Sisters in White (Love in Bloom: Snow Sisters #3) Contemporary Romance (6 page)

On the boat ride back toward shore, Dane recollected his last excursion in Belize, where he was tagging whale sharks. His brown eyes held Lacy’s curious gaze, and it took all of Danica’s will—and she expected Kaylie’s as well—to keep her eyes above his waist. Blake’s warm hand landed on her shoulder, turning off the underwater memory like a light switch.

Once back on shore, Dane continued. “I spend about half of my time fundraising. You know, it’s easy to ask people to help save starving children, but getting them to contribute to the life of sharks? Not so much. Anyway, I’m just helping out today for fun. I like to teach when I have time, which isn’t often.”

Kaylie pulled Danica aside as they wrapped towels around themselves. “Do you think she noticed?” she whispered.

“How could she not?” Danica laughed.

“What’re you two up to?” Chaz asked.

The girls laughed, and Blake tapped Chaz on the shoulder. “You get a look at that guy’s junk?” he asked with a raised brow.

Waves of laughter burst from Danica and Kaylie.

“Apparently, they did,” Chaz said, thrusting a thumb in their direction.

“You like that, huh?” Blake teased Danica.

“I didn’t see any—” She couldn’t even say the lie.

“What is so funny?” Madeline’s voice came from behind, a sweet tenor to their roaring laughter.

Kaylie and Danica looked at each other and tried again to stifle their laughter. They looked back at Lacy, gently running her big toe across the sand. Dane said something, and Lacy’s hand moved to cover her smile. He leaned in close and said something else that drew her eyes to his.

“I see you met my brother.”

Danica turned toward the smooth, commanding voice, and the word
Adonis
sailed through her mind. With football-field-wide shoulders and hair as thick and lustrous as Blake’s, the deep voice came from a man even taller than, and every bit as handsome as, Blake.

Blake shook the man’s hand and gave him a brotherly embrace. “Treat.” Blake winked, then nodded toward Dane. “I didn’t think we’d see you.”

“This is Treat? Treat Braden?” Blake had told Danica about his handsome, wealthy, and wickedly naughty cousins, but she’d never imagined any man rivaling her handsome prince. Treat had a kind smile and friendly, gentle eyes.

He took Danica’s hand in his unbelievably large paws. “I cannot tell you what a pleasure it is to meet the woman who tamed the beast.”

Danica blushed. Blake’s history as a player was just that—history. She smiled back at him and then at Blake. “Someone had to do it,” she joked. She introduced the others.

“I see you’ve met my younger brother Dane.” He nodded toward Dane. “Just in from Madagascar, or Belize, or somewhere crazy like that. He insisted on taking you out today.”

Danica shot an embarrassed look at Blake. The look on his face told her what was now obvious. He’d let them all think Dane was a stranger to see what would ensue. That talk about his junk must have been a family joke, and he’d played her like a tune. She narrowed her eyes. “You didn’t say a word.”

“Let me guess; he sat back and watched Dane in action?” Treat shook his head.

“Well.” Blake splayed his hands.

“And?” Treat’s eyes grew wide as an inside joke passed between them.

“How could they not?”

Treat threw his head back, and a deep, hearty laugh filled the air.

“Bro, how’s it going?” Dane pulled Treat into a brotherly hug.

Seeing the two handsome men next to each other, the hereditary connection became clear. While Dane and Blake were evenly matched at just over six feet, Treat towered over both of them.

Danica must have been staring, because Dane said, “He’s six foot six,” with a shake of his head. He patted his brother on the back and whispered, “And not anywhere near my ten inches,” just loud enough for Treat, and unfortunately Danica, to hear.

She clenched her jaw to keep her surprise at bay. She shot a look at Kaylie, who had been strangely silent since Treat arrived, looking away every time his eyes moved in her direction.

“Unfortunately, I’ll miss the wedding, but I wanted to say hello. I’m leaving town tomorrow afternoon to check out another resort. Thailand,” he said with a nod.

“Thank you for everything,” Danica gushed. “The resort couldn’t be more beautiful, and we really appreciate your invitation to use it for our wedding. Oh, and the island—”

Treat turned serious eyes to Blake. “They cleared it for you, right?”

“Yes, they reserved the whole island.” Blake looked at his cousins with pride.

“I can’t believe you own an island,” Lacy said quietly.

“It’s not much of an island. I mean, there’s no resort, or even a house, for that matter.” He must have noticed Kaylie lifting her brows at that. “Don’t worry. We do have sufficient bathroom facilities for your event.” He shook his head. “Even I can’t spend time someplace without a proper bathroom.” He turned his eyes to his brother. “Now, this guy. He can live without a house, a toilet, or even solid ground for months on end.”

“Some of us are just more manly than others,” Dane teased, throwing his shoulders back.

“And there are how many more of you?” Danica asked.

“Five brothers altogether, and Savannah, our sister.” Dane put an arm around Blake. “And Blake, of course. He’s just like one of the Bradens.”

Not anymore, from what I’ve been told about you guys.

Blake cracked a smile.

“I wouldn’t want to be the only sister in that testosterone-filled house,” Danica said. She looked at Kaylie and wondered for a split second what it might have been like to grow up with a pack of brothers instead of a competitive sister.

Kaylie stuck her tongue out at Danica, and Danica knew that given the chance, she’d never change what she had.

Treat crossed his arms and rubbed his chin, watching Kaylie with a thoughtful eye. “Do I know you from somewhere?”

Kaylie’s eyes connected with his, and Danica hoped she was the only one who noticed the worry cleverly disguised as disinterest as Kaylie shook her head with a wide smile.

“I get that all the time.” She flipped her hair with her hand. “It’s the blond. You know, we all look alike.”

“No, I feel like I’ve seen you before.”

Kaylie fidgeted under his scrutiny.

What are you hiding?

“Look, I’ve gotta run, but if you need anything, just let my assistant, Scarlet, know.” Treat shook the men’s hands and hugged the women. “I’ll try to stop in one more time before I take off.”

Kaylie brushed him off, and Danica wondered what skeleton she was tucking into her closet now.

“I’ve gotta run, too. Blake, so great to see you, man.” Dane hugged Blake and gave him a firm pat on the back.

“Are you still gonna make the wedding?” Blake asked.

Dane looked right at Lacy. “You can bet I’m gonna try. The rest of the family had to attend an award ceremony for Hugh and can’t make it, so I’ll be our emissary.”

“Fantastic,” Blake said, embracing him one last time.

“What kind of award?” Danica asked.

“Who knows? He’s got a room full of them.”

Before she could ask any more questions, he bade them farewell and headed down the beach.

The intrigue in Lacy’s eyes was unmistakable as she practically salivated watching him walk away.

Kaylie elbowed Danica. “Oh yeah, she
definitely
noticed.”

The mood around the dinner table was solemn as the exhaustion of the day settled in. Their sun-kissed faces glistened against the candlelight. Danica was surprised when Kaylie broke the silence.

“So, Lacy, do you work?” She must have felt Danica’s eyes on her, because a second later Danica felt the side of Kaylie’s shoe impale her calf.

Blake put his hand on Danica’s thigh and squeezed. Between the kick and the squeeze, she realized that she hadn’t been dreaming. Kaylie had really spoken to Lacy.

“Oh, me?” Lacy patted her mouth with a napkin. “I’m in advertising. I work for World Geographic as a senior advertising exec.” She lowered her eyes, and Danica found herself warming toward Lacy’s humble demeanor more and more.

“Wow, senior, huh? How old are you again?”

It was a loaded question, and Danica’s body went stiff. Blake took his hand from her thigh and brought it up to her shoulder, pulling her closer. How could he possibly know she needed his strength?

“Twenty-six,” Lacy said, her eyes darting to their father.

Madeline set down her fork and watched Kaylie’s reaction, as did Danica and Chaz; there was a quick nod, a clenching of her jaw.

“Your father and I have known each other since before you girls were born. We grew up together,” Madeline said softly, while looking directly at Kaylie.

Danica dropped her hand beneath the table and took Kaylie’s hand in her own, silently hoping the knowledge that she was there would center Kaylie the way Blake centered her.

Madeline continued. “We dated briefly when we were in high school, before he met your mother.” She looked at their father, whose unwavering gaze remained on his half-empty wineglass. “When your grandfather died and your father came to settle his estate, we...reconnected.”

Grandpa died when I was four. Kaylie was two. I don’t even really remember him. Oh God. We were just babies. Dad, how could you?

“Maddy,” their father pleaded.

“No, Don, they have a right to know, and if you can’t communicate with your daughters, then I will.”

“You don’t have to, really—”

Madeline cut Danica off with a firm shake of her head. “Yes, yes, I do. Kaylie.” It was a soft demand for attention, not a request. “I’m not going to pretend this isn’t awkward, or that what we did was right. It wasn’t.”

“Mom,” Lacy whispered a harsh warning.

“No, baby, it’s okay. It has to be said.”

Danica watched Kaylie eyeing their father as he took Lacy’s hand, his gaze locking on Lacy with a silent apology. Kaylie’s eyes narrowed.

Shit. We deserve that apology as much as she does
.

Kaylie dug her nails in to the back of Danica’s hand beneath the table.

“We hurt your family, and your mother—”

Kaylie cut Madeline off with a shaky, firm voice. “Don’t you talk about my mother.”

Madeline nodded. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean anything bad. I just mean that I know there was a lot of hurt doled out, and it wasn’t our intent—”

Danica squeezed Kaylie’s hand as her sister began to rise from her seat. Kaylie settled back down, and Chaz put his arm around Kaylie and pulled her closer, just as Blake had done to Danica.
Thank God. What the hell is Madeline doing? Why now?

No sooner had she asked herself the question than Madeline answered. “Okay, look.” She sat up taller, laced her shaking hands together and set them on the table.

Please have the grace and tact of Blythe Danner. Please, please
. Danica had a momentary vision of Kaylie jumping across the table with a wild scream, clawing at Madeline’s eyes. She shook the image from her head and tried to hear past the rush of adrenaline coursing through her veins.

“What happened, happened. We can’t change that. No matter how much we wish the circumstances could have been different, they weren’t. Your father was married, and he and I broke his vows.”

Kaylie’s nostrils flared, and Danica held her hand even tighter, hoping to sway her attention toward her for just a second, but Kaylie had Madeline in her sights, and there’d be no distracting her from her prey.

“Lacy is
not
, and I repeat
not
, responsible for any of this,” Madeline continued.

“I get that you’re protecting your child. I’d do the same for my two children.” Kaylie’s voice was thick with self-control that Danica did not recognize. “But whatever happened didn’t just happen. You had a choice. He had a choice.” Spears shot from her eyes to her father’s. “Everyone had a frickin’ choice in this matter except for me and Danica.” She pushed her chair out from the table and threw her napkin down. “And Lacy,” she added before storming out of the restaurant.

Danica caught up to Kaylie and Chaz out on the veranda. Kaylie’s head rested on Chaz’s chest, her hands clasped together beneath her chin as she nestled within his arms like a frightened child. Her sobs could be heard from the doorway, where Danica stood, contemplating her place in the intimate scene.

Chaz spotted her, and his worried eyes drew her closer.

“Kaylie,” she said softly.

Kaylie turned her face away from Danica, and Danica felt a fissure form across her heart. She stepped closer and touched her sister’s back. The rattle of her lungs as she sobbed vibrated beneath her fingertips. Danica rested her cheek against Kaylie’s back and wrapped her arms around her. There were no words that needed to be said, no fixing of something that had been broken for far too long. Kaylie had a right to feel every emotion that tore at her soul, and Danica wondered why she wasn’t feeling each one just as strongly. Had her years of being a therapist hardened her? Had she simply had more time to digest it all during the last year and a half of long phone calls and intimate letters passed between her and Lacy? Had she felt all those things when she first reached out to Lacy? Or was she repressing every nasty feeling she didn’t want to deal with? That notion scared the daylights out of her and she pulled back. As she stood there watching the pain that her sister was dealing with, she couldn’t deny that she’d brought this to Nassau with them. Danica had been the one to push for her father’s invitation. The idea that she’d made an irreversible mistake burned in the pit of her stomach.

It was Kaylie’s hand on her own that pulled her back into the embrace. Kaylie untangled herself from Chaz and looked up at him with sad eyes. She laid her palm gently on his chin and whispered through her tears, “Can you give us a second? Please?”

That one little touch from Kaylie unleashed a ripple of guilt and pain that Danica hadn’t realized she’d been holding back. Kaylie wrapped her arms around her and held on tight. The lump that had formed in Danica’s throat was quickly replaced with quick gasps of breaths as the pain and guilt combined into a rush of heartache. They were the sisters that had been left behind, and no matter how much Danica tried to forget it, Kaylie’s pain brought it home.

Chaz leaned down and kissed her trembling lips. “I’ll be right here.” He pointed to a chair on the other end of the veranda. Blake came onto the porch and Chaz intercepted him.

Kaylie clung to Danica like a lifeline while they cried, their tears falling relentlessly, both powerless to stop the years of repressed hurt and anger from pouring out of their souls.

“It’s okay,” Danica soothed her, stroking the back of her hair. “We’ll be okay.” She felt Kaylie exhale; the tension she’d been holding on to since their father had arrived began to ease from her shoulders.

“I hate this,” Kaylie sobbed.

“I know. I know, baby. It’s okay.” Each tear brought with it a painful memory. The phone call from her mother.
I shouldn’t admit this, but I feel lost without him.
Kaylie’s frantic, angry call later that night.
Dad’s such a dick!
Danica’s own repression of her feelings.
Who can I tell?
In the end, she hadn’t told a soul. Kaylie had been graduating from college and Danica was embarking on her career as a therapist. The years between then and now seemed to have disappeared, and she relived the anguish anew.

Kaylie squeezed her tighter as she inhaled deeply and exhaled again.

“I know, Kay. Just let it out.”
Let it out, Danica. Let it out.
Danica felt the lump in her throat expand and then burst into loud, pain-filled sobs, convoluting her thoughts and stealing her resolve to be strong for her sister. Knowing she was falling apart and unable to help Kaylie, she tightened her muscles, and slowly, as if pieces of a puzzle were sifting from space down into her body, she began to gather her determination piece by piece, layer by layer. Creating the strength to clear the tears that brought the unwanted emotions. The strength that guided her hand to Kaylie’s chin and gave her the courage to look into her red-rimmed eyes.

“You’re okay. We’re okay,” Danica assured her. They were the words she’d said to her so long ago, when Kaylie lashed out at everyone except her. When Kaylie began lashing out at herself, Danica realized. She searched her sister for the understanding of what Danica was only just then realizing and came back empty.

“Let it go, Kay. Let this go.”

She wiped Kaylie’s tears with the pad of her thumb. Kaylie drew away from her, her hands still clinging to Danica’s upper arms. She sniffled and hiccupped as she tried to quell her tears and take control of her trembling body. Danica watched determination work its way back into her sister’s eyes. She saw straight into her soul, and what she saw, she felt within the energy of her own body: a hurt so deep that nothing would ever take it away. Danica’s years as a therapist had better prepared her for cataloging away the hurt and moving forward, but as she looked at Kaylie, she knew nothing would fill the void of knowing they were not the chosen ones. Nothing would fix the hurt they saw, felt, and tried to fix in their mother’s heart. Nothing could take away the image of their mother holding herself together for their sake after their father had moved away to begin a new life with Madeline and Lacy, leaving her behind with nothing more than two grown daughters and an empty house. Danica also saw, as she stared into the well of Kaylie’s eyes, a tenderness and strength that vied to come alive once again but was restrained by something Danica did not feel in her own body. Something Kaylie seemed to be contemplating as well, as she pulled her hands away from Danica, using her forearms to swipe angrily at her remaining tears. Contemplating as she pulled her shoulders back and grit her teeth, seething in such a way that Danica feared what Kaylie might do next.

She shot a worried look at Chaz and Blake, who stood from their seats, ready for flight or fight. Desire to protect their women’s hearts was written in their flexing muscles and clenched jaws.

“She doesn’t deserve this,” Kaylie spat, then stomped from the room and marched right back into the restaurant—Danica, Blake, and Chaz on her heels.

“Kaylie, don’t.” Danica had no idea what Kaylie was intent on doing, but she knew her little sister well enough to know that if Kaylie wanted to take down the entire resort, she could do it with very few words, perfectly timed, with expert inflection.

Kaylie stalked across the restaurant and grabbed Lacy’s arm, yanking her to her feet, ignoring the tears streaming down Lacy’s cheeks. Kaylie hooked her arm through Lacy’s, giving her no chance to escape.

“We’re outta here,” Kaylie said. She dragged Lacy out of the restaurant, leaving their stunned father and Madeline alone to wonder what the hell had just happened.