“It was our anniversary,” Ryleigh said, looking at her sister. “We took a sunset stroll on the beach because he suggested it. There we were, on the beach at sunset and he didn’t say a word. I kept waiting and waiting and then it got cold and we went back to the hotel.” She leaned against the cushions and closed her eyes. “It’s never going to happen. He’s never going to cough it up.”
“I’m sorry.”
Ryleigh didn’t bother opening her eyes. “No, you’re not.”
“I am. I want you to be happy.”
Which sounded great but Ryleigh knew the truth. Jax, her always supportive and loving older sister, didn’t think she and Dustin were right together. Jax complained they lacked “sparkage.” Sure, when compared to the firestorm that had been the start of Jax’s relationship to Harris all those years ago, she and Dustin were quietly boring in their affection for each other. But not everyone needed wild, passionate, take-me-now moments. For some people, a steady love was the best kind and that was what she and Dustin had. Nice, calm, forever love.
“I want to get married,” Ryleigh said, looking at the sky and wishing that instead of complaining she was showing off an engagement ring. “I want the rest of my life to start. I have a great career, friends, but I want kids and I’m not like Mom.”
Their mother, a powerful literary agent in New York City, had, at the age of thirty, realized she wasn’t interested in anything like a traditional relationship, but she did want children. So she’d used a sperm bank and nine months later, Jax had been born. Four years later, she’d wanted a second child, so had used the same donor and voilà. Ryleigh.
When the girls had been ten and six, their mother had taken them to Port Palmas, her small, West Coast hometown, for what was supposed to be a summer visit. There she’d reunited with her high school sweetheart and in an unexpected turn of events, had married him. She’d managed her author clients remotely long before it had become a thing, and had gone back to New York every other month for in-person meetings. When Ryleigh had graduated from high school and headed off to college, her mom and stepdad had moved to New York permanently.
Jax reached across and grabbed her hand. “I know and I’m sorry Dustin is being such a butthead.”
“Thanks.” She squeezed her sister’s fingers before releasing them. “Do you think he’s fallen out of love with me?”
“No. Why would he take you away for the weekend if he didn’t want to be with you?”
“I guess. I don’t know what’s wrong. We’ve talked about the future, so what’s the holdup?”
Dustin was a lawyer in town. He was part of a small practice that included her friend Alex and the two founding partners. In fact Alex’s late wife, Kim, had been the one to introduce her to Dustin. After Kim’s death, Ryleigh had felt shattered. Dustin had been there for her, holding her when she cried and generally being a rock. At the time they’d only been dating about a month, but those horrible weeks had drawn them closer.
“Maybe we don’t have what you and Harris used to, but it’s still special. I can’t figure out the problem.”
“Want me to beat some sense into him?” Jax asked. “I’d need to use a shovel or something because he’s probably strong enough to take me, but I could make a run at it.”
Ryleigh smiled at her. “Thank you for offering violence on my behalf, but no. I just need to think about what’s wrong.” She sipped her wine. “So what’s new with you?”
“Harris wants to change the parenting plan.”
“To what? You guys have an unusual system, but it’s working. The kids are doing great and you like living here on the alternating weeks.”
“He wants to be able to have Shawna sleep over.”
Ryleigh stared at her sister. “He didn’t say that! No way. He wants to change the parenting plan so he can have regular sex with his girlfriend? His kids are in the house. They’re too young to know about adult sleepovers. What is he thinking? Seriously? No. Just no. Can’t they hook up when the kids are at school or with friends? Change the parenting plan just so he can get laid? I don’t think so.”
She had more to rant about, but stopped when she saw Jax smiling at her.
“What?” she demanded.
“You and I are so much alike.” Jax grinned as she raised her wineglass in a silent toast. “I said pretty much that exact thing to Harris when he brought up the subject, right down to yelling at him some version of ‘you getting laid.’ Unfortunately Ramon was in the room at the time. Guess his new favorite phrase?”
Ryleigh winced, thinking of how piercing the parrot’s voice could be, but as was her nature, she tried to look on the bright side. “Maybe it could be good for business. You know how much your customers love a scandal.”
“I’m thinking more of trying to find something else for him to repeat over and over again.”
“Ask Cheryl. She’s the creative one.”
Cheryl, a retired elementary school teacher and Ryleigh’s former mentor, worked for Jax as her events coordinator. The part-time position required tact, resourcefulness and spy-level organizational skills—all of which Cheryl had used every day in her former career.
“Good idea.” Jax sipped her wine. “If we’re both testing out interesting things for him to say, he might pick up on one of them.”
“Or keep yelling ‘you getting laid’ for the next week.”
Jax groaned. “Which is much more likely to happen. That bird.”
