“What was that about?” Honor asked.
“I have no idea. She came at me saying I was falling asleep on the job today, and then it escalated.”
Honor looked over to where Brenna was directing the setup crew.
“Something’s upset her,” Honor said. “She hasn’t talked to you about anything in particular?”
“You know Brenna. She keeps things to herself. Always has. When she broke up with Mitch she had already filed for divorce before we even knew they had split.”
“I know.” Honor breathed in and blew it out, her frustration evident. “I wish she’d open up and tell one of us what’s bothering her.”
“Me, too.” Despite her irritation at having taken the brunt of Brenna’s ire, she loved her sister. If she was unhappy, then Erin wanted to fix it. But she couldn’t fix what she didn’t know.
“Let her cool down,” Erin said. “Then we’ll talk to her together.”
Honor nodded. “Good idea.”
Whatever it was that had made Brenna flash up had apparently passed, because after that the rest of the morning moved along smoothly. The one thing the three sisters could do well together was run an event. They had tables and wine set up, food was cooked and ready to serve, and everything was in place an hour before the guests were due to arrive.
Erin dashed into her bathroom to take a shower, dried her hair, then put on a light touch of makeup so she wouldn’t melt into the heat. She slipped on her cotton sundress and her tan sandals.
She walked out of her room at the same time Brenna did—and her sister was wearing the same copper-colored sundress.
Brenna scrunched her lips. “Well, shit.”
Erin laughed. “I’ll go change. You look amazing.”
“No, I’ll do it.”
“No, really, it was a toss-up between this one and the yellow one.”
Brenna tilted her head. “The yellow one looks amazing with your dark hair.”
“Thanks. Yellow it is.”
Brenna started down the steps.
“Bren?”
“Yeah?”
“You know you can talk to me—and to Honor—about anything.”
“I know. And I’m sorry I was such a bitch earlier. I had a bad day yesterday. I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.”
“It’s okay. That’s what sisters are for. You want to talk now?”
Brenna shook her head. “Not really. Maybe.”
Which to Erin meant yes. “Okay. Spill it.”
“I had a terrible date.”
Erin frowned and walked over to Brenna. “What happened?”
Brenna shrugged. “I had high hopes, you know? On the surface, he seemed like a nice guy. I thought we had a lot in common. But then it all fizzled out over dinner and I was just so . . .”
“Disappointed?”
Brenna waited a beat before answering, but Erin could read her sister’s face.
“Yes. I mean, how hard is it to carry on a conversation over a meal? It’s not like I’m a physicist or anything. I just want to talk about wine and books and gardening. I find out about his likes, he finds out about mine.”
“But?”
“Oh, I found out all about his likes, all right. He was only interested in shoveling food in his mouth and talking all about himself and all his major life achievements. His big house, his bitchin’ car.”
Erin winced. “He did not say ‘bitchin’,’ did he?”
“Oh, he did. And then he expected that I’d come over to his place after dinner for some hot after-dinner sex for dessert. Even though he hadn’t asked me one single question about who the hell I was.”
Erin wrinkled her nose. “How revolting. I’m so sorry, Bren. What a waste of a night.”
“I got a good meal out of it, so it wasn’t a total waste. But still, how hard is it to find a decent man?”
“I wish I had a good answer for that one. But please don’t give up. The right guy for you will come along.”
“Yeah. Sure he will. Anyway, I’m really sorry I snapped at you.” Brenna hugged her.
“It’s okay. Sometimes you just have to let it out. But not at us next time, okay?”
Brenna laughed. “Yeah, I’ll make a mental note. And I’ll find Honor and apologize to her, too.”
“Okay. I love you.”
Brenna smiled. “I love you, too.”
She watched as Brenna walked down the stairs, feeling awful for her. Bad dates were a big deal, especially since her sister was trying to get out there again. But nothing good came from holding your pain inside. No one knew that better than Erin. She hoped this wouldn’t derail Brenna from dating. In fact, she’d make sure to encourage Brenna to keep her toes in the dating pool.
Her heart feeling lighter as she walked into her room, Erin changed into the yellow sundress, then switched her sandals as well. The white ones would go better. And the copper dress Brenna wore made her sister’s hair look like fire. So all in all, it was a good decision on both their parts.
She ran into Jason at the foot of the stairs. His hair was damp.
“Took a shower in the guest bath. I got a little sweaty setting everything up.”
She leaned into him, breathing in his fresh clean smell. “You smell good, but you know, I also like you sweaty.”
He looked around, saw that they were alone, then pulled her close and kissed her. It was a long, lingering kiss, the kind that made a woman weak in the knees, one that was filled with passion and promise.
When he pulled back, she breathed deeply. “That was very nice.”
He waggled his brows. “More where that came from.”
As he walked away, she sighed. She hoped so. It had been a long week without him and her body ached for his touch. She missed sitting and talking with him, discussing their days together. Talking on the phone just wasn’t enough. She needed to see him, to touch him while they were talking, to look into his warm brown eyes so she could read his emotions.
Whoa. That had been deep. Way too deep for her liking. Where had light and fun gone? Where had all these . . . feelings come from?
She didn’t like it. Not one bit. She wasn’t supposed to be feeling anything. This thing she had going on with Jason was supposed to be easy and breezy and lusty and sexy. Not deep and emotional and needy. She was using him to get over Owen. Not falling in . . .
Nope. She shook her head and stalked down the stairs.
She was never going to L-word again. L-word made you stupid and unable to see when the guy right in front of you didn’t L-word you back. That wasn’t going to happen to her. Besides, Jason didn’t even feel the same way. He was in this for the same thing—good times and hot sex.
“Good times and hot sex.”
“What are you muttering about?”
She looked up to find herself standing right in front of her mother.
Shit.
“Uhh . . . that we needed to make sure to have plenty of cooled wine and hot crab dip.”
Her mother frowned, then arched a brow, studying her. “You’re acting strange. And your cheeks are pink.” She lifted the back of her hand to Erin’s forehead. “You’re not coming down with anything, are you?”
Yeah, a case of the mumbling stupids. “No, I’m fine, Mom. I really do need to go check on the food.”