Listening to the random beat of Simplicity’s feet dancing across the kitchen tiles, Paisley finished drying the last cup and returned it to its shelf.
“Where did you go today, anyway?” Simplicity asked.
“The city.” She didn’t want to lie to her sister, but she wasn’t ready to share the news yet. She hadn’t quite processed the situation herself.
“Work stuff?”
Paisley nodded, fighting against the sting of tears that threatened to give her secret away.
“I think you should track down your mystery guy again. He could help you de-stress and put your crazy lawyer life behind you. There’s nothing like some mattress aerobics to help you unwind. Not that you have to limit yourself to the mattress or anything…”
No, they certainly hadn’t limited themselves to a mattress, but Paisley had no desire to share any details with her sister.
“Goodnight, Simplicity.” Paisley flipped off the light, knowing Simplicity would read her like a book if she allowed her to look at Paisley’s face for too long. Paisley carried herself off to her tiny one room cottage, grateful to be near her sisters, even if she couldn’t bring herself to tell them why she was truly there.
Chapter Seven
Paisley texted Reed to request a morning cup of coffee, but Reed sent back a laughing emoticon and told her that as a long-term guest, she didn’t qualify for room service.
She thought Reed had taken pity on her when she heard a knock on the door.
Thrilled to receive a much-needed caffeine boost after a frustrating, sleepless night, Paisley didn’t bother slipping into a robe when she answered the door.
She immediately covered her bra-less, nightgown covered chest when she realized her desired cup of coffee was an unwelcome Asher.
“You’re not caffeine.” She frowned and cursed the Gods of Misfortune for allowing him to see her with her hair unbrushed and a scrubbed-clean face. Though their one chance had passed, she liked the idea of him regretting what he was missing out on. She abhorred the fact that he’d now be counting his blessings for dodging a dysfunctional bullet.
His forehead wrinkled and he shook his head in a slow, confused motion.
“So what are you doing here? Jesus, it’s not even seven in the morning.”
“I open the shop early, but I wanted to swing by here before the day gets away from me. I need to apologize for last night. And all the other times when things have gone, uh, awry between us.”
“Oh, please. We had a business arrangement and it worked out splendidly. I have no regrets about trusting you to work on my vehicle.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“That’s all there is to mean. I hope you didn’t show up here expecting anything. I may have acted impulsively the first time we met, but I had been having a string of exceptionally bad days. I was scraping the bottom of the barrel and didn’t consider the impression I was leaving.”
As soon as the words left her mouth, bile rose in her throat. Had she just said that being with him was scraping the bottom of the barrel? She had meant that she was making poor life choices—as in, picking up a stranger in her new town the first week she lived there—but judging by his narrowed eyes and tight cheeks, he was taking her words at face value.
“I didn’t mean—”
“No, it’s fine. I get what you mean. But if you think I came by here for a cheap roll in the sack, you’re mistaken.”
“I assure you that a ‘roll in the sack’ with me does not come cheap!”
“So you keep saying.”
“If you didn’t come here for that, then what are you doing at my door at this ungodly hour?”
And why the hell was he looking and smelling like something she should drag in and seduce until they both collapsed in a heap?
“You have a very high opinion of yourself.”
She raised her chin. “As a matter of fact, I do.”
The sound coming from his throat was a strangled combination of a grunt and a snicker and a groan.
As he forcefully exhaled and studied the canopy of trees that shaded her cottage, her envy grew at the scent of his coffee breath.
Maybe if she had had her morning cup of coffee, she wouldn’t have been such a bitch.
Maybe if he didn’t make her want to throw all of her high standards off the Prudential building, she wouldn’t want to claw his back. His eyes. Maybe she wouldn’t want to claw his eyes out.
“I’m running a special. Three free oil changes after a service. I forgot to leave the coupon in your car.”
She doubted him for a moment—his excuse sounded too rehearsed, too unconvincing.
But then he pulled a folded paper from his back pocket and she had no choice but to accept that she had, once again, misjudged him.
“Thanks, but you can donate it elsewhere. I won’t be needing your services any longer.”
“Fine.”
“Fine.”
She closed the door so she wouldn’t have to watch him retreat. And for the first time since receiving her life-altering diagnosis, she crumbled into a heap of caffeine-deprived sobs.
***
Since Paisley had spontaneously declared her intention to quit her job and become a romance novelist and live in Healing Springs, Simplicity had decided to force her sisters into her version of sister torture. In her eternal optimism, she had dubbed it, “Sister Bonding Night.”
Paisley knew she could clarify the situation and let them know she hadn’t actually quit, but that clarification would lead to questions she wasn’t ready to answer.
The first Sister Bonding Night had to take place in the afternoon, as Reed wasn’t able to find anyone to cover the evening shift, and Simplicity had plans with Ethan that she couldn’t (though Paisley suspected it was more of a “wouldn’t”) get out of.
After a rowdy game of Cards Against Humanity and two glasses of mid-afternoon wine, Reed brought up a touchy subject.
“How’s the writing going? Will you be a bestselling author soon?”
“Here’s hoping.” Paisley downed another glass of wine and smirked. “I hate to admit this, but it’s a lot harder than I thought it would be.”
Simplicity giggled. “You’re a brilliant legal writer, but I’d imagine fiction is a whole lot different.”
“Yeah. It is. But my idea is amazing. Ground breaking.”
“So what’s the problem?”
“I have a bit of writer’s block.”
Reed poured herself another glass of sparkling water. She wouldn’t partake in the afternoon wine since she needed a clear head to continue working. “Haven’t you only been writing for like five minutes? What could possibly be blocked?”
“You’re so supportive,” Paisley snarled at her sister.
“Hmm, how does it feel?”
“Ladies—stop bringing negativity into our space. This is a new day, and we are all going to support each other in our endeavors.”
Paisley and Reed stuck their tongues out at Simplicity.
“And you think you’re the mature ones,” Simplicity winked. “But no matter how ridiculous you both can be, I absolutely love having the three of us together. Let us say thanks to the goddess for bringing Paisley to Healing Springs.”
Paisley lowered her head, but not to join in prayer. Hiding her secret and her shame at keeping the secret was becoming more of a challenge every moment she spent with her sisters.
Breaking the silence, Simplicity leapt from the table and began to dance around the kitchen to music only she could hear.
“Tell us about your story, Pais. I can’t wait any longer.”
Paisley sat up straighter in her seat and ran a hand over her stomach. She hadn’t planned on talking about her writing venture, but maybe talking about it and getting them excited to read her work would help clear the block.
“You sure you want to hear?”
“By all means,” Reed muttered with a slight mocking grin.
She’d show her siste
r…
“Okay, the book takes place in medieval times.”
“Ooh, I love medieval romances!” Simplicity clapped her hands together.
“So it starts out with the hero kidnapping the female laird of a clan—”
“Love it so far! What else?”
“The hero is a tall, dark, handsome alien pirate from another planet. He needs to take over her land because there is a hidden, magical well beneath her castle that holds the cure to save his people. It’s the only place in the universe where this cure exists. But to get her to comply with his wishes, he has to show her that he’s in charge in the bedroom.”
Paisley raised her glass, surprisingly eager for their praise. She was met with silence and two dumbfounded expressions.
“What do you think?”
“Sounds…ambitious,” Reed stated, busying herself with sweeping crumbs off the table into a napkin.
“I think you should read us a sample so we can get a feel for how you’ll pull it off,” Simplicity suggested. “I know you can do it!”
“As a matter of fact, I just wrote the first sex scene last night.” She didn’t tell them that she had been up most of the night fantasizing about a man who may as well be an alien.
“Go get it! We must hear this!”
Simplicity’s enthusiasm made Paisley smile.
Reed smirked. “By all means. The sex scenes are often the best parts.”
“I have it saved on my phone. One sec, let me pull it up. Okay, here we go. Ready? You might want to grab something to fan yourself off. I’m not gonna lie, it’s quite hot.”
“I think we’ll manage to contain ourselves.” Reed rolled her eyes.
“Yeah, I’ll just have Ethan take care of me later.” Simplicity wiggled her eyebrows.
“Sometimes I hate you, Sim.” Paisley smiled to soften the unkind words.
“But I always love you enough for both of us!”
“Okay, without further ado, let me welcome you to what will probably win awards for the most innovative sex scene in history.”
Paisley cleared her throat and took another sip of wine.
“Mitch pushed Mona against the wall, inhaling her natural perfume of musk. He wanted her. Bad. He couldn’t believe how intensely he craved this human. This mortal. And yet here he was, doing his best to find a way to take what he wanted.
“She demanded for him to release her, but he knew she really wanted him to sheath his sword in her warm silkiness. His job was to convince her and gain her consent. On his planet, men never took what wasn’t freely offered, and since he had kidnapped her and was much stronger than her physically, he had to come up with a way to make her beg.
“He slid his tough-skinned hand over her smooth neck, tickling the hair at her nape. She shuddered and sighed. Excitement replaced the fear and anger in her eyes. She stopped struggling to get her hands out of his grasp. Her breasts heaved and jiggled as she breathed heavily. He lowered his lips to kiss the porcelain globes, relishing the way they felt against his face. Just as his people worshiped the light of the two moons, he paid homage to the delectable goods that made her the powerful woman she was.
“Somewhere amidst the moans and sighs, he heard her whisper the words he had longed to hear. ‘Take me, Mitch. Make me yours!’
“He released her hands so he could tear her bodice down the middle, giving him fuller access to her bulging pillows. When he slipped his hand under her gown and into her garden of lust, she didn’t try to get away. Instead, she shrieked and lifted one of her legs to wrap it around his hip, pressing her hot greenhouse to his throbbing manhood. He pushed past the layers of her gown, released the rocket from the confines of his pants, and begged for passage into her starry depths. She welcomed him into her milky cavern of warmth.
“At the very last moment, before she came apart in his arms, he released his second velvety sword and—”
Reed interrupted, “Wait right there! Second penis?”
Simplicity remained silent, mouth gaping.
“Pretty good, right? I’ve never read a romance where the guy had two.”
“There’s probably a good reason for that.” Reed opened a package of chocolates.
“Are you saying you didn’t like it?”
Simplicity and Reed exchanged looks, refusing to make eye contact with Paisley.
“Are you guys serious? This scene took me hours to perfect!”
Simplicity held out a hand to stroke Paisley’s arm.
“It’s hot and everything, but,” Simplicity hesitated.
“Just say what you need to say. I’m a big girl. I can take some criticism.”
“Well,” Simplicity’s face glowed with compassion. “When’s the last time you read a romance?”
Reed snickered as she shoved a whole piece of chocolate into her mouth.
“I read them all the time,” Paisley snapped. “Remember when our neighbor gave Mom boxes of them? I devoured them. That’s how I learned the poetic side of sex.”
Simplicity shot a warning look to Reed as Reed dissolved into laughter. She held up a finger to Paisley, shook her head at Reed’s antics, and then crossed the room to a small bookshelf. “Here. Read these. They’re a little more modern. They’ll help you.”
“Why would I need help? I didn’t get where I am today by copying someone else’s work!”
“No, no—don’t copy. Just read stuff that represents today’s world of romance. No more velvet sheaths. These are some of my favorites—check out this series by Christine DePetrillo. Oh, and you can’t go wrong with Liberty Blake, right, Freedom?”
Paisley didn’t understand their inside joke, but Reed came rushing over to yank the book with the smiling bride on the cover out of Simplicity’s hands.
“Okay, I’ll have to pick you up one of your own. Freedom is abnormally attached to that copy.” Simplicity’s giggle filled the room, washing away some of the annoyance of her sisters’ criticism.
“I love your premise and your creative use of… metaphor? Your book will be amazing.”
A flurry of chaos interrupted the tension in the room as Rogan and his group of kids came rushing into the small house, making it seem even smaller. Two big dogs bounded in behind them, barking up a storm as they greeted Reed.
“Mind if I borrow your dogs, Rogan?” Paisley had to get out of there, and since she had imbibed too much wine to be able to drive, she decided that dog-walking would be the next best thing.
She wasn’t a dog fan, but there wasn’t much she wouldn’t have done at that point to escape the tiny walls of her sisters’ world. And if she had to watch Reed and Rogan being swept away in their own little romance for one more second, she was going to burn her manuscript and run away to a convent.
Turned out that though she had never seen the Beastly Babies (as Reed affectionately called them) on a leash, they managed to walk with one effortlessly. Also turned out that long walks down tree-lined, beautifully landscaped streets were great for clearing the mind.
She didn’t know how long she walked, though the handy-dandy pedometer on her phone would alert her later.
Walking through town provided a better vantage point for exploration. She even found a hidden lake area, right off one of the main roads.
The dogs lapped up the water from a rocky shoreline. She slipped out of her sandals and granted her burning feet a short respite.
Paisley had never been indecisive in her life, yet ever since the moment the doctor confirmed what she already suspected, she’d been vacillating back and forth between what she thought she wanted and what she thought she needed.
Law was her life. No lump in her breast could change that.
Yet the stress had already impacted her performance, and probably prevented her from healing.
Thinking about her troubles made her restless, so she called the dogs from the water and continued her walk.
They found the sandy beach area, which looked like it was being readied for the upcoming summer season.
She admired the various structures—quaint bathhouses, a hot dog concession stand, and a tube rental booth, all possessing a fresh coat of paint and fresh rake marks in the ground.
She nosed around for a while, and then followed the path back to the road.
Paisley stopped short at the corner, mesmerized by the beaten up little ice cream shack that looked like it hadn’t been shown any love in many-a-season.
In the chaos of the last couple of days, she had forgotten the epiphany she had while rocking Pippin.
Find a way to honor her mother’s memory.
Fate, that thing she had never given any credence to, must have stepped in. Looking at that little ice cream shack, she felt her mother’s presence stronger than she had since her passing.
Memories flooded Paisley, forcing her to stop to bend over. One of the pups licked her face as she doubled over to stymy the onslaught of an emotionally exacerbated cramp.
Her mother had become obsessed with the idea of owning such a shop when Paisley was going into junior high. She had started by managing the place—the owner was a friend who allowed Mom to bring the girls to work with her. Paisley and Reed helped by scooping ice cream, changing the trash, washing scoops, and chasing after Simplicity and Harmony.
The owner of the shop promised that if Mom continued to run the shop over the summer for far less than minimum wage, he’d sign over the deed and allow her to keep the shop. He claimed it was an inheritance that he didn’t want, and that his father had always wanted him to do good deeds. He could tell that Mom needed a way to make money as an unskilled single mother, and he took advantage of her hopes and dreams.
Paisley fell to her knees as she recalled the day the man had reneged on his promise. Mom had worked her ass off all summer long, bringing in record profits. The man decided that since the shop was such a profitable endeavor, he’d keep it to help finance his winters in Florida. He never reimbursed her for her hard work. Never apologized, either.
Paisley got back on her feet, just as her mom had after the betrayal. Mom was never one to fight back. She told her girls that the universe had something greater planned, and they just had to remain faithful.
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