Sisters, Ink

by Rebeca Seitz

  “All right, it’s not something I’d advise doing under normal circumstances. But this is Clay, and, though I tend to think you’re setting yourself up for heartache, I was under the impression you had committed to the next nine days.” Joy raised her pencil-thin eyebrows. “Having second thoughts about that decision?”

  “No. I agree with you that it isn’t the best situation, but it’s all either of us could give each other.” She held Joy’s arm. “Can you understand that?”

  Joy’s bright blue eyes met Tandy’s deep brown ones. “I don’t understand it, no, but I accept that it’s your decision. And if it’s your decision, then I believe this dress is a must. What is the difficulty in wearing this tonight?”

  “Because it might embarrass him. This is the kind of dress that demands to be noticed. To be commented on.”

  “Yes.” Joy still looked confused.

  “What if he doesn’t make a comment?”

  “Have you lost your mind?” Joy put her small hands on Tandy’s bare shoulders and turned her once again to the mirror. “Look.” She spun Tandy so that the image of her back was on the main mirror. “Do you believe Clay, or any man on Earth for that matter, could look at that and not make a comment? What are those men in Orlando teaching you?”

  Tandy gave a small laugh. “Not a whole lot since I don’t go out with them much.”

  Joy turned Tandy so they were toe to toe. She put one hand on either side of her face and tilted it down. “Then look at me. Look right here in my eyes so you will know I speak the truth.” She waited until Tandy focused on her. “You are a lovely woman. Not just because you’re my big sister but because you’re Tandy Ann Sinclair. You’re intelligent and fun and talented and professionally successful.

  There is no reason for you to leave this dress behind unless you’ve turned into someone who cows to fear. You’re scared Clay will fall head over heels for you again and that you’ll do the same and you won’t be able to go back to Orlando at the end of this ridiculous nine-day period that I can’t comprehend.” She took a deep breath and continued. “But the Tandy I know laughs at fear and does her own thing. Going out on a limb for someone doesn’t frighten her; it emboldens her. She’ll move eight hundred miles away to chase a dream that is not her own.” Tandy moved to stop her at that, but Joy covered her mouth. “She didn’t mean for you, for any of us, to give up our lives, Tandy. Momma left this earth. We did not. Daddy finally knows that and is seeing Zelda. I pray you’ll learn the same in the next nine days.”

  Tandy pulled Joy’s hand from her mouth, fighting tears. Crying in public would not do. “You think I don’t know that she’s gone? I’ve missed her every day for ten years. I’ve spent every one of those days fulfilling her dreams—our dreams—”

  “Are they really yours, Tandy? For that matter, were they really hers? It was ten years ago.”

  “You sound like Daddy.”

  “Thank you.”

  “It wasn’t a compliment.” Tandy backed away from Joy and turned to look in the mirror. She turned this way and that, appraising the dress.

  “I know it wasn’t, but I choose to take it as such. Daddy and I see the same thing happening: We see you living a life that allows you to have no emotion. No love. No faith. Just work. Lets you run from any possibility of emotion. But the Tandy I know and have loved all my life,” Joy placed a hand at the small of Tandy’s back, “doesn’t run.”

  The word run left Joy’s mouth and floated around the room. Tandy had been called a runner more than once since coming home. Kendra thought she was a runner. Clay even told her she ran.

  But this dress wasn’t something a runner would wear. It was something a confident woman would put on and stand tall in. It told the world that the woman within wasn’t afraid of putting herself out there, of having an expectation of others. If she left this dress in the store, she was giving truth to Clay and Kendra’s label. She rubbed the soft skirt fabric between her fingers, breath short with the pounding of her heart.

  “Okay.” Her whisper was lighter than a single feather blown by the wind, but hearing it come from her own mouth was enough to grow the tiny seed of determination Joy had planted. She straightened, throwing back her shoulders and tilting her chin up slightly as she’d done a million times in court. Persuading juries was easy; winning the jurors seated in the box of her heart was quite another. But Joy had won her at least a reprieve. “Okay.” Her firm tone was that of a woman who had looked the prosecutor in the eye, assessed his case, and—with a bit of shock—found it wanting.

  “Sara,” Joy called out, her gaze firm on Tandy, “I believe we found our dress.”

  Sixteen

  Tandy leaned over the white porcelain sink and closed an eyelid. She brushed on dark-brown shadow, then smudged it with her finger. The new dress hung in the doorway, keeping her confidence high. That was her dress. Bought with her money. Because it was going on her body.

  She sneaked a glance at it in the mirror, shivered, then went back to applying makeup. Clay would freak out. Her stomach fluttered at the possibility that he could not even notice. She heard Joy’s words from the ride home that afternoon: He’ll notice. Another quick look at the dress confirmed it. He might not notice her, but that dress demanded attention.

  She finished her eye makeup and picked up the lip liner. The bedroom phone rang. Maybe Clay calling to cancel. Decided to spend his night with Darin, just the guys, instead of a date.

  “Tandy!” Daddy’s voice boomed down the hallway. “Telephone!”

  Her heart hit her toes. He was canceling. “Thanks!” She made her way into the bedroom, chastising herself for letting high hopes spend hard-earned money on a dress she had nowhere to wear.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey, you ready yet?” Kendra’s voice hummed with excitement.

  “Kendra?”

  “Look, I know you’re mind is full of Clay Kelner right now, but surely you know your own sister’s voice.”

  “Of course.” Tandy shook her head, comprehending it wasn’t Clay calling to cancel. “Just thought you were somebody else.”

  “Who?”

  “Never mind. Not important. Am I ready? No, but I will be in about five minutes.”

  “Then quit taking phone calls and get finished. I don’t want to sit here waiting while you primp.”

  “Sheesh, sorry. If somebody would quit calling me, then I could leave here on time.”

  “Yeah, yeah, I’ll leave you alone. Just make sure you get here soon.”

  “Ready to get this over with?” Tandy tried to put sympathy in her voice but failed.

  “Something like that.”

  “What?”

  “This will probably come up tonight, so I might as well tell you. Darin called me about an hour ago.”

  “He called you? What for?”

  “To thank me for joining him tonight.” Happiness hummed across the phone line.

  “Aw, that was nice of him.”

  “I thought so, too.”

  “Is this why you’re hurrying me up? Did you and Darin have a love connection?”

  Kendra giggled. “Let’s just say I think we’re going to have fun tonight.”

  “Not if I don’t get dressed.”

  “Right. Go get dressed. I can’t wait to see this dress.”

  “Joy called?”

  “She did. I’m proud of you, sis. It’s high time you came out of mourning.”

  “What?”

  But Kendra had already hung up.

  Tandy placed the phone in its cradle and was on her way back to the bathroom when Daddy knocked on her bedroom door.

  She pulled the towel around her body and cracked it open. “Yeah, Daddy?”

  “Clay and Darin are here.”

  “They’re here? Already?”

  Daddy hooked his thumbs in his pockets and rocked on his heels. “Yep. I’d say you need to hustle it up in there.”

  “Tell them I’ll be right down.” She pushed the door shut, wh
irled around, and ran back to the bathroom. Finishing her makeup routine in forty-five seconds, she snatched the dress hanger off the doorframe and pulled the fabric over her head, careful not to smash her hair. Thank goodness it had no clasp to mess with. She zipped the small zipper on the side closed and walked back to the bedroom on trembling legs.

  Her shoes lay waiting in their box on the bedspread. Sara’s eye for fashion had come through once again, finding Tandy pale gold slides with a strap around her ankle that echoed those of the dress. Gold filigree teardrop earrings with jewels the color of the dress finished the look. Her heels clicked on the hardwood as she went to the closet door and pulled it open.

  She stared into the full-length mirror on the other side of the door. The dress was as simple and conservative in front as she remembered, hiding the hips she hated beneath the loose skirt. She dared to turn and check out the back again.

  With the guys waiting downstairs and Kendra probably tapping her foot through the carpet by now, there was no time to question her decision. Besides, she had no other options to try on. It was this or nothing.

  She took a deep breath and left the bedroom.

  Daddy’s voice floated up the stairs from the direction of the living room. The timbre of Clay’s voice as he responded carried through the air, its warm tones washing over her. She smoothed the dress across her stomach and walked down the stairs.

  “We’ll just put the ice cream in the back, and you guys can get it as you need it.” Clay was sitting on the couch, his back to her, light from the Tiffany lamp bathing his profile and turning his ebony curls blue.

  “Hey, guys.” She forced nonchalance into her tone. Clay and Darin turned to look at her as she came around the side of the couch, careful to keep her front side to them. “I think Kendra’s probably waiting on us, so if you’re ready, we can go ahead.” The men stood, and Clay’s eyes raked her up and down.

  “You look amazing,” he said.

  “Thanks.” Her cheeks flamed and she struggled to breathe.

  “No, I mean it.”

  “Trust me, he means it.” Darin held out his hand. “I’m Darin, by the way.” He was tall. Light glinted off his bald, tanned head. Chocolate-brown eyes and a wide smile made him seem as approachable as a puppy. His broad shoulders hidden beneath a dusky-purple button-up tapered to a trim waist around which a black leather belt and pants were fixed. Kendra would be thrilled.

  She took his hand, shook it. “Hi, Darin. Nice to meet you. I’m sorry you had to change your plans with Clay tonight.”

  “Hey, don’t worry about it. I talked to Kendra earlier, and I’m looking forward to meeting her.”

  “Good. Then I guess we should get going.” She backed up a step to be beside Daddy, still keeping her front to them. “Daddy, you’ll take Coop out before you go to bed?”

  “Cooper Scooper and I will be just fine. You go and have some fun.” He put his arm around her waist and leaned in to her ear. “But not too much,” he whispered. “Nice dress.”

  She grinned up at him, grateful he approved and didn’t think it was too provocative. “Thanks,” she whispered back.

  “After you, milady,” Clay swept his arm toward the hallway. As soon as she stepped forward, though, he’d see the back of her dress. And he’d already complimented the front, so even if he wanted to say something nice, he couldn’t. The urge to run hit her hard.

  “Tandy?” She blinked and realized all eyes in the room were on her. “You okay?”

  This was dumb. It was a dress, for Pete’s sake, not the end of the world. “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. Sorry, just thought I had forgotten something. We can go.” She turned around to hug Daddy bye—and heard Clay’s swift intake of breath. “Don’t wait up,” she whispered to Daddy.

  “Don’t forget your raising,” he whispered back and tweaked her nose.

  She turned back around, not meeting Clay’s eyes. “Let’s go!”

  She made it out the front door and onto the porch before realizing Clay wasn’t with them. “Where’s Clay?”

  “I’m guessing he’s back in the living room trying to find his eyeballs.” He smiled and shook his head at her. “You are one mean woman.”

  “Why am I mean?”

  “You could have given the guy a little warning about that dress. If he’s in there having a heart attack, it’s your fault.”

  She blushed again.

  “Please tell me your sister has the same fashion sense as you.”

  Her confidence growing, Tandy tossed her hair and leaned against the porch post. “I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.”

  “I am never having guys’ night again.”

  Clay came through the door looking a bit shell-shocked. He tossed the keys to Darin. “We’ll meet you in the car.” He turned to Tandy and crooked a finger. “Come here a minute.”

  She followed him to the end of the porch. Was he mad? Darin seemed to think the dress was good. She sniffed. He could just get over it if he was mad. She looked good; and, with Darin’s words ringing in her ears, she knew it. If he didn’t want to take her out, then there were plenty of men at that jazz place that would be happy to dance with her. She could go with Darin and Kendra. He could go on home.

  They reached the end of the porch, and he spun around, planting his hands on either side of the porch railing.

  “What’s the matter with you?” She planted her fists on her hips.

  His green eyes looked like the ocean before a storm, that much she could tell by the porch light. And he was grinding his teeth, the muscles in his jaw rolling back and forth.

  “I need to get something out of the way before we pick up Kendra.”

  “Okay. Did I do something? You seem mad.”

  He stared at the wood-planked floor, not meeting her eyes. “No, I’m not mad.”

  “Then what? For somebody who’s not mad, you sure do act like you are.”

  He closed the space between them with one step, his hands grazing her face, burying themselves in her hair before she realized he had even moved.

  “I’m sorry. I just wasn’t expecting,” his eyes softened as he met hers, “this. And I wasn’t prepared, and then you turned around, and I’m pretty sure your dad is in there rethinking his opinion of me.”

  Her arms fell by her sides. “You’re mad about my dress?”

  “No!” His eyes widened. “Definitely not mad. Just shocked the snot out of me, is all.”

  “Shocked is a word people use when they find out their best friend is dating their other friend’s mother or something.” She frowned.

  “Shocked is a word people use when they’re stunned by beauty, Tandy. You looked amazing when you came in the room. When you turned around, well, phenomenal doesn’t begin to cover it.”

  “So you’re saying you like the dress?”

  “Am I the only one hearing myself here?”

  “No, but you’re not being very clear.”

  “Oh, okay, let me fix that.” He dipped his head, and without warning his lips were on hers.

  A part of her—the part that she let think of him every now and then—stood up in the back of her mind and cheered. His kiss was so familiar, the first kiss she’d ever had and the last one she’d ever wanted. Her hands listened to the cheering section and traced their way around his waist, thicker since their high school years, more solid somehow. She kissed him back, feeling the exact moment when he realized she was giving back to him.

  He lifted his head and looked down into her eyes, his gaze roaming her face. “Darin’s going to wonder where we went.” His voice sounded like rocks tumbling together as he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “And if we’re on this porch much longer, I’m pretty sure your daddy is going to make you go change that dress.”

  She smiled, grateful for his attempt to lighten the mood. “I’ll have you know, Daddy told me this was a nice dress.” She stepped backward, out of his embrace, missing his warmth but knowing the wisdom of her move. Turning, she walked dow
n the porch, hearing his footfalls behind her. Certain now of his reaction to the view, she put a little extra sway in her hips as they crossed the yard.

  They reached his car, a four-door sleek, black Dodge Charger, and he came around to open her door. “Thanks for that,” he said and reached for the door handle. Before she could duck in, he leaned forward and dropped a quick kiss on the top of her nose. She all but fell into her seat.

  “Told you that dress was mean,” Darin said from the backseat.

  She turned in her seat and looked at him. “Thanks for the warning.”

  They wiped their faces of grins as Clay opened his own door and slid into the car. “What’d I miss?” He looked from Tandy to Darin.

  “Not a thing, ol’ buddy.” Darin clapped a big hand on Clay’s shoulder. “Not a thing. Can we please go pick up my date now? Tandy says they have the same fashion sense, so you can understand my anticipation.”

  Clay put the car in gear and swung a wide arc. “In that case I’ll have us there in about five minutes.” He reached across the console and took Tandy’s hand in his own, like he’d done a million times during their high school years. She clasped her fingers in his, loving the way they clicked back together so quickly.

  “That gives you five whole minutes to give me the dirt on your sister, then,” Darin said.

  “What’s Clay told you so far?’

  “That she’s creative, artsy, and can’t stick with any job longer than six months.”

  “Clay!” She swatted his arm.

  “What? It’s the truth.”

  “Yeah, but it doesn’t paint a very flattering picture of her.”

  “Sorry.” He lifted his eyes from the road and looked at Darin in the rearview mirror. “Kendra’s great, Darin, really.”

  “She seemed like it on the phone, but you still haven’t told me what she looks like.”

  “What?” A frisson of alarm skittered up Tandy’s back. “You didn’t tell him anything?”

  “Why do I feel like you’re going to tell me she has a third eye or something?” Darin asked.

  “I told you, it’s not a big deal,” Clay said.