SEAL the Deal(52)

Lacey shook her head, comforted by the return of Vi’s sharp tone. “Pigtails and a dress?”

Vi rolled her eyes and flapped the stack of singles in front of her sister’s face. “A means to an end, Lacey.”





CHAPTER FOURTEEN




Today



A tidal wave of slush cascaded against the curb as a cab pulled up, catching Lacey’s eye. Armed with a glass of Chardonnay, she headed to her parents’ front window for a better look.

Sometimes when Vi arrived for holidays, Lacey half-expected her to emerge from her cab or rented Volvo wearing pink Reeboks and sweats, hair pulled back in an efficient ponytail, five-foot-eight of gangly youth.

The years had raced by, and the changes in her sister were more dramatic than those in herself—as Lacey was reminded when the cab’s door opened and the first designer boot stepped onto the snowy driveway.

If Maeve were here, she’d be applauding Vi’s choice in footwear right now.

Umbrella snapping open, Vi stood from the cab, her unbuttoned coat revealing a tailored pantsuit that probably cost the equivalent of an average real estate commission. Definitely not the sweats of Vi’s youth. Lacey glanced down at her borrowed clothes, thanking God for Maeve’s open closet policy.

Over her shoulder, Lacey looked into her parents’ great room, already brimming with holiday guests. Thanksgiving was never restricted to family in the Owens’ household. It was an opportunity for Lacey’s parents to call a caterer and invite fifty or so of their “closest” friends. The crowded room, mostly people her parents knew through work, would be a receptive audience for Vi’s news about her promotion—or whatever work-related triumph her sister was poised to reveal.

Lacey waved through the window, and a smile spread across Vi’s face when their eyes met. A warmth tugged Lacey’s heart that could only come with thirty years of sisterly mischief, rivalry, and love. Suddenly excited to see her sister, she sliced through the crowd to get to the front door first.

Vi beamed when Lacey swung open the door, a certain glow about her that Lacey imagined must come from huge success. “Welcome home, Vi.” Lacey’s voice cracked with emotion as she reached for her sister and squeezed her tight.

Vi pulled out of the embrace first, her eyes sweeping over Lacey. “You look fabulous.”

Grinning at the first compliment she had received since she had arrived, Lacey felt compelled to hug her sister again. “Thanks. You look great, too.”

“Amazing what having a personal shopper does for my wardrobe, huh?” Vi winked, sliding her arms out of her coat.

Lacey lowered her voice. “Thank God you’re here. All these people speak in ticker symbols. I need you to translate.” She reached out for Vi’s coat and paused, waiting for her sister to remove her gloves. Right one first. Then the left…

…when she saw it. A strange flash that streaked across the image of her sister as Vi raised her hand to brush a lock of hair behind her ear.

The thin stream of illumination was bright, like a meteor shooting across the sky.

Or a diamond catching the light of the midday sun.

A diamond?

Instinctively, Lacey reached for Vi’s hand, half to investigate and half to steady herself from sudden vertigo. “What the—”

“I’m engaged!” Vi looked giddy with delight. For a brief moment, Lacey wondered what was more shocking: the idea of her sister engaged, or the sight of her giddy. Vi was never giddy. Even when Vi was five and they were visiting a litter of playful puppies for sale, Vi hadn’t been giddy. She had been calculating the pet shop’s profit margins.

Dumbfounded, her sister’s hand in hers, Lacey stared at a rock the size of a grapefruit. Or at least it looked like it to Lacey in her semi-delirious state.

“Can you believe it?” Vi’s voice filled the silence. Behind her, Lacey could feel the presence of her parents closing in, followed by an entourage of their well-dressed guests.

“Oh, honey,” Lacey’s mom pulled Vi into a hug.

Honey? When was the last time her mother called anyone “honey”?

Vi was quickly passed from her mother’s embrace to her father’s, and then lost to Lacey in a string of handshakes that slowly pulled Vi to the other side of the room. It was for the best. Lacey needed to catch her breath.

Vi. Engaged.

Gazing at her sister now standing next to the fireplace, a glass of Champagne magically appearing in one hand and showing off her ring with the other, Lacey wondered why she hadn’t considered this possibility. She knew something had been up. But with Vi’s strict rules about focusing on work till she had her own show on CNN or an equivalent feather in her cap, Lacey never would have thought this was the big announcement Vi had planned.