On Second Thought(112)

Sure, I sounded like a chattering monkey, but my sister unfroze. “Right. Hi. Hi, Brooke.”

“You okay?” Brooke said.

“Um, yeah. Yep.”

“I can reschedule, if you’re not feeling well.”

Kate closed her eyes briefly. “No, no. I just overslept. Sorry.”

“Of course you’re not sleeping well,” Brooke said. Her face wobbled. “I should’ve called or texted first. I’m so sorry.”

Kate had that stake-through-the-heart look.

“Daniel, let’s go out for breakfast, why don’t we?” I said, grabbing his beautiful arm and pulling him toward the door.

“Actually, I can’t,” he said. “Uh...thanks for the coffee. Good to see you, Kate.”

Don’t look at her, I thought, because I could feel the air vibrating between them.

Out he went, raising a hand as he strode down the walk.

“Nice guy,” Brooke said. “Are you dating him, Ainsley?”

“No! Nope. I mean, I would, but, uh... Well! I should... I’m going to, uh, grab some stuff, and then I’ll be gone, too,” I said.

Twenty minutes later, which was a land-speed record for me, I’d showered and dressed and even put on makeup. I slipped out the back door without saying goodbye, unwilling to lie anymore.

But seriously. Nathan’s family couldn’t know she’d just gotten it on with the poster boy for FDNY.

*

Cambry-on-Hudson’s business district was hosting a Sidewalk Festival on Saturday, and Hudson Lifestyle was doing a web feature on it, written by yours truly. This meant I got to spend this morning wandering through the shops to get the latest info to update our website. It was the kind of work I really enjoyed.

My first stop was Bliss, the wedding dress shop I’d ogled from the outside many a time when I was with Eric. I’d always thought it would be bad luck to go in before I had a ring on my finger (pause for ironic and slightly bitter laughter). But now I had a good reason to go.

It was paradise inside. I mean, what woman didn’t love wedding dresses? And these were ethereally beautiful—a blush tulle dress with tiny rosebuds along the bodice; a velvet lace gown that would make the bride look like a winter princess. Each one was more beautiful than the last.

“Hi, I’m Jenny,” said a pretty woman dressed in black as I fondled a sleeve. “You’re Kate O’Leary’s sister, right? She took my picture a while ago. I still owe her dinner out.”

We played the Cambry-on-Hudson two degrees of separation game; I told her I’d met Leo at Kate’s grief group, and it turned out Eric and I had lived down the street from Jenny’s sister.

“So Rachel Carver is your sister! Wow!” I said. “We used to chat when I walked Ollie. How’s she doing?” She’d gotten a divorce, I knew that. I always thought her husband was a little too smug.

“She’s doing really well,” Jenny said. “She’ll be here on Saturday. Her daughters are going to model flower girl dresses for me.”

“Oh! So cute!” I said. “They’re such beautiful girls. I miss seeing them. I, uh... My boyfriend and I broke up, and I’m staying with Kate now.”

“That’s so nice of you,” she said. “She told me that. My sister and I are super close, too.”

Did Kate say we were super close? God, that made me happy!

I asked Jenny a few more questions for the article and left reluctantly, thanking her for her time. Next stop: Cottage Confections. Kim, God bless her, felt it was necessary to feed me a red velvet cupcake as I sat there asking questions, then send me off with four more.

Too bad more of my workdays weren’t like this. Speaking of, I had to take a good hard look at my life. I had options. I always had, but now I had funding because of my mother’s insurance policy. What would she want me to do? Travel? Live in Paris for a year, drive across America?

But I loved this town.

And there was Jonathan. Too early for him to be a real factor in any decisions I had to make...except I was kind of falling for him.

Well. I had two clothing boutiques and three jewelry stores to check next. Not quite as fun as wedding dresses and cupcakes, but not bad, either.

As I was crossing the street an hour later, someone called my name.

It was Matthew Kent.

He came down the steps of Hudson’s (which was not on my list). “Hey, Ainsley.”

I had to give him points for remembering my name. Most people didn’t on the first try.

“Uh, listen. I...I tried calling Jonathan this morning, but I’m pretty sure he’s blocked my number.”

“I wonder why,” I said.

“Would you do me a favor?”

“Nope.”

He gave an exasperated sigh, and I caught a glimpse of the resemblance between them. “Would you tell him I’d like to see him? Tell him we can’t go on like this forever, and... Shit. I don’t know. It’s not good for the girls.”

“Probably their uncle sleeping with their mother was also not good for the girls.” I cocked my head and stared him down.

“It was more than two years ago,” he said, “and they were little, and look. I know what I did was wrong. But it’s done. It can’t be undone.”

“Sounds like you need to go to confession,” I said. “I’m working. Bye.”