by Traci Hall
Emmet cracked up.
“He’s an evil child.” Collette nodded toward the sink. Her hair was up off her neck in a twist with a clip and she wore denim shorts and a tank top. It could have been a captain’s uniform. “I’d rinse it just to be sure.”
“Where’s Sydney?” he asked.
“Out back with Dad and the baby. John’s in the hammock. I guess Suzanne’s been colicky,” Collette’s elegant nose scrunched, “so nobody in the house is sleeping.”
He took his beer and wandered to the back door where a screened porch covered a long table with benches on either side. Sydney sat across from his dad, Lucas, and his step-mother, Aline. “Pool looks great, Collette. Love the new net.”
“It will be fun,” his sister said from her position by the sink. “We can draw for teams.”
Christian realized that considering all of the step-parents and siblings that were attached to the Sharp family, they’d gotten pretty lucky in that nobody had been a complete asshole—but Sydney was his favorite.
His step-sister looked like she could be a Sharp, with her dark hair, olive skin and brown eyes. The fact that she was Italian instead of French was fine too, since her mom had instilled an appreciation for food and family.
He walked outside to the covered patio. “Hey guys. Can I get anybody something to drink?”
“Son!” His dad got up from where he was sitting next to Alina, who was holding baby Suzanne. “I’ve missed you. You should come to New York.”
“Too hot. We’ll plan a trip in the fall.”
“Central Park with all the trees turning color,” Alina said with a welcoming smile. “You make sure to stay with us this time. We have plenty of room.”
“I’ll check with Sinead.” Last time they’d made the trip they’d stayed in Manhattan, in a hotel overlooking Times Square.
“We’re family.”
Nobody mentioned the two messed-up weddings but he could feel the questions in the air. He smoothed over them by peeking down at Suzanne.
“She’s sure beautiful.”
Sydney beamed proudly. “I think so. Especially when she’s not screaming her head off at three in the morning.”
John grunted from the hammock in the far corner. “I second that.”
“John. Need anything, buddy?”
“Another ten minutes of bliss.”
“I won’t bug you then.” Christian sat next to Sydney. “How are things, other than sleep-deprived?”
“Good. Emmet’s excited about starting kindergarten in the fall. Thanks to the books he’s been reading this summer, I bet he’ll have no problems.”
“He’s reading? Wow. Super-kid.”
“You were smart like that,” his dad said, tapping a long finger against the plastic table cloth. “Didn’t have any talking gadgets, either. You read real books.”
“Your dad,” Sydney drawled, “thinks that it’s wrong to let Emmet play with that tablet, but I don’t care. It keeps him challenged and busy.”
“A good thing.” Christian put his hand on Sydney’s shoulder.
“Especially when I’m trying to keep up with you-know-who.” Sydney gestured to the kitchen. “Lilly is a handful.”
“Two handfuls,” John opined from the safety of the hammock.
“She won’t sit and read or look at anything,” his step-sister said. “It’s got to be touching everything, or tasting it.”
Christian empathized, wanting to know these things for himself, with his own kids. He and Sinead would make amazing babies.
“It will pass,” Alina said, patting Suzanne. “She’s just got a different way of learning.”
“Collette hasn’t changed much. She would sew her own doll clothes, dye their hair, set them in exotic locales, like Nebraska.” His dad laughed. “She thought Nebraska sounded very cool.”
Collette popped out to the patio with a tray of celery in her hands. “I caught the end of that. I came to regret my dedication to the cornhusker state and blame my youthful exuberance.”
“What does that mean?” Emmet asked, eyeing the tray as she set it down.
“Nebraska sucks,” Christian clarified.
“That’s a little harsh,” Sinead countered, following Collette and Emmet with Lilly in her arms.
The little girl rested her head in the crook of Sinead’s neck and sucked her thumb.
Adorable. Sinead might fight it, but she was meant to be a mother. She’d said they’d never even had a pet before, which was true. Would she be open to getting a puppy?
Sinead came around the table, careful to nod at everybody without disturbing the princess and sat next to him on the bench seat. Lilly didn’t loosen her grip.
“Why don’t you go see Christian for a while?” Sinead suggested softly.
“I love you, Sinead.” Lilly snuggled closer.
Sinead bowed her head with a smile of surrender. “I love you, Lilly-bee.”
Maybe she wasn’t so far off. Christian thought of their rings in the office safe back home, rings he’d been worried they’d never wear. But now? He ducked his head to hide a smile before he laughed out loud.
Sinead didn’t mind the weight of Lilly plastered to her side. The smell of baby shampoo in her curls and the way her eyes fluttered closed, the lashes dark against her plump cheek, spoke to Sinead’s heart.
Collette was on the end of the long table closest to the kitchen, Emmet next to her. In true Collette fashion she multi-tasked by handing Emmet a celery stick while taking a drink of her sangria. Made with a white wine base and pineapple juice, topped with a maraschino cherry, it was the perfect refreshing drink for summer.
“So,” Collette said, sitting back with her glass in hand. “I just landed the Breakers as a new client.”
Sinead’s first reaction was to squeal and jump up, but sleeping Lilly forced her to show her enthusiasm with a grin and a raised thumb.
“I know. I’ve been cultivating this particular friendship for over a year, and then the marketing team for their new restaurant bombed. French food, high priced. Epic failure—which left room for me to raise my hand.”
“Good job, honey,” their dad said. Lucas Sharp, fifty, retained a full head of dark hair. A shimmer of silver showed in a few strands at his temple, making him look very distinguished, Sinead thought.
“That’s terrific,” Christian agreed, pride in his voice.
“I owe it to Sinead, and the Event That Shall Not Be Named.” Collette clicked her plastic fork against her glass.
Sinead laughed softly. Someday it wouldn’t be such a sore point. But not yet.
“How so?” Sydney asked.
“Ferguson was the venue coordinator. And gorgeous. And single.” Collette drank, then set the glass down on the table, out of Emmet’s curious reach. He was mimicking the actions Collette was making, so he placed his plastic cup on the table as well.
She sat back and crossed her arms. Emmet did the same.
Sinead smiled into Lilly’s hair.
“You’re dating?” Christian asked.
“It’s very casual.”
Collette was the polar opposite of Fianna. Slow, particular. The fact that she still considered him as dating material after all this time was a point of interest.
Sinead and Christian exchanged a look. Later.
“Do you have a picture?” Sydney asked.
“It’s not that kind of relationship,” Collette assured her. “And let’s stay on topic! My company will be doing the marketing for their events.” She rubbed her fingers together in the universal sign for money.
Sinead enjoyed her job in management, but she wasn’t passionate about it, like Collette was. Some people were worker bees and she believed she fell into that category.
Sure, she could organize the other bees and get goals met for the greater good but she did not go home and spend her weekend thinking about how to be an even better manager.
She went home and did the laundry and she and Christian had special Sunday ou
tings to unwind. To be in nature, or have fun at the movies.
Christian had always been her passion.
He put his hand on the back of her neck and caressed her skin. His warmth traveled through her, and nothing else was as important. They were connected in a way not many couples were.
She closed her eyes and leaned into his touch. I love you.
Feeling his response, she opened her eyes to find him studying her with love, understanding and desire.
He wanted a family.
Was it fair for her to drag her feet? Which wasn’t true, exactly—circumstances had prevented their two attempts at a wedding, and she meant it when she said she was too beat to plan another.
Christian didn’t want to exchange vows at the courthouse—it was too clinical without friends and family.
Which left them in limbo.
“So, I was thinking,” Collette said, her voice rose as she demanded Sinead’s wandering attention, “that we should celebrate Dad’s birthday next week at the new restaurant there. You guys will still be in town, right? Brunch is supposed to be amazing and I’d love a chance to be a guest, under the radar, before I go making suggestions on changes, you know?”
“Sounds great to me,” their dad grinned. “We can be decoys while you check out the service and quality of the food.”
Alina cooed to baby Suzanne, who had started to wake.
Sydney also smiled. “A chance to wear dress up clothes? I’ll get a sitter for the kids.”
John popped his head up from the sanctuary of the hammock. “Dress clothes? Do we have to?”
“Unlimited mimosas,” Collette countered.
“I suppose I could scrounge up a tie.”
Sinead laughed. He’d worn a tie for her last two weddings and looked very handsome in them. He was in pharmaceutical sales and had a clean-cut look even the lack of sleep couldn’t detract from.
The Breakers had been her dream choice for a wedding venue despite the cost—the problem had been the date. She’d been determined that everything had to be perfect, and that meant a wedding, to Christian, on Valentine’s Day. They were booked three years out.
At the rate they were going, she should have booked the place and waited it out.
“Brunch sounds great,” she said.
Lilly roused and shifted to Sinead’s other side, her thumb resting on her lower lip, eyes closed.
“I’ve never seen her so quiet,” Sydney said. “You’ve got the magic touch.”
Sinead smiled, bracing for the questions about when they were going to get started on their own family but Christian, bless him, headed them off at the pass.
“When are we going to play volleyball?” He pointed to the shimmering pool. “The water looks great.”
“Too hot,” Collette said. “I was thinking we’d eat late lunch in an hour, after which the pool will be in shade. Refreshing instead of bath water.”
“I like bath water,” Emmet offered. “With bubbles.”
Lucas chuckled.
“Can I help you get anything ready for the barbecue?” Christian asked.
“Nope. Dad’s got grilling duties. The sides are done. Emmet helped me with the veggie trays. You guys brought a salad. We are set.”
Emmet used an empty celery stick as a truck along the table top. “I peeled carrots. Vroom!”
“Best sous chef ever.” Collette handed him a tortilla chip dipped in cheese.
Emmet bit down with a crunch.
The conversation turned to Christian’s job, to Sydney not missing going to work, to Collette loving what she did. “I got Dad’s entrepreneurial spirit,” she said.
“Sinead and I want to run our own business—later,” Christian said. “Right now we’re both content where we are. Jobs, house, family.” Christian smiled at her as he said the last part.
He’d been so patient.
What would happen if she just quit taking the pill? Leave it up to fate?
She hadn’t wanted to have children out of wedlock, as old-fashioned as that was, because neither she nor her sister had been. There had been no certainty growing up—Madge had cycled through homes and husbands but the one constant had been her love for Sinead and Fianna. Chaotic and unpredictable, but there. Sinead snuggled Lilly closer.
She wasn’t ready to plan a wedding, but Sinead decided to give Christian the family he wanted sooner rather than later.
Chapter Nine
Sinead and Christian joined his family in Palm Beach for Sunday brunch at the Breakers. The luxury beach-side resort had an opulent driveway with tall palm trees on either side of the lane that made you feel as if you were driving back in time. They pulled beneath the circular awning to valet park.
“It’s so romantic,” Sinead said, reaching for Christian’s hand.
Collette fit right in among the glamour of old-world Italian Renaissance. She met them at the front desk, elegant in a long black pencil skirt, sleeveless silk blouse in off white, black heels with peekaboo toes and her hair in long waves down her back, a black and off-white silk flower tucked behind her ear.
“You Sharps are a good-looking bunch,” Sinead whispered to Christian, smiling at the family in greeting. Christian rocked his charcoal slacks and silver button-up, collarless silk shirt.
Sinead was a splash of color in a sleeveless yellow and orange floral print sheath and orange heels. Sydney was also bright in turquoise blue linen slacks and a capped sleeve pink and blue blouse. Alina wore a Lilly Pulitzer pink and white dress while the man of the hour wore tan slacks, white shirt and tan skinny tie.
“Happy birthday!” Sinead kissed Lucas’s smooth-shaven cheek.
“Thanks. Glad you could come.” Lucas faced Collette and gave two thumbs up. “This place is nice. Can we walk around after brunch?”
Collette nodded. “This way. We’ll be eating in the Circle room, so called because it’s the shape of a circle.” She winked.
30 foot high ceilings painted with white, rose and gold murals took her breath away. Potted indoor palms were interspersed around the room and gold sconces hung on the walls. “This is spectacular.” Sinead clasped Christian’s hand. “Pictures don’t do this place justice.” She remembered how disappointed she’d been when the Breakers had not been a viable option for her wedding.
Collette smiled at her with understanding. “Ferguson, the coordinator, is going to join us…I hope you don’t mind, Dad?”
“Not at all,” Lucas said, his hand on Aline’s back.
Christian’s fingers tightened on hers for just a moment and Sinead recalled the conversation they’d had in the car on the way over, where Christian hoped his sister had found someone to love, someone who kept Collette from counting reasons why a relationship would never work out.
“We’ve got a round table by the window, there,” Collette pointed as she walked between tables. Coffee, buttery croissants, bacon, sausage; the smells were as rich and decadent as the room.
“Look at the ocean!” Alina said, Sydney at her heels.
Sinead looked out the long window to the turquoise water with small white caps which mirrored a lighter blue sky with white puffy clouds.
“This is gorgeous,” Sydney echoed, her brown eyes wide.
“Gives decadent a new meaning.” Lucas gave a pleased chuckle.
John held out his wife’s chair, while their dad did the same for Alina. Christian waited for Sinead to stop staring out the window at the blue, blue ocean and the small waves breaking against the shore.
“Honey?” Christian asked, his hands on the rounded back of the wood and upholstered chair.
“I’m coming.” Sinead sat, her legs crossed at the ankles. “Thanks, Christian.”
Collette fluttered nervously from one side of the round table to the other. Ferguson joining them would make eight, all couples. Had Collette planned this introduction on purpose?
A casual insertion of a possible mate, but subtle. Just in case things didn’t work out or he didn’t get along. It would be
just like her.
Sinead sipped from the filled water glass. “I smell bacon. And crab. I don’t know what to try first,” she told Christian.
He gestured toward the long buffets and the table with a haunch of roast beef and a man in a white hat to carve it. “I’m starting there.”
“I am not surprised.”
Collette stopped pacing and Sinead saw a look of pleasure cross her face before she masked it in a regular smile.
Was she uncertain about his feelings for her? Any man would be lucky to have Collette on his arm.
Sinead swiveled to get a look at Ferguson and bit her tongue. The man was gorgeous. Blue eyes bright as topaz, light brown hair streaked with white, as if he spent a lot of time in the sun. Over six feet, broad shoulders that filled out the blue button-up shirt he wore tucked into fitted black slacks. His socks were the same blue as his shirt, his shoes a matte black leather.
Sydney elbowed her mother. “Nice.”
John rolled his eyes.
“Ferguson,” Collette said, cool and charming. “Glad you could join us. Dad, this is Ferguson. Christian?”
Christian stood to shake Ferguson’s hand, and Ferguson seemed genuinely happy to meet everybody. He leaned down to kiss her cheek in welcome before going around the rest of the table.
Sinead gave Collette huge kudos for the seamless way she’d brought him in. No time for questions, as it was time to eat, and no previous warning that he’d be coming. The girl was good.
Christian, Ferguson, John and their dad were excellent conversationalists, so the brunch was lively as they all ate their fill of exotic foods. Oysters, crab legs, soufflé, a variety of omelets made to order. Breads, dessert, and mimosas.
After they’d eaten, they decided to get a cocktail at the outside bar overlooking the ocean. A wedding party gathered in the courtyard below them.
Sinead sighed and leaned over the rail to watch. The happy bride in white, clinging to the arm of her handsome husband in black.
“I tried to get my wedding done here,” she told Ferguson, who had joined her at the railing on her right. Christian stood to her left and Collette was behind her.
