SEALed With Love (DiCarlo Brides book 2) (The DiCarlo Brides) (10 page)

“And you share everything with the rest of us, do you?” Delphi turned it back on Rosemary. “Your trip to DC next week is to make nice with the mom who couldn’t be bothered to come to the opening gala, huh?”

Rosemary snorted. “As if. And if you’re going to keep secrets, I can keep my own.”

“You’re welcome to them,” Delphi snarled.

“Hey, I want to know secrets,” Cami said. “I have no juicy ones of my own, so you all need to share. Come on, spill.”

“And with that, I’m headed out. I’ll be back Sunday evening.” Delphi turned toward the garage. “You’re all a bunch of busybodies. Worse than my mom’s friends.” The door slapped closed behind her.

Sage sighed, wondering if Delphi and Rosemary would ever get along, and why they provoked each other all of the time.

“I need to get with you Jonquil,” Cami said, moving past Delphi’s tantrum. “Flowers are not my thing.”

“Rosemary already has plans for your cake,” Sage said. “You probably ought to discuss it with her soon.”

“Right.” Cami’s phone rang and she grinned, flipping her auburn hair back from her face and answering it, “Hi, sweetie. How does December sixteenth sound?”

Sage took her glass of juice back up to her room.  She’d let everyone else chatter about wedding plans—she needed some peace and quiet. She hadn’t had a chance to meditate for a few days and an hour or two of quiet reflection was definitely needed after the angry vibes that had been thrown around the room. Confrontation always tied her up in knots.

“You should join us for dinner tonight,” Sage offered as Joel walked her out to his car after work Sunday evening. “Rosemary is making cannellini and promised there would be plenty.” She dangled the offer in front of him, knowing how much he liked Rosemary’s cooking. He been aloof ever since her birthday when he’d been sweet as she had her panic attack. She hoped with the others around, he’d relax a little, show his true self.

He lifted his brows. “Are all the sisters going to gather ‘round and talk wedding plans?” His tone said it didn’t sound like a party to him.

She held back a smile. “Could be. But Vince will be there, and I think Blake invited himself, and Jonquil told Harrison to come—she’s still irritated with Rosemary for tossing a box of Twinkies last week.” Sage thought it was funny that Jonquil used Harrison to get back at Rosemary. Sage knew Harrison and Rosemary would be perfect together, if they ever got past the constant bickering.

“And nothing says payback like inviting your brother to eat her masterpiece.” He grinned, then took a quick perusal of the parking lot. “I got the feeling that Rosemary and Jonquil got along okay.”

“They do, most of the time. But Rosemary has an irrational hatred of mass-produced snack cakes and Jonquil loves them. I think it’s mostly good natured sparring. And Jonquil rescued the Twinkies, anyway, so it’s not like there was permanent damage.” Personally, Sage thought the things were terrible, but she thought tofu was a major food group, so who was she to judge?

“And Harrison and Rosemary are fun to watch when they get going. For everyone who’s not you and doesn’t get hives when people fight.”

“You got it. I still haven’t figured out why they argue so much.” She tried to ignore the way he studied every room, every place they went, always looking for anything—or anyone—who didn’t belong. She did it sometimes, but he was a maniac about it. Sometimes it comforted her, to know he was watching out, and other times, like now, it put her more on edge.

“Chemistry,” he dipped his head to the side, still talking about her brother. “And a healthy dose of wounded pride, though I’m not sure where that comes from.”

“You read people pretty well.” Very well, considering how he didn’t notice her feelings for himself. Or had he noticed and pretended he didn’t, hoping he wouldn’t have to turn her down?

“I’m trained to notice cues.” His jaw twitched a little, indicating there was more to it, but he wouldn’t say, so she let it go.

“Seriously, I would have thought they’d get over it by now. It was the same way when we first met Rosemary.” She remembered that encounter vividly.

“It’s only been a couple of months, but they mostly avoid each other. It might get better.” He pulled out his key fob and unlocked the door when they were still a few feet away.

“No, I don’t mean from when they met in July. I mean when we met on the cruise ship when I was eighteen.” Her father had put all of the girls in each other’s way once they had become teenagers, though he never mentioned it to them—they pieced it all together after they met again.

“Now that sounds interesting.” Joel opened the passenger door for her. “You’re going to have to explain. In detail.”

“My pleasure.” Sage slid inside and locked the door behind her. Joel nodded in approval, pulling out his cell phone to make a quick call as he came around to the driver’s side.

He stood outside his door for a moment to finish the call, then folded his phone away. “George sent all three of you on the same cruise?” he asked as he shut the door and locked everything again.

“Yeah. I think Mom was worried about letting me go alone, so Dad paid for Harrison to go with me. Though actually,” she said after a second’s consideration, “he paid for Harrison to do a lot of things so he wouldn’t be left out when I got to do fun activities. Dad kind of took him under his wing, treating Harrison like the son he never had.” Which made the secrets about the other daughters just as painful for her brother as it had been for her.

“He’s a man with a whole mess of daughters. You can’t really blame him for adopting a son into the mix.”

“I suppose not. Anyway, the first night we were on the cruise, we ran into Rosemary. Dad had booked the three of us in the same singles’ group, apparently wanting us to interact—even though we didn’t know about each other. I think he was hoping we would strike up friendships on our own or something. Rosemary had a permanent chip on her shoulder, even more than now. She took one look at us and hated us. She made some comment about me and Harrison said some nasty things back. The rest of the week they either sniped or pretended the other didn’t exist.”

“Pretty much like now.” Joel glanced into the rearview mirror.

“Yeah. Harrison can be a bit of a hothead. Especially when he’s defending me.” A trait she had by turns hated and adored.

“I’ve noticed,” he said. “I have to ask. What did she say about you?”

They pulled up to the house and Joel parked in the driveway behind her garage space where her car sat unused for the past several weeks. “She made some comment about me being mousy and plain. It bothered Harrison more than it did me.” Sage pushed back the hurt the remembered comment still caused—how could she take offense when Rosemary’s words were true? Sage knew she wasn’t a beauty, but as she had matured she felt better about herself. Now she even felt pretty sometimes.

“And what did he say back?” Joel turned off the car and looked at her.

“Rosemary used to be a little curvier. All over, not just in all the right places like now. Harrison taunted her about it.” Remembering the hurt she’d seen on Rosemary’s face still made Sage feel bad.

“Ouch. That’s rough on a teenage girl.” He looked around them, ensuring that the coast was clear for her to exit the car—as he always did.

“It’s rough on a grown woman,” Sage said. “So at that age, yeah. It was unnecessarily cruel.”

“And you could never understand someone being cruel.” Joel touched his finger to her jaw, turning her head to face him. “You’re tender hearted and don’t like to see anyone in pain.”

His brown eyes seemed to see right into her psyche. “We all know the saying about sticks and stones,” she said, shivering a little at his touch. “But the truth is, words can hurt. Worse than a stone, sometimes.” Her breath caught in her chest when the moment stretched between them and he turned his fingers to run his knuckles across her cheek. Want curled in her chest, an ache, a wish for him to lean over and kiss her.

“Yeah.” His voice was low and a little husky, and his gaze dropped to her lips.

For one thrilling moment she thought he might kiss her. She could almost feel his lips on hers, was lifting her face closer when he dropped his hand and backed away, reaching for the door handle.

“Well, it’s good to know what’s behind their feud, anyway.” He pushed the door open and got out of the car.

Disappointment rose in her chest and she had to swallow it down. Why did she keep letting herself hope when he made it perfectly clear he didn’t see her like that? She locked the car door and shut it behind her. “What was your comment about chemistry?” She stopped to pick up Mr. Sunshine, who had come running when they pulled into the driveway. “Are you hungry, sweetie?” she crooned, rubbing her cheek against his soft fur. He meowed loudly in response. She glanced at Joel, who was watching her.

A light smile teased the corners of his mouth—the most she usually saw of his smile. “Someday things between Harrison and Rosemary are going to blow. For now, though, do you think your sisters are ready for that self-defense lesson we discussed?”

Knowing he was right about the couple, and understanding his reticence to discuss it in detail, Sage let it drop, agreeing to his suggestion. Self-defense lessons would come in handy. She glanced over her shoulder and shuddered a little at the thought of needing the lessons. She clasped the cat tighter, trying to replace her uneasiness with the comfort of his deep purr.

Only a few cannellini were left when Delphi came in and dumped her carry-on at the top of the basement stairs. Everyone sat around the great room, filling chairs, sofas, and patches of floor, discussing a movie most of them had seen.

“How was the wedding?” Cami asked.

“Fine. She was beautiful; it went off without a hitch… or close enough. The flight was fine, the drive back up here was fine. My bike is already on the truck and should arrive this week.” She yanked open a cupboard and pulled out a plate and glass. “Do you want to know what wasn’t fine?” She looked across the open space to the sunken space where the rest lounged.

Jonquil’s blue eyes narrowed as she studied Delphi. “The guy back home?”

“Exactly. The guy. The guy was so not fine, it’s not even funny.” She slammed the cup and plate onto the counter and started dishing out the last of the cannellini. “The guy acted as if everything was good all weekend—or what little of it I had to spend with him—then decided he couldn’t possibly do this long-distance thing. Not even for a year.” She looked Vince right in the eye. “Why are all guys jerks? They flash a little chrome, impress you with superior handling and a purring engine and the next thing you know, they’re gone.”

Vince sat in silence for a moment, as if unsure how to respond. “You were talking about motorcycles there, right? It wasn’t some freaky girl slang for things I’d rather not discuss when surrounded by a room full of women, most of whom are tougher than me?”

Delphi rolled her eyes. “Of course, I’m talking bikes. How long have you and Jeremy-the-jerk been friends, anyway that you haven’t learned about motorcycles? You’d think you’d know what I’m talking about.” She poured herself some Dr. Pepper and headed for a free spot on the floor. She stopped to glance around the room at the dozen occupants and came back to Vince. “Speaking of, I think he’s your only friend who isn’t in this room.” She sat with a considerable lack of grace. “No one warned me we were having a party tonight.”

“Gage isn’t here either. And was that a rhetorical question?” Vince asked. He looked scared to discuss his friendship with Jeremy. Delphi and Jeremy had gotten off to a bad start from the first, though they worked together fine when he took pictures at the resort’s events, the tension between them still clung. Sage thought when he and Delphi did let go enough to get to know each other, things would get really interesting.