“Raccoon it is.” She raised her glass and I met it with my wineglass.
“Raccoon,” I repeated.
* * *
“I’ll seeyou on Saturday morning?” I asked after we’d finished lunch and Vail had walked me back to my car.
“I’ll send you a message when the car is on the way. Don’t worry about hair and makeup. You can get it done at the venue.” I’d been planning to just do it myself.
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I hired someone, and we’ll have our own room. Just us,” she said.
I wouldn’t mind if it was just me and Vail at all, but thinking about the wedding still made me start to sweat. I wondered why I had agreed to this in the first place.
And then I looked up into her face and I knew why I’d agreed.
“I don’t think I’ve said it yet, but thank you. For doing this. I know you didn’t have to. But I’m really glad you’re going to be there Saturday.”
She reached out and squeezed my hands. Only for a second. She let go before I even registered that she’d touched me. I wish she’d do it again.
That heat sizzled between us, fizzing like summer sparklers. I’d never wanted to kiss someone so badly before. Never ached like this for a person that didn’t want me back. My poor heart hurled itself against my ribcage in anger. It begged me to just grab her face and kiss her. But I couldn’t do it if she didn’t want it. And every time, she’d moved away from me as if she didn’t.
And there it was. She did it again. Backing up and giving me a blank face.
“I’ll see you on Saturday morning.”
“See you on Saturday.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Vail
Sleep wasout of the question that night. Too many thoughts crammed themselves into my brain, taking up any available space. I’d been so rude to Lea and it was a wonder she was still coming with me at all. She was kinder than I deserved.
Buying the dress and shoes and providing the makeup and hair wasn’t enough. I needed to do more to thank her. Send her on vacation or something. I’d ask her tomorrow. Find out where she’d want to go and then just buy some tickets. Or get her a massive gift certificate to the bookstore her friends owned. I could afford to do both.
The kittens seemed to sense my mood and were absolute terrors all night. Running around, knocking things over, making messes and then jumping on me to see if I was still awake. I got up and played with them for a little while until they passed out.
The dress that my mother had selected for me hung on the door of my closet. It was simple and dark blue with thin straps and a low back. It fit me perfectly. The silver shoes that went with it were going to be the bane of my existence, but at least they were beautiful.
By Sunday, it would all be over, and I could go back to my regular life. I just had to get through to Sunday.
* * *
“When did you grow a beard?”I blurted out when I saw my brother waiting in the vestibule of the restaurant.
He smiled easily, something I didn’t know if I’d seen before. Rubbing his face, he winked at me. “You like it? Someone special told me it was handsome.”
Oh. He had a new girlfriend. I wondered if he’d asked me to lunch to tell me about her.
“It looks good,” I told him. Dallas and I didn’t look much alike. He’d gotten our mother’s golden hair and blue eyes, but there was a roughness to his features that I knew bothered her. She’d wanted beautiful children that were like blades. Sharp and precise. Dallas was too “common,” in her words. As if he’d formed his face to spite her.
He looked older too. There were lines around his eyes and his hair was just a little thinner and I thought I saw a silver hair here and there. Why wouldn’t he just dye it away?
“Mother’s going to have a fit if you show up at the wedding like that,” I told him.
He shrugged and held the inner door for me. “Let her.”
