Daughters Of The Bride(91)

She remembered countless stolen moments. In a restaurant bathroom on their only trip to Hawaii. That time at her mom’s, when they’d arrived a few minutes early for dinner and had sneaked into the house to take advantage of one of the guest rooms. They were experts at doing it in the backseat of the car, because when you had a kid in the house, you had to find your moments.

He drew back and looked at her. “What are you thinking?”

That I never stopped loving you. That I’m sorry we got a divorce. That I want you back.

But she couldn’t say that. She couldn’t admit to the weakness. She had to be strong and remember what he’d done to her. Not the good stuff, but the rest of it.

“Josh is going to be done in a second. I’ll find out what pizza he wants. You need to get some sleep,” she told him. “You’re injured and totally exhausted. In the morning, you won’t remember any of this.”

“I’ll remember,” he told her. “Rachel, I miss us. I miss you and Josh. I miss what we were together. We need to talk.”

“We do. Just not tonight. You’re drugged and I’m...” Scared, she thought. Terrified. Of what she wanted and of taking a chance on him again. She’d barely survived before. If she gave herself to him again, and he betrayed her, she would be lost forever.

“Not tonight,” she repeated. Later she would be brave, but not just yet.





21

COURTNEY HURRIED ACROSS the hotel lawn, Pearl and Sarge keeping pace easily, as if they, too, had been worried. Quinn had called from the hospital and explained that his grandmother had slipped in a restaurant and twisted her ankle. She was going to be fine but had to take it easy for a few days.

At the front door of Joyce’s bungalow, she knocked once then entered, announcing herself as she did. She found Joyce sitting in a club chair, her wrapped foot propped up on an ottoman. When Courtney saw her, all her irritation fled. Joyce looked delicate and a little broken. Not at all the powerful woman who ran the hotel so successfully.

“What happened?” she asked as she hurried over. The dogs beat her to Joyce. Pearl nudged her arm to get a pat, and Sarge jumped directly onto her lap.

“I was clumsy,” Joyce said. “There was a bit of water on the floor. My foot slipped out from under me. I feel so foolish.”

Quinn stood by her chair. “She’s going to be sore and swollen for a couple of days. She has to stay off her feet until that ankle feels better, but she should be fine.”

Joyce pressed her lips together, as if holding in emotion. “I didn’t do it on purpose. I want to be clear about that.”

Courtney smiled. “No one thinks you deliberately fell just so I wouldn’t be mad at you anymore.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Quinn said drily. “I wouldn’t put it past her.”

Joyce stroked her dogs. “I am sorry about what happened and what I did. While I was lying there, waiting for the ambulance, all I could think was that I didn’t want you angry at me anymore.” Her lower lip trembled. “Courtney, you’re family.”

Courtney crossed to her and dropped to her knees. She hugged the older woman. “You are to me, too,” she told her. “I admire you and want to be like you.”

“You’re just saying that.”

“I’m not. I promise.”

They hugged again. Over Joyce’s head, she saw Quinn looking at her. She had no idea what he was thinking. Was forgiveness a sign of strength or weakness in his mind? He’d encouraged her to make up with Joyce, but was that just for her or something he genuinely believed? She supposed it didn’t matter. She loved Joyce and she couldn’t stay angry with her. If that made her spineless, she could live with the label.



“I have a surprise for you,” David said as he pulled his car into the garage of his town house. “I can’t wait to see your reaction.”

He sounded excited and happy. Sienna hoped she would feel the same when she found out what the surprise was. She’d been longing for a quiet Fourth of July weekend, but David had insisted he had special plans for her and had picked her up just after nine on Saturday morning.

“You’re not going to give me a hint?” she asked.

“Just a couple more minutes.”

They got out of the car. He came around to her side and took her hand in his. “I love you, Sienna. You’ve made me so happy. We’re going to have a great life together.”

She smiled because saying “I hope so” seemed mean and saying “I know” wasn’t exactly true. She had to remember that she was getting a second, or in her case, a third chance to make the right decision. She was going to simply keep moving forward and enjoy being with him. It wasn’t as if they were getting married tomorrow. In fact, David hadn’t said anything about setting a date for a couple of weeks now. They had time to figure it out.