The Language of Sisters (25 page)

“You picked the wrong afternoon to nap,” Shane remarked, his hand on the small of my back. Despite the warm weather, he was dressed in a typically impeccable blue suit, a yellow-striped tie knotted perfectly at his neck. “It’s gorgeous out. I thought Seattle was perpetually wet.”

“It’s our best-kept secret, the summers here,” Mom said. “Right, Nicole?”

“Uh, yeah. It’s not bad during the summers. It’s the winters you have to watch out for all the rain.”

“Well, thanks for the weather update,” Shane joked. His hand rubbed up and down my spine.

I moved from his touch, unnerved by the sensation. I gripped my hands on the back of a chair, locking my arms straight, bracing myself. “So! What a nice surprise! I thought you were swamped at work.” He stepped over to hug me, and I felt stiff in his arms, a circle trying to fit into a square hole.

“I am,” he said. “But I’ve felt so guilty about not coming, and I wanted to make sure you knew everything was okay with us. Plus it’s your birthday.”

I sank into a chair, resting my elbows on the kitchen table, just as Jenny began to groan from her bedroom.

“I’ll get her,” Mom volunteered, pushing back her chair and stepping down the hallway.

“Thanks, Mom,” I said, for the first time wishing she wasn’t helping me with Jenny so I could’ve had a moment to gather my senses.

Shane sat down as well. “Aren’t you happy I came?”

“Of course. Just surprised. And a little tired.”

“Well, you’d better get some caffeine in you, because I’m taking you out to dinner tonight.”

“Uh,” I said, the only witty response I could pull together on such short notice.

“‘Uh’ what?” he inquired. “You don’t want me to take you out for your birthday?”

“Well,” I started, “Nova’s planned sort of a party for me tonight—”

“Even better!” Shane boomed. “Now I’ll get to meet all these people you talk my ear off about.”
Me?
Talk
his
ear off? “What did you say her husband does?”

“He’s a fisherman,” I said weakly.

Shane paused, his manicured hands pressed flat against the table. “Ah. Well, I suppose we’ll find something to talk about. Anybody interesting going to be there?” My stomach turned. Had I never noticed how truly arrogant he was?

“They’re all interesting,” I asserted in my friends’ defense. “They might not all be
lawyers
, but they’re wonderful people.” I thought of Garret. Oh, God, Garret. What was he going to think when he saw Shane?

Mom chose this moment to lead Jenny through the entry-way. Shane rose from his seat and turned to look at her; a nervous, overacted smile played on his lips. “So! I finally get to meet the infamous Jenny.”

My sister deliberately looked away from Shane, groaning lightly. She twisted her hands together in front of her belly, then slammed them hard into her mouth. Her distaste was obvious.

“Hello!” Shane boomed again. “I’m Shane!”

I looked at him, perplexed. “She’s not
deaf
.”

He reddened beneath his tan and sat back down. “I know that. I’m just happy to meet her.”

Mom looked at me pointedly and maneuvered Jenny toward the living room. “We should get ready to leave soon.” She paused, glancing at Shane. “That is, if we’re still going to Nova’s.”

“Of course we’re going,” I said, with what I hoped sounded like enthusiasm. “I just have to shower.” I stood and nodded after my mother, who had stepped into the living room with Jenny. “They’ll keep you company, all right?”

Shane looked at me with a suggestive spark in his blue eyes, grabbing my hands and kissing them in the same manner that Garret had only hours before. “I’d rather come keep
you
company.” Something in me reacted to his touch, though I wasn’t exactly sure what feeling was behind it.

I laughed nervously and pulled away. “Not here, okay?” I said. I stepped into the hallway and headed to the bathroom, pulling the phone in with me. Sitting on the closed toilet lid, I dialed Nova’s house.

“Hello?” Ryan answered, a tinge of impatience in his voice.

“Hi, Ryan, it’s Nicole. Can I speak with Nova, please?” I heard the screech of children in the background, followed by a loud thump and a high-pitched wail. Next, Nova’s muted yell: “That’s it, young man! No TV for a week! And if you hit her again, your Game Boy is fish food!”

“Shit,” Ryan swore under his breath.

“Troops restless today?” I inquired sympathetically.

“To say the least,” he affirmed.

An idea struck. “Maybe we should postpone the party,” I suggested, standing up to look in the mirror above the sink. With my crazy red curls and the smudged makeup I hadn’t removed from the night before, I didn’t
look
like a woman who’d have two men wanting to be with her.

“No way,” Ryan said emphatically. “Nova’s been cooking and cleaning like a wild woman. She’d go ballistic if it didn’t come off as planned.” He called for her, telling her who it was, and she picked up the extension in the kitchen.

“Nova’s Discount Baby House, one five-year-old boy, going cheap,” she said, joking.

I laughed. “Oh,
that’s
nice. Selling off your children now, are you?”

“Some days, I tell you, it wouldn’t be the worst idea.” She paused. “You know I’m kidding, right? I adore them.”

“Of course.” I sat back down on the toilet lid, crossing my legs.

She sighed. “So what’s up, birthday girl?”

“Shane’s here.”

“What?” she gasped.

I wiggled the phone cord and watched it dance. “He just showed up. He wanted to take me out for dinner but I told him about the party and now he’s coming with us.” The words rushed out of me in one breath. I paused for a moment before continuing. “He still doesn’t know I’m adopting the baby.”

“Oh boy.
This
should be fun.” Nova knew without my saying that I was also worried about what Garret might think.

“I know.” I reached to turn on the hot water valve for a shower. “What am I going to do?”

“Well, there’s not much you
can
do. I would kick your butt if you didn’t come, and Garret would think something was hinky if I told
him
not to come, so I guess you’re stuck riding the wave, chick.”

“Let’s just hope I don’t drown,” I said sadly, and I hung up the phone to get ready for my birthday celebration.

•  •  •

When we got to Nova’s house, Star and Orion had already arrived and were playing with Ryan and the kids downstairs in the family room. Mom settled with Jenny on the living room couch, and I took Shane into the kitchen to meet my friend. The room smelled of roasted meat and various spices; the table was loaded with platters of food, over which hung a large poster, obviously painted by the kids, that proclaimed
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AUNTIE NICOLE!

Nova was standing in front of the sink, washing dishes. She wore a sage green batik-print dress and, as usual, no shoes. Her blond hair was held back from her face with a dark green ribbon. The running water muted her hearing, and she didn’t seem to notice that we were there. “Hey,” I said to get her attention.

She turned to us in surprise, dropping the frying pan she had been washing into the sink with a loud clang. “Jeez! You scared me!” She turned off the water. Her eyes went immediately to Shane, sizing him up. She stepped forward and shook his hand. “Good to meet you, Shane. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Likewise,” Shane returned, flashing his most charming smile. “Nice place you have here,” he went on politely, though I could tell from his tone he thought otherwise. Nova had definitely straightened up, but her house didn’t come close to matching the cutting-edge luxury Shane was accustomed to. I was suddenly embarrassed for having brought him.

“Thanks.” Her tone insinuated that she knew exactly what he thought of her home. She gestured to the table. “There are appetizers on the table and beer in the fridge. Help yourself.” She turned her attention to me. “Nicole, can I show you something in the bedroom?”

I looked at Shane. “You’ll be all right?”

He was already reaching into the refrigerator for a beer and nodded his head. “Sure, go on.”

I followed Nova to her room and shut the door behind me. “What’s up?”

She frowned. “I just wanted to tell you that I tried to call Garret and warn him Shane was going to be here, but he wasn’t home, and I couldn’t get through to him at the restaurant.”

I nodded. “I left a message on his cell phone to call me, but he never did. I didn’t know how to explain it on voice mail.” I ran my fingers into my loose curls, dropping to the bed, elbows on my knees. “God, this is going to be horrible.”

Nova patted and rubbed my back. “I know.”

I laughed. “Thanks for the encouragement. I feel so much better now.”

“Well, at least you look good,” she offered.

“You think?” I stood and examined myself in the full-length mirror on the back of the door. I was wearing a chocolate-hued silk blouse and a matching bias-cut skirt. My red curls were loose, my face lightly made up. “We should get back out there,” I said, tasting dread on my tongue like sour milk.

“I have to pee first,” Nova said. “I’ll be right behind you.” She paused before stepping into the bath that adjoined the room, considering something. “And don’t worry. I told everyone else that Shane doesn’t know about your taking the baby. They won’t say anything.”

“Thanks,” I said, breathing a small sigh of relief. I moved down the hall to the living room, stopped dead in my tracks by the sight of Garret shaking hands with Shane in the entryway. My heart froze, and it took Nova’s hand on my back a moment later, urging me along, to get it started again. Garret’s mouth was in a thin, dark line across his face as he pulled his hand away from
Shane’s and looked at me with a tight expression. Mom and Jenny were no longer on the couch; I assumed they had gone downstairs to join Nova’s family. Lucy stood next to her father and ran over to greet me with an enthusiastic hug. She wore a lacy, hot pink party dress, complete with a matching vinyl purse.

“Happy birthday, Nicole! We got you a present today. I helped Daddy pick it out. We shopped all afternoon!” She ran back over to Garret, and I noticed that despite her frilly dress, she still wore her favorite white sneakers over bare feet. “Can we give it to her now, Daddy?
Please?
”

“Later, peanut,” he said, touching his daughter’s dark head. “Why don’t you go find Rebecca?” I couldn’t read his tone.

“Okay!” she cried, jumping up and down, obviously too excited to be disappointed about my not opening the present. She tore down the stairs to the family room. Nova followed her.

“I should check how Ryan’s doing with Layla,” she said. “I’ll be back in a minute.” I looked after her longingly, then back to Garret.

He met my gaze, his eyes dark with emotion I couldn’t name. He looked incredibly handsome: his hair was slicked back from his chiseled features, and he wore a cream-colored button-down shirt and khaki shorts. I thought of his lips against mine, the soft touch of his fingers on my face. I anxiously awaited the moment I could pull him aside and explain.

“So. I’ve met Shane,” he said, lifting his chin almost imperceptibly, a classic male gesture of uninterested acknowledgment.

Shane, unused to seeing me with children, had been watching my interaction with Lucy with relative surprise. But when Garret spoke, Shane stepped over to me and put an arm casually around my shoulders, the beer bottle he held cold against my bare skin. “Nic’s mentioned you,” he said. “She told me Nova watches your little girl.”

Garret kept his eyes on me. “Really,” he said flatly. “Is that all she told you about me, then?” The air in the room suddenly turned thick.

“Garret,” I started, warily observing Shane’s confused expression. This was not going well.

“You’re right,” Garret continued, swinging his gaze to Shane, as though I hadn’t spoken. “Nova watches Lucy while I’m at the restaurant.” He looked back at me, eyes probing.

“So you’re a cook?” Shane inquired politely. My face burned hot, embarrassed by the condescension I detected in his words.

“He
owns
the Beach Basket,” I said quickly. “It’s a very nice restaurant on the strip.” I glanced down the hall to the door that led to the basement. Wasn’t anybody going to come and rescue me from this horrid conversation?

“Ah,” Shane mused. “Have you eaten there, Nic?”

“Not exactly,” I said weakly, looking down to the floor and nervously fingering the soft material of my skirt.

“What’s the specialty of the house?” Shane asked Garret. “Maybe I’ll take my girl out for dinner while I’m here.” I suddenly realized I didn’t know how long he was planning to stay.

“The champagne chicken is quite good.” Garret’s gaze had barely wavered from me. “The sauce is exceptional. Don’t you think, Nicole?” There was a brief pause as the air became audibly thicker, seemingly more difficult to breathe.

“I thought you said you haven’t eaten there,” Shane commented, a hint of accusation in his voice.

“Er,” I began.

“Saturday night’s a busy time for the owner to be away,” Shane went on, interrupting me. He shifted his arm around me farther in order to take a swig from his beer. “Your wife must be watching the place for you.”

“Shane,” I warned quietly, touching his forearm.

Garret held up his hand to stop me. “It’s okay, Nicole,” he said coolly, looking at Shane with slightly hostile eyes. “I’m a single parent.”

Shane whistled. “Then I’ve got to hand it to you, man. Couldn’t do the parenthood thing myself. Not even
with
the greatest woman in the world.” He squeezed his arm around my neck, kissing my cheek.

Garret looked surprised, then pointedly at me, obviously understanding that I still had yet to tell Shane about my decision to adopt Jenny’s baby. He moved toward the kitchen. “I need a drink,” he said, sounding disgusted.

“Me, too,” I said quickly, extricating myself from Shane’s arm.

Shane held up his beer. “I’m good for now.” He looked down the hall. “Think I’ll go introduce myself to the rest of the party.” He stepped toward the doorway that led to the basement.