Voices outside caught her attention. Maybe the delivery driver had returned to collect the paint. She wanted to speak to him, to remind him to check the labels on the cans for the correct colour number before he came back. She had painters standing around, on her dime, with nothing to do until the order was filled correctly. It made her skin crawl to think of her bank account rapidly shrinking with every passing moment.
She tiptoed around the holes in the floor to the front door and looked out the gap to see David talking to her sister on the landing. Emily pushed her blonde hair behind one ear and looked up at him with a flirtatious smile.
“I love the blonde,” he said. “Makes you look younger.”
“Thanks. I feel younger,” Emily said.
Evie frowned. Perhaps they’d met at book club the other night, although she hadn’t seen them connect. Emily had spent most of the night hiding in a back corner talking to another one of the men in attendance.
“Have you lived on the island a long time?” he asked.
She shrugged. “I grew up here, but only returned recently.”
“Oh? It must’ve been wonderful to spend your childhood somewhere so beautiful.”
“It was. We ran around in bare feet and bikinis for most of the year.”
“What a fantastic childhood. I’m afraid I was raised in the city. I spent a good portion of each day catching the train to and from school with a million other people, all of us jammed into the carriages like sardines.”
“I had a pretty special upbringing. Sometimes I wish I could go back to being a kid all over again.”
“I understand that,” David replied, leaning against the railing. “I see these kids at the primary school who seem as though they don’t have a care in the world.”
“Being an adult is hard,” Emily said.
David laughed. “The thing is, I didn’t love my childhood. So, I’m enjoying adulthood. It’s a much better time for me. I can do the things I’ve always wanted to do. And I can help other kids have the kind of school experience I didn’t have.”
“That’s so noble,” Emily replied, batting her eyelashes. “You’re a good man.”
Evie cringed. Her sister could be corny when she was flirting. She’d be angry if she wasn’t so used to it. They were much older but in many ways, nothing had changed since they lived together all those years ago.
“Evie, I was wondering if perhaps you’d like to go on a date with me this Friday.”
Evie’s eyes widened. He’d come to the bookshop after school to ask her out on a date, and instead he’d seen Emily on the front porch and assumed she was Evie?
Emily laughed and pressed a hand to David’s arm. “I’d love to go out with you, but my name is Emily.”
Confusion flitted across his handsome face. His brown eyes looked troubled. “I’m so sorry. I thought you said Evie, and I’m usually pretty good with names.”
“It’s fine,” she replied. “She’s my twin sister.” She held out a chunk of her hair. “Blonde, not red.”
He gaped. “Oh, wow, of course. I should’ve realised that. I thought she’d coloured her hair.”
“What’s your name again?”
“David,” he replied. “It’s nice to meet you, Emily.”
“And you as well, David. Friday night sounds wonderful. Does seven o’clock work?”
He cleared his throat, gaze darting to the bookshop door. “I, uh…”
If she were more vindictive, Evie would’ve stepped outside and told David her sister was married. She’d noticed Emily wasn’t wearing her wedding ring these days. Perhaps their marriage was over, and she simply didn’t want to admit it. Regardless, Evie didn’t have the strength to bother making a fuss. If David wanted to go on a date with Emily, she wouldn’t stand in the way. She’d done enough fighting with her sister over men in the past—she never intended to do it again.
“I’ll see you then, David,” Emily said, pressing her hand to David’s chest and smiling up at him.
His cheeks flushed red and with a stammered agreement, he hurried down the stairs and back in the direction of the school.
Evie stepped outside and crossed her arms. She glared at Emily.
