Sisters Like Us
Page 37
Thor looked both regal and ridiculous. Then he caught sight of her and his expression changed to one of happy excitement. So much for regal, Harper thought, telling herself that focusing on the dog meant she would be okay. Thor wasn’t the problem at all.
She hadn’t seen Lucas since the last time he’d been by. Dean had handled returning all his things to him and had closed out his account with their business. She’d deleted all the passwords she’d kept for him, had taken him off her phone, but no matter how much purging she did, the stupid man continued to hang on to her heart.
If only he weren’t so handsome. If only she didn’t like spending time with him, or how he was with her daughter, or the sex. If only the sex had been bad.
She’d been a fool, she acknowledged, falling for a guy like him. She’d known better and had done it anyway. Lucas had never pretended to be other than he was. She’d been the one to assume he could be normal. Oh, he deserved all the blame for doing everything she’d asked him not to do, but believing in him—that was on her.
He nodded at Thor, who gracefully jumped over the door and onto the grass. He trotted up to Harper to greet her, then ran to the front door. Harper followed and let him in. She heard Jazz come running, then the frenzied gallop that told her they’d already started their favorite chase game.
She briefly thought about shutting the door behind her and locking it, but the gesture would only be satisfying for a moment, while the knowledge that she’d been childish would live on much longer. So she stood still until Lucas walked into the house, then crossed her arms over her chest and waited.
“You’re still mad,” he began. “No, not mad. Hurt and mad. I broke my word. You asked me for one thing and I didn’t do it. I betrayed you and hurt you. I get that.” He shoved his hands in his front pockets, then took them out.
“I’m sorry for what I did and how I hurt you. I apologize for my actions and I didn’t have sex with her. The girl.”
“Thumper? Was that her name?”
One corner of his mouth turned up. “Not Thumper. I don’t even know why I asked her out and I sure as hell don’t know why I brought her here.”
“Oh, please.” She dropped her arms to her side. “You know exactly why you did it. We all do. You are as transparent as glass. You liked what we had. You thought it was great and that scared the crap out of you. You’re so afraid of making another mistake, you won’t even try. You play at relationships with women without actually having one, and somewhere along the way you convinced yourself that what you’re doing is plenty. That you don’t need more.”
She poked him in the chest. “But you know what? You’re completely and totally wrong. You desperately want more. That’s why you were always hanging around here. You like being a part of something, so one day you took a chance and it was better than you thought. So much better you got scared. But did you have the balls to talk about that with me? Of course not. Instead you lashed out like a five-year-old and you deliberately set out to hurt and humiliate me. Don’t for one second think that is something I’m going to forgive or forget.”
His dark green gaze settled on her face. “There’s no fooling you.”
“You got that right.”
“I was fully in the wrong.”
“You were.”
Telling him off had been empowering. She felt strong and more than capable of taking care of herself. She didn’t need a man, certainly not Lucas. He was nothing to her. She’d moved on. M-o-v-e-d on.
“I love you.”
Her stomach hit the floor as her brain shut down. “W-what?”
“I love you,” he repeated, his gaze steady. “I love you, Harper.”
Silly, foolish hope flared to life. She did her best to squash it, but it refused to die. “You’re just saying that because you want to get laid.”
He didn’t smile. Instead he said, “Before I got shot last year, I told myself I had it all. A job I loved, friends, hot and cold running women. Everything was easy and exactly how I liked it. Then I nearly died. While I was recovering, I had a chance to think. I stayed with Kirk and Jen and I saw what they had. I saw what it meant to have someone to love and know you had their back while they had yours. I remembered what it was like to be part of a family. Slowly, I began to want that for myself. Then I met you.”
She told herself to remember she’d moved on, that there was no way she could trust him. Only she really, really wanted to.
“You were so earnest and so determined to do a good job. With your matching napkins and homemade everything, you were charming. Your mom made you crazy and you had the best daughter in the world and slowly, so slowly I didn’t see it happening, I fell for you.”
“That’s a nice story,” she began, even as her resolve began to crumble.
“It’s not a story.” He moved closer. “I had to screw it all up to see it, but that doesn’t change the truth. I love you, Harper. I’m kind of crazy about your daughter, too, but that’s totally different.”
He put his hand on her upper arm. “I know I have a lot of ground to make up. You have no reason to forgive me or believe me. I need to earn your trust again and I’m willing to do whatever it takes. I want to be here for the long haul. Forever. For always.”
Harper wasn’t sure how she was supposed to resist him. Yes, he’d been beyond stupid, but she understood why, and she believed that he’d learned his lesson. She thought about how things had been before and how they were now. She thought about the plates at the table and knew she really wanted there to always be at least two. His and hers.
Theirs.
“Well, damn,” she murmured, right before she kissed him. “I guess I love you, too.”
“Good.” He grabbed her around the waist and grinned. “Want to have a baby?”
“What? Dear God, no! We’re too old.”
“What about a cat? Want to get a cat?”
“We have Dobermans. I’m not sure a cat’s a good idea. Unless it was maybe a bobcat.”
“Want to marry me?”
Her heart stopped, then started up again. Certainty replaced any lingering doubts, then happiness overwhelmed everything else.
“Maybe,” she teased.
“Maybe?” He nibbled on her bottom lip. “Just maybe?”
“Okay, yes. But not right away. We have stuff to work through.”
“Want to go make a spreadsheet? You know how that makes you happy.”
“You make me happy,” she told him. “When you’re not being stupid.”
“You make me happy all the time.”
She took him by the hand and led him toward her bedroom. “Good to know. And just to be clear, I’m going to be fifty in eight years. You need to be able to handle that.”
“I can handle it just fine.”
“Maybe I’ll start getting BOTOX.”
“Maybe I’ll research bobcats.”
She was still laughing when he pulled her into his arms and silenced her in the best way possible. There was time to deal with the BOTOX/bobcat issue and everything else. They had the rest of their lives.
* * * * *
SISTERS LIKE US
Susan Mallery
Reader’s Guide
Suggested Menu:
Glazed Ham
Potatoes Grand-Mère
(recipe follows discussion questions)
Strawberry Avocado Salad
(recipe follows discussion questions)
Lemon Meringue Pie
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
With which sister did you identify most strongly? Why?
When asked what inspired this novel, Susan Mallery said:
I watched a documentary called The Last Man on the Moon about astronaut Gene Cernan, and it got me thinking about all of the astronauts in the early years of NASA, and how much their familie
s must have sacrificed. The rewards were heady, I’m sure, but a kid still wants her daddy at her birthday party. In Sisters Like Us, the sisters’ maternal grandfather was an astronaut, and their mom resented the time he spent away from home, and that he was willing to die and abandon his family forever. Those feelings about her childhood colored how she raised the girls, of course, leading to their struggle with questions of what is the right amount to love your job. How much can you give to your work before you start taking away from your family?
I was interested in the idea of legacy, of how events of the distant past impact events of today in a thousand subtle ways. Sisters Like Us isn’t about astronauts at all. In fact, their grandfather is only mentioned a couple of times. But his impact on their lives is huge because of the way their mother perceived her childhood.
How did this play out in the story? Are there any other ways that their grandfather’s time as an astronaut affected Harper’s and Stacey’s lives? What events from your parents’ childhood do you think affected yours?
Why was Becca so unhappy at the start of the book? Do you think she had a right to be? Why or why not?
Sisters Like Us has three main characters: Harper, Stacey and Becca. What were the major turning points of each character’s story? Did the events of each story line affect the others and, if so, how?
What did you think of Lucas? If you’ve read the first book in which he appeared, A Million Little Things, did your opinion of him change? Why do you think Lucas was attracted to Harper, and vice versa? How did you feel when he brought another woman to Harper’s house, despite his promise not to? Harper forgave him—did you? What did you think of his relationship with Becca?
Why did Harper choose to work as a virtual assistant? Do you think she made the right decision? What would you have done differently?
Discuss Becca’s reaction to finding out that her friend was no longer a virgin. At what age do you think a girl is too young to lose her virginity? Do you have a different opinion about how young is too young for a boy?
Bunny has some very firm ideas about men and women. How have gender roles changed over the years? Do you think Stacey and Kit’s marriage is unusual, in the roles each plays in the family? Why or why not?
Were you happy with the ending? Why or why not?
On her Facebook page (Facebook.com/susanmallery), Susan Mallery sometimes invites readers to suggest names for characters or pets, then promises to include in a book the last name of the reader who made a suggestion she chose. The name Bay was suggested for one of the dogs by a reader with the last name Szymanski, who was sure Susan would never use her name in a book. Not only did Susan use it, but she used it for a main character, which means it appears prominently in the cover copy. What did you think when you first read this last name? How did you pronounce it? Why do you think Harper kept her ex-husband’s last name instead of going back to Bloom? Have you ever seen your last name in a book?
Potatoes Grand-Mère
4 baking potatoes, peeled and cut into ⅛-inch slices
Salt and pepper
2 Tbsp butter
½ cup diced onion
1 clove garlic, minced
2 Tbsp flour
1 tsp dry mustard
1 cup half-and-half
½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese, divided
Layer potatoes in a greased 8-inch-square baking dish, seasoning each layer with salt and pepper to taste. Melt the butter over low heat in a medium saucepan. Sauté the onions until translucent. Add garlic. Mix together the flour and dry mustard, then sprinkle over the onion mixture, stirring thoroughly. Add half-and-half a little at a time, stirring constantly, until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in half the cheese. Pour over the potatoes.
Cover and bake at 350°F for 45 minutes. Remove the cover, add the rest of the cheese and bake until cheese is golden brown, about 15 minutes longer.
Strawberry Avocado Salad
6 cups baby spinach
1 cup fresh strawberries, sliced
1 avocado, diced
2 oz Parmesan cheese, sliced
¼ cup chopped pecans
Balsamic vinegar and olive oil to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
Toss together the spinach, strawberries, avocado, cheese and pecans. Serve with vinegar, oil, salt and pepper.
“Mallery pulls out all the stops in this highly enjoyable and insightful, funny, and poignant look at self-sacrifice and romantic entanglement.”
—Booklist, starred review
Return to Mischief Bay, California, where acclaimed author Susan Mallery brings vivid color to the lives of women navigating some of life’s toughest challenges, leaning on their friends for support when they need it most:
The Girls of Mischief Bay
The Friends We Keep
A Million Little Things
Sisters Like Us
“Fans of Jodi Picoult, Debbie Macomber, and Elin Hilderbrand will assuredly fall for The Girls of Mischief Bay.”
—Bookreporter
Be sure to read every charming and irresistible story in the Blackberry Island trilogy, available now from #1 New York Times bestselling author Susan Mallery:
Barefoot Season
Three Sisters
Evening Stars
“[A] joy for all of us who were rooting on the sidelines.”
—Publishers Weekly on Evening Stars
Order your copies today!
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ISBN-13: 9781488023682
Sisters Like Us
Copyright © 2018 by Susan Mallery, Inc.
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario M3B 3K9, Canada.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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