Brad’s wife Katie arrived after work and so did Haley’s mom. They all worked together in the kitchen to make dinner together. It was busy, noisy, and fun, and Haley found herself laughing at her brother’s lame jokes again.
Her sister Tiffany breezed in for dinner before her midnight shift to show off her engagement ring. Plans were already afoot for the spring wedding. Matt changed the time of his weekly call to their mom from Kabul so that he could talk to Haley, too.
She was exhausted, not just from the clamor of family but all the innuendo, when she retreated to Tiffany’s old room, which acted as guest room. It might be worth staying in New York, just to have some privacy or time to hear herself think.
The room was still full of Tiffany’s things, even though Haley’s sister had her own apartment. She made a little space on the end of the dresser for her toiletry bag. There were a couple of inches of space in the closet for her suit for the next day’s interview. There had to be six bridesmaid’s dresses jammed in there along with everything else, evidence of Tiffany’s army of friends and her bad luck with bridesmaid’s dresses. Haley couldn’t decide which one was more hideous.
The closet was full, the dresser was full, and the bookcase was jammed. Even Haley’s old yearbooks had been amalgamated into her sister’s collection, along with the Agatha Christie paperbacks that Haley thought had gone to a thrift store or church sale. There was hardly space to move around, but this room had to be the least of Brad’s worries.
On impulse, Haley took the yearbook from her sophomore year of high school from the shelf. She flicked through the pages to the one she wanted to see. It might as well have had the corner turned down, because she knew exactly where it was.
Garrett’s picture. He had the kind of classic good looks that aged well. She eyed his killer smile and her heart skipped.
Would she see him the next day? He had taken over his father’s practice in town, but he might be at the hospital if any of his patients were there.
She wasn’t sure she could bear to see him again.
Haley took a deep breath and ran a fingertip across his scrawled message.
Love you forever.
Well, maybe not quite.
Divorced.
Evidently he hadn’t loved his wife forever, either.
Haley shut the yearbook and put it back on the shelf. She was moving all the plush toys from the bed, marveling that she and Tiffany could actually be related, when someone knocked on the door. She peeked around the door to find Tiffany in the hall.
She waved, her diamond sparkling. “Got a minute? I want to ask you a favor before I head to work.”
“Does it involve a bridesmaid dress with shoes dyed to match?” Haley teased. The truth was that she’d wear anything for her sister, at least for a day, but the contents of the closet were sobering.
Tiffany laughed. “Probably not. Although, you know, a lot of them are still in that closet.”
“I saw. Why don’t you get rid of them?”
“Small town. The bride might see it at the thrift store and know from the size that it was mine, and that I hadn’t kept it for parties after all. I can do without that drama.”
Haley stepped back and opened the door wide. Tiffany came in and pushed the door shut behind her, then bounced on the bed. She picked up a stuffed bear and gave him a snuggle. “How cool that you’re crashing in my old room.”
“It’s neater than I’ve ever seen it.”
Tiffany laughed again. “Two sisters, completely opposite. One a neat-freak and one a tsunami of disorganization. I should drop by in the middle of the night and mess up your stuff while you’re sleeping.”
“You’ll have a hard time finding my stuff in here.”
“True.” Tiffany nodded. “You got the minimalist inclinations in this family.”
“Hardly. Brad and Matt have their share.”
“So, it’s more accurate to say that I’m the family packrat.”
“If the shoe fits...”
Tiffany smiled. “Speaking of which, I want to come to New York to shop for my wedding dress.”
Haley immediately understood. “You can stay at my place, if you want. We’ll both fit on the sofa bed.” And it was possible that they would still be able to move around the apartment if Tiffany only stayed a few days. Haley knew from experience that her sister’s baggage would seem to explode on arrival and her belongings would cover every available surface within minutes.
“Wow, you offered without even wincing.”
Haley smiled. “I’m assuming you won’t stay long.”
“I won’t. But a free place to stay isn’t all. You need to come shopping with me.”
“For your wedding dress?” Haley winced then. The notion of spending thousands of dollars on a dress for a single day always bothered her. “Seriously?”
“Seriously. You need to take five days off, Wednesday through Sunday. I’ll come Tuesday night, we’ll shop for four days and live the wedding fantasy.” Haley groaned. “Then we’ll go dancing and get really drunk on Saturday night before I crawl to the airport on Sunday.”
“We have taxis. You don’t have to crawl all that way.”
“I’ll probably have to crawl to the curb for the cab.” Tiffany nudged Haley. “Maybe I’ll find you a hot date—unless, of course, you’re going to hook up with Garrett again.”
Haley ignored that. “So, this would be your bachelorette party or your last fling?”
Tiffany’s eyes widened. “God, I hope not. You’re my big sister. You can keep me from doing anything I might regret.”
“Like dragging home a hot guy.”
“Exactly that.”
Haley shook her head. “I don’t think three will fit on the sofa bed.”
“An excellent consideration. And in exchange for your good sense and wise judgment, I’ll buy all your meals and transport for the shopping adventure, plus your frilly drinks on our big night out.” Tiffany crossed her heart and held up her fingers. “I promise that I won’t even mess with the organization of your cupboards.”
Haley smiled. “Sounds like an offer I can’t refuse.”
“That was exactly the idea.” Tiffany grinned. “We could get commemorative tattoos.”
Haley rolled her eyes. “I’m going to guess that you’ve already picked the dates.”
“No. Look at your shifts and choose a weekend. Sooner is better.”
“So, you’ll know you have the dress.”
“No! So, I know you’ll still be in New York!”
Another reference to her inevitable move. “Come next week,” she said on impulse. “I have it off.”
“Excellent! Let me see if I can get the days.”
“And don’t count on my moving before I even survive the job interview.”
Tiffany waved off the comment. “You’ll ace it. You ace everything. Just think: you’ll be living here in time for the wedding!” She kissed Haley on the cheek and headed for the door before Haley could protest.
Commemorative tattoos. Maybe she and Tiff weren’t really related.