“Some things never change, huh?” Naomi chimed in.
The other women nodded, and Sarah felt a blush spreading across her face. She glanced at her Mom, gave her a small smile. Her twin brother Noah was autistic, and for as long as Sarah could remember, he’d been her priority.
In the past year, though, Noah’s life had changed from night to day: he’d joined Naomi’s Art With Heart program, and now spent his days at the Art Center, painting breathtaking pieces of art. Better than that, though, was that his work sold – like sold. Sarah had always known that his talent was real and immense, but nobody had ever laid eyes on it except for her and Annie. Naomi had shone a bright spotlight on Noah’s paintings, and that had changed everything.
Noah was puling in thousands a month on his work, and at that very second, he was working on his first official commission. A new restaurant in town had asked him to paint a huge abstract piece for the main dining room… and he was happily and fully engaged in that task.
So, he had work, and he had money. He also had a girlfriend – Callie, King’s niece, who was also autistic and also in the art program, though she was a sculptor. Everyone in both of their families had watched their relationship develop with nothing less than pure delight. Noah and Callie were taking it slow in terms of the physical, but emotionally, they were in. In all the way, and for the first time in her life, Sarah believed that her brother was truly happy with someone.
He’d recently moved out of Annie’s house to an assisted-living facility for autistic adults called Carly’s Place. Noah had his own apartment and his own routine, but there were qualified and trained helpers to monitor the residents. So far, Noah had adapted well, though he’d had a few meltdowns. Nothing too terrible, and nothing at all like his meltdowns in the past, when he’d wreck a room, hit himself around the face, end up in the hospital.
So things were pretty amazing for Noah now, and by extension for Annie and Sarah, but it had been a long, hard road to get to this place. As a child, Noah had refused to let anyone but Sarah touch him, or play with him, or eat with him, or tuck him in to bed. She’d done all of it, done all of it without resentment, done all of it while holding down her own business and caring for Noah at home during the day, but hers had been an isolated, lonely, routine existence.
Until Jax.
Jax Hamill had just blown on in to Sarah’s life like a shooting star, or a meteor. Like something bright and blinding and beautiful; something dramatic and all-changing. He’d been all growling, glowering, smoldering, dark-haired sexiness, and he’d set his hard green eyes on her one night at his bar, Dangerous Curves – and he’d wanted her.
He’d wanted her, and he’d decided to have her, and that had been the end of the conversation as far as he’d been concerned. Now, Sarah couldn’t imagine her life without Jax, didn’t even want to, and sometimes she couldn’t comprehend just how the hell she was marrying this amazing, rough, tender man.
To her horror, she felt tears gathering, and she took a deep breath.
You are not gonna be one of those babbling, bawling brides, so pull it together.
“Well,” Sarah said, trying to be brisk about all of this raw emotion. “I’m not four years old anymore, Mom.”
“A tiara’s a great way to get some sparkle up around your face, though,” Elise said quietly, not wanting to seem like an intruder. She’d watched this moment between the women, and despite not understanding a single thing that was going on, she’d felt the huge waves of emotion. “Especially if you want a clean dress with strong lines.”
“Ha!” Gabi exclaimed. “See? A tiara is sparkly!”
Sarah gave a broken laugh, swiped at her tears. “OK, OK. I’ll try a tiara. With sparkles.”
Elise got to her feet again. “So, I’ll pull a few dresses for you to try on that you may like… and maybe your Mom wants to come with me and choose a few tiaras? Seeing as she knows your taste in crowns?”
“Ooooh!” Annie said brightly. “I’d love to!”
“What about shoes?” Colin said now, as he appeared out of thin air and handed Naomi her coffee. “Any thoughts about shoes?”
“Erm.” Sarah blinked at him. “No?”
He huffed. “So few brides consider footwear, and it’s a darn shame. It’s all about the dress, which I can understand, but the wrong shoes can just ruin everything.”
Elise rolled her eyes. “Ignore him,” she advised Sarah, who was staring at Colin wide-eyed. “Colin’s very big on shoes.”
“I can see that,” Sarah said. “So, umm… maybe you can show me some suggestions?” she said to him tentatively. “Something that’d look good with a long, blue dress with straight, clean lines?”
Colin’s dark eyes lit up. “I’d be delighted.”
“He really, really would,” Elise confided to the other women. “He lives for requests like this.”
“I do not!” he said with indignation. “I’m just – passionate about footwear.”
Everyone else nodded politely, and watched the crazy man bounce down the hallway. The women then turned to stare at Elise and she rolled her eyes again, with a grin this time.
“He’s the best,” she assured them. “I’ve never met anyone with a better eye, and the man can do alterations at the speed of light. He’s just a bit… odd… about shoes.”
“I like him,” Naomi said. “I mean, anyone who’s in to shoes is A-OK in my book.”
Elise laughed a husky, smoky laugh. “This way, Annie,” she said. “I’ll show you the accessories room, and then I’ll go and find some dresses that meet Sarah’s criteria.”
“Thanks,” Annie said, then lowered her voice. “Are the shoes in the accessories room?”
“Nope,” Elise said, matching her confidential tone. “They’re in the shoe room.”
“You have a shoe room?” Naomi said wistfully.
“Yep,” Elise replied. “And it’s bursting with the things, I swear.”
“Hmmm.” Naomi sighed. “Maybe I’ll ask Matt if he can build me a shoe room. We don’t need that third bathroom, really, do we?”
The women laughed, then Elise and Annie went off down the hallway after Colin. Sarah sat and sipped her drink, stared around the shop some more. God, Elise’s stuff was stunning, and she wondered just what the woman would bring back for her to try on. She was starting to feel like a fairy princess, and this was such an unusual sensation for her, that she decided to just sit back and enjoy it fully.
“So.” Gabi drank some of her own Champagne. “We gonna be back here for you soon, Naomi?”
“Oh, for sure.” Naomi’s green eyes went to the emerald engagement ring on her finger. “I mean, maybe not soon soon, but I’ll get a wedding dress made with Elise, no question.” She shot Sarah a teasing look. “And I’ll definitely consult with Colin about footwear. Can’t ruin everything by wearing the wrong shoes, can I?”
“Snarky,” Sarah muttered. “Then again, what the hell do I know about shoes?”
“So, Naomi… back to you and King,” Gabi butted in. “Any idea when things will cool down, and he’ll step away from King’s Men, and make an honest woman of you?”
“None.” Naomi heard the regret in her own voice. “He says as soon as things are sorted out with Kirk Jensen, he’s all-in. But I don’t think it’s possible to set a date on it happening. A guy like Jensen is… unpredictable.”
Gabi nodded, tried to fight the wave of anxiety that was moving over her at the mere uttering of Jensen’s name out loud. Without any warning at all, suddenly she was back in that box, buried underground, running out of time and air. She felt her chest tighten, felt her throat close, felt her breath speed up.
Sarah and Naomi both saw it on her face. They shot to their feet, sat on either side of Gabi on the sofa.
“Breathe, honey,” Sarah said softly. “You’re safe. Just breathe.”
“I’m – I’m…” Gabi gritted her teeth, fighting hard for control. “I’m sorry.”
“No.” Naomi’s voice was also pitched low as she tried to keep Gabi calm. “No apologies, sweetie. Just focus on breathing. That’s all you have to do right now, OK?”
“Oh, God.” Gabi shut her eyes, scrambled to recall some of the coping and calming techniques that her therapist Francine Cabot had taught her. “Can you – can you hold my hands?”
Right away and without a word, Sarah and Naomi each clasped one of Gabi’s hands in their own. Ignoring the startled looks being directed at them by other customers, they just focused on Gabi’s pale face. She was fighting hysteria, and they saw it all over her, on every inch of her body. They couldn’t do anything but hang on to her, and wish with all their might that Gabi regained control.
Slowly, so painfully slowly, she started to ease: her breathing loosened up, her hands released theirs, her body started to relax. At long last, she opened her tearful black eyes, looked at them like she was lost.
“Gabi, honey,” Sarah said. “You good?”
She nodded.
“You sure?” Naomi touched Gabi’s dark curls.
“I’m sure.” Her gaze swung to Sarah guiltily. “I’m so sorry, Sarah. I didn’t want to ruin this for you.”
“You didn’t,” Sarah told her. “You did great, Gabi, so don’t even worry about me, alright? All I care about is how you’re doing.”
“I’m fine.”
“You want us to call Aidan?” Naomi asked. “You want him to come and get you?”
“No.” Gabi shook her head, sat up straighter. “No, I’m really fine. I promise. I want to stay.” She managed a weak smile. “I’ve been looking forward to this for a week.”
“Oh, Gabi… I don’t know.” Sarah bit her lip. “Aidan’s going to kill me if I don’t let him know what just happened.”
“Please, Sarah. No.” Gabi gave her a beseeching look. “I love weddings, OK? I love anything and everything to do with weddings… the dress, and the flowers, and the food. Please, I really want to be here. I want to see you try on dresses and I want to see the shoes that Colin chooses…”
“And you want to see the tiaras, huh?” Sarah teased her a bit.
Gabi’s eyes flared with relief. “Totally.”
“OK.” Sarah exhaled. “I won’t call Aidan – but you have to tell him what happened. You promise me?”
“I do, and I will. I always tell him.”
Sarah and Naomi exchanged looks, then Naomi cleared her throat.
“It happens a lot?” she asked carefully. “The panic attacks?”
“They’re way better now,” Gabi said slowly. “But… well…”
“What, hon?” Sarah asked.
“Me and Aidan, we – we’re still – we’re not…” Gabi wasn’t sure how to say it, so in the end, she just went for it, no mincing her words. “I’m scared when I’m out of breath, and I can’t stand the thought of having Aidan on top of me, cutting off my air. So, we haven’t made love since… since I was kidnapped and buried alive. We haven’t been together in almost six months. Not like that.”
Sarah and Naomi both stared at her in total shock. They’d known that she’d been struggling, of course, but they also knew that Aidan and Gabi were in the same bed. They hadn’t done much speculating about their friend’s sex life, but they’d at least assumed that sex was on the table.
“Oh, Gabi,” Naomi said softly. “I’m so sorry.”
“Yeah, well.” Gabi tried for bravado. “So that’s why I won’t be back here as a customer any time soon, you see, and it’s why I need to live vicariously through those of you with functional relationships.”
“What makes you say any of that?” Naomi asked a bit sharply. “Why do you think you and Aidan aren’t functional, and why do you think that he doesn’t want to marry you?”
“Are you serious?” Gabi stared at her. “You think that Aidan’s going to propose to a woman who can’t even touch him, let alone have sex with him?”
“My God, Gabi.” Sarah was stunned. “You really think that’s the most important thing to Aidan? You really think that sex is all that you’ve got between you?”
“Well, no,” Gabi faltered. “But… it’s important, right?”
“Sure it is,” Naomi agreed. “But have you met your boyfriend?”
“Uh, yeah.”
“So then you should know that he loves you more than anything in the entire cosmos,” Naomi said. “You should also know that Aidan doesn’t do guilt, and that he’s one of the most patient, giving men that I know. I sure as hell hope that you know that he’s never going to push you to do anything you aren’t ready for – and he’ll wait for you to be ready. He’s not going anywhere, and he’ll wait for you until the end of time if that’s what you need, and he won’t even care, just so long as he goes to sleep next to you, and wakes up next to you. If he’s got that, then Aidan is happy, because it means that he’s got you. “ Naomi paused, made up her mind to ask the question. “What makes you think that’s not enough for him?”
Gabi and Sarah were gaping very unattractively in the face of Naomi’s little tirade, and they both snapped their mouths shut now.
“Um,” Gabi finally mumbled. “I guess – I guess it is enough.”
“You’re damn right it is,” Naomi said, her smile taking the sting from the words. “So don’t you say one more word about Aidan not wanting to commit to you, Gabi. I think the man has demonstrated time and again that he’s already as committed as it’s humanly possible to be, so I truly don’t see how a ring is going to somehow show you that. Aidan shows you that, shows you every single day. Just open your eyes, sweetie. See what’s right in front of you, yeah?”
They gaped at Naomi some more, then Gabi and Sarah looked at each other.
“Well,” Sarah said with a grin. “You got told.”
“I did,” Gabi agreed. “And I needed that. Thank you.”
“Yeah?” Naomi checked in. “Not too much tough love?”
“Nuh-uh. Just enough.”
“So – are you alright?” Sarah asked.
“Yeah.” Gabi nodded, and they were relieved that she looked absolutely like herself again. “I am.”
This time, they believed her.
“Sarah!” Annie appeared now, carrying a tiara in her hands. “Look!”
They all turned to face her, all smiling. Annie launched herself at her daughter, hands extended.
“Try it on!” she said, almost bubbling over with excitement.
“Without the dress?” Sarah said, hesitating. “I mean, shouldn’t I wait and get the full effect?”
“Are you kidding me?” Gabi said, catching the enthusiasm immediately. “No dress, no shoes… put on the crown, woman.”
Sarah giggled, took the tiara from her Mom. Carefully, she lifted it to her head, settled it on her lustrous red curls. Then she turned to look at herself in the full-length mirror, and the women stood behind her. Everyone gazed at her, silent.
Sarah couldn’t believe it; couldn’t believe what had just happened to her. The tiara wasn’t huge, wasn’t dripping in gold or diamonds, wasn’t anything like over-the-top – but it changed her. All of her.
Her casual, comfy jeans and white t-shirt and brown high-heeled boots looked stunningly fashionable, all of a sudden. Her face looked brighter, lighter. Her hair was shiny, her eyes were clear blue. Sarah sparkled with happiness and love, she just glowed.
“Holy crap,” she muttered. “Is that me?”
“It’s all you, baby girl,” Annie responded, a lump in her throat. “It’s what Jax sees when he looks at you.”
“Wow.” Sarah shook her head, watched how the light caught the flame of the icy-white jewels. Something about their brilliance gave her pause, and she stared at them harder. “Tell me that’s
cut glass, Mom.”
“Nope. Swarovski crystals.”
“Oh,” Sarah squeaked, reaching up to take off the tiara, already mentally putting it back. “Man. I don’t think –”
“If you think that Jax won’t love this on you, you’re insane,” Gabi said.
“But –”
“What’s your budget, Sarah?” Naomi jumped in. “What did Jax say to you?”
“Uh… no budget.” Sarah squirmed. “He said he didn’t care about the money – he said to go to town. To buy whatever I think will make me feel beautiful and sexy when I agree to be his wife.”
“Is Jax Hamill a liar?” Annie asked her.
“What?” Sarah stared at her mother. “No. Of course not.”
“Then if the man sent you here today with specific instructions, I think you’d better do what he says. Don’t you?”
Sarah gave herself another look in the mirror. “Maybe…”
“You feel beautiful, honey?” Annie asked her.
“Yes.”
“Then you get it.”
Still, Sarah hesitated. “How much –”
“Seven hundred dollars.”
“Argh!” Sarah damn near ripped the thing off her head. “No! No, I can’t. I just can’t.”
“Sarah…”
“No.” Sarah set it down on the table as carefully as if it were a live grenade about to detonate. “I can’t justify that. That’s crazy. I mean, a custom-made dress is one thing, but a goddamn crystal crown? One that I’m gonna wear for exactly two hours of my life? Nuh-uh. No go.”
“Ladies,” Elise said now. She approached, dragging a rack of dresses behind her. “You all ready to start dress shopping?”
“Yes,” Sarah said, thrilled to have a distraction. “That’s what I’m here for today, right? A dress.” She shot the other women a look. “Not a tiara that costs more than my and Jax’s food budget for the month.” She thought for a second. “Actually, almost two months.”
Dark Curves (Dangerous Curves Book 6) Page 8
