Nothing.”
Britt could guess the direction of their thoughts.
They were thinking that Zander hated Reid because Reid had been flirting with her. And Reid’s flirting would only have caused Zander to hate Reid if Zander liked her as more than a friend.
Their server arrived and set their plates of food before them. Willow knew the woman personally and inquired about her children while Britt considered her bistro salad. Goat cheese, spiced pecans, dried cranberries, pulled chicken, and sliced apples dotted a base of spinach.
Over the years, each time Maddie had suggested to Britt that Zander liked her as more than a friend, Britt had done everything she could to blow the idea off as absurd. Her sisters knew this. Even though Britt sensed that they agreed with Maddie, Willow and Nora had been too tactful and too careful to confront Britt openly on the topic of Zander.
Which had suited Britt perfectly. In the past, whenever they’d reached a point in a conversation—like the one they’d reached now—where a discussion of Zander’s feelings toward her had become an option, Britt had avoided talking about it. So had Willow and Nora.
No doubt her sisters had avoided discussing Zander’s feelings because they’d known Britt wouldn’t take it well. But now that she was thinking it through from their perspective, it seemed logical to assume that they’d avoided that discussion for Zander’s sake, too.
Willow and Nora were two of Zander’s biggest admirers. It could be... Great Scott. It could be that they’d remained quiet out of loyalty tohim, not wanting to blab about a subject Zander himself had never broached.
For two weeks straight since her trip to the Central Library with Zander, Britt had been at war with herself over him. Praying over it hadn’t helped. Waiting for her infatuation to fade hadn’t helped. Scolding herself hadn’t helped. Neither had her attempts to lose herself in her newest truffle recipe.
Until now, she hadn’t wanted to hear Willow and Nora’s thoughts on Zander. But now she did.
When their server left, Britt said, “I have a confession to make about Zander,” before either of her sisters had time to reach for their forks. The statement had the desired effect. It immediately commanded Willow’s and Nora’s full attention.
Britt tended to view her sisters through a lens of deep familiarity. When she saw Willow, she saw gentleness and steadiness. When she saw Nora, she saw kindness and trustworthiness.
It took more scrutiny to notice that the pale pink of Willow’s top complemented her pale pink lip gloss and blond hair. Her highly observant green eyes were set into startlingly perfect features.
Nora wore a navy cardigan, accented by a thin belt at her waist. Her side-parted cinnamon-colored hair framed a pale, heart-shaped face. A face so approachable that it invited confidences.
“After thirteen years of friendship,” Britt told them, “I seem to be developing a ... crush on Zander.”
