Chapter Three
“I think it’s going to be so much fun having a sister.”Amy propped herself against the doorframe of her brother’s hotel room while he took a minute to set down his bag and wash his hands.
“Don’t forget, whether you know it or not,” he said over the running water, “you’ll be getting an entire extended family.The Everretts already think of you as one of their own.”
“Considering you’re not one of their own yet, I think it’s supercool.Mom and Dad are only children, so with no aunts and uncles or cousins it’s always been just the four of us.Even though I knew Kathleen Everrett lived in San Francisco, when she called to meet me for lunch, I was so surprised.Almost as excited as I’ve been waiting to finally see you face-to-face.”
Amy had had a pleasant lunch with Emily’s middle sister, Kathleen.As well as telephone conversations with the eldest Everrett sister, Ava; and her brother, Billy; and her mother, Maille; and her mother’s best friend, Missy; and anyone else who happened to be at the Everrett household while Amy was on the phone.
“Ava came within inches of flying in with Emily tonight,” Doug said.“She insisted she was only coming to play tour guide, but, in the end, she settled for simply making all the arrangements for us to see the island tomorrow.”
Amy suspected keeping them all from chartering their own plane had been a massive effort for someone.“I’m surprised the whole family didn’t come.”
Doug yanked the towel off the rack to dry his hands.“Emily might have had to finesse them a bit.”
Amy was so enjoying this ordinary chatter with her brother.Except for the insanity of their very first conversation, now when they spoke, she could almost forget that they’d been separated for most of her life.“The Everretts can be finessed?”
“Sometimes.Emily’s the baby and really good at it.Which reminds me—she wanted me to apologize profusely over and over that she couldn’t miss the planning meeting at school and fly in with me this afternoon.Hence, why she’s arriving tonight instead.”
Amy watched her brother neatly replace the towel on the rack.No man she’d ever known had been that neat.She wondered if maybe it was a navy thing.“I’m just really happy you didn’t make me wait any longer to see you.I barely got a wink of sleep last night, and, if I had two bites of dinner or breakfast, it was a lot.I’d have probably died of anticipation if I’d been kept waiting another hour.”
Doug chuckled and came back into the room.“Frankly Emily was ready to put me on a plane last night.Something ridiculous about a caged lion.”
Close enough to reach her brother, she stretched her arms around his waist and held on tight.Again.“I hope you don’t mind if I keep doing this.I think I’m still afraid I might wake up and discover none of this has been real.”
Holding on to her, he kissed the top of her head.“I may need a little reassuring myself.”
“Anytime.”She stepped back, and, at that second, Doug’s stomach growled.“We’d better get going.I don’t want to be the reason you starve to death.”
Smiling down at her, Doug opened the door and waved her on, but she’d only managed to take a single step when she stopped short at the man in a towel standing across the hall.
His blond head whipped around, a flash of horror filling deep blue eyes.Large hands immediately dropped from the doorknob to readjust the knot at his hip.
Really nice hips.Hips that led north to really broad strong muscled shoulders.
Mr.Handsome Married To Pretty Wife in Lobby cleared his throat.“Uhm—”
Before the man could say another word, Doug broke the awkward moment.“Why don’t you call housekeeping from my room.”
Amy felt herself tugged back into the room by her brother’s grip.Suddenly realizing she was still staring at the hunk of a guy in nothing but a towel, she felt her cheeks heat with mortification for gawking like a hormonal teen.
“Oh, yes.Thanks.I, uh…”
Doug raised his hand to silence the man.“Been there, done that.Once without the towel.”
This time Amy’s head snapped around to look at her brother.
At her expression, Doug’s face pinched with what might have been embarrassment but most certainly was regret—if not for his long-ago actions, at least for giving them voice.“Sorry about that.”
“No problem.”She wasn’t a prude or anything; it would just take a little more time to get used to an all-grown-up man for a brother.In her head he was still only eleven years old and reading her bedtime stories.
Mr.Towel dropped the phone into the cradle.“Someone will be up to let me back in.I had a little incident on the beach and—”
“How’s the head?”Doug interrupted.
Towel Guy’s hand immediately lifted to his temple.“Not bad.”
“She was pretty pissed.”
