Sisters in White

by Melissa Foster

  “Excuse me,” her mother said as she stood. “I’m just going to run to the ladies’ room.”

  Blake’s father stood as she left the table, then settled back in beside Blake and went right back to their conversation about Blake’s business.

  Danica was beginning to see where Blake learned how to charm the ladies. Everything his father did was natural and sincere, just like Blake.

  “Do you want me to go with you, Mom?” Danica offered.

  “I think I can find it by myself. I’ll just be a few minutes.” Her mother hurried out before Danica could respond.

  Jeff came around the table and took her seat while she was gone, diving right into the conversation with Blake and his father. Weston joined the conversation from the other end of the table, and the group of them eventually moved to the middle of the room.

  Lexi began to whine, and Trevor was not far behind. Kaylie and Chaz picked them up and tried unsuccessfully to soothe them.

  “It’s getting late. Maybe we should put them down,” Chaz said.

  Kaylie agreed, and Abby and Max were right behind them. Abby offered to help with the kids, which Danica knew was just an excuse to get closer to Kaylie, and Max offered to arrange for one of the staff to stay with the children for the evening, as suggested by Treat earlier in the day.

  “Danica, do you mind if we go down to the beach for a while?” Michelle asked.

  “You’re a high school graduate now. Do you even have to ask? If your mom says it’s okay, I don’t mind at all,” Danica answered.

  Rusty had grown to be almost six feet tall, but remained lean and lanky. He’d matured a lot since his father had passed away, leaving behind the angry boy and coming into his own as a confident young man. Standing next to each other, Rusty and Chase looked and acted like brothers. They were half brothers by blood, and she remembered a time when Rusty wouldn’t even acknowledge Chase’s existence. Now he’d almost never leave him behind.

  Chase swung an arm around Michelle’s shoulder, and though she knew Michelle and Chase had been an item for months, she still thought she saw a twinkle of jealousy in Rusty’s eye.

  She watched the trio walk out of the restaurant and felt the stirrings of nostalgia tickling the recesses of her mind.

  “It wasn’t that long ago that you were that age,” her father said.

  She laughed. “Maybe not for you. To me it feels like a lifetime ago.”

  “If you’ll excuse me,” her father said. “I just want to make a phone call.”

  Astrid, Sally, and Madeline were chatting about how beautiful Nassau was, and Danica took the opportunity to pop outside for a second and get a breath of fresh air.

  She crossed the hotel lobby on her way to the veranda, and a laugh caught her attention. She followed the familiar sound down a corridor and was about to round a corner when the laugh grew louder, followed by a male voice that stopped her cold. Dad? Mom?

  She stood with her back against the wall and peeked around the corner. Her mother and father stood much too close for Danica’s comfort, and why was she looking at him that way? Laughter filled the corridor. Her mother touched her father’s chest in a flirty manner. Mom! Danica popped back around the corner and covered her mouth to hold in her surprise.

  “What are you—”

  “Shh!” Danica took Lacy by the hand and dragged her out to the veranda.

  “What were you doing?” Lacy asked with a laugh.

  “Nothing.” What the hell is going on?

  “That’s not the look of nothing.” Lacy crossed her arms and tapped her foot.

  Danica watched the lobby like a hawk.

  Why are they still there? Together? Laughing?

  “Danica, if you don’t tell me, I’ll go take a peek myself.”

  “No, you won’t.” Danica dragged her to the side of the veranda, out of the line of sight from the lobby.

  “We have to go back inside.” Danica paced, chewing on the image of her mother flirting with the man who had ruined several years of her life.

  “Okay, let’s go.” Lacy headed for the lobby. “I’m going to take a peek—”

  Danica didn’t realize she’d said it aloud. She caught up to Lacy and grabbed her arm. “My mother and your father are...talking.”

  “Talking?”

  “Talking.”

  Lacy shrugged. “So?”

  Danica knew better than to raise a red flag to anyone until she knew what was really going on. Maybe they were just happy to see each other. Maybe her mother was just pretending to be nice. She was flirting. I know flirting when I see it. Damn it, Mom.

  “Oh, there’s my mom.” Lacy crossed the lobby and called out, “Mom.”

  Danica’s eyes jetted between Madeline and the hallway where her mother and father were. She hurried over and took Madeline’s arm, taking quick glimpses behind her. “Let’s talk a bit,” she said nervously.

  “Okay, that would be nice.” Madeline smiled.

  “I’ll come along,” Lacy said, narrowing her eyes at Danica.

  “Um, so, what are you wearing to the wedding tomorrow?” Now what? She had to place herself so she could watch the lobby but Madeline couldn’t. She guided them to a little conversation pit with a sofa that faced away from the lobby and two comfortable wing chairs facing the sofa. Perfect.

  “I hope you don’t mind that I’m wearing blue. I know your colors are silver and pink, but I didn’t want to step on Helen’s toes, and I wanted to go with a safe choice, so it was either blue or gray, and gray seemed too dingy.” Madeline sat on the sofa. “Oh, this is nice.”

  “Lacy, why don’t you sit next to her?”

  Lacy sat in a wing chair with a smirk on her lips. “I’m fine here. This way I can look at my beautiful mother.”

  Great. Lacy sees right through my ruse.

  “What a lovely dinner that was, Danica. How are you and Kaylie holding up? We haven’t had much time to talk. Are you nervous? Having cold feet at all?”

  Why did Madeline have to be so damned nice? It made Danica want to protect her from whatever was going on between her mother and father.

  Danica shifted her eyes between Madeline and the corridor. “Cold feet? No, nothing like that. We’re doing great. The dresses are here and they fit. Our families are here. Everything should be just fine.”

  Her mother entered the lobby and looked around nervously, then quickly walked back into the restaurant. Danica glanced at Lacy, who was also watching the corridor. In the next second, her father followed the same guilty track.

  Lacy’s hands clenched the arms of the chair.

  “We should get back inside.” Danica stood and headed to the restaurant with Madeline and Lacy in tow.

  Danica spent the rest of the evening with one eye on her parents.

  “You okay, babe?” Blake asked.

  “Fine, why?” This is not my problem. She needed to stay out of whatever was going on and focus on the wedding.

  “You seem distracted. You’re not having second thoughts, are you?” He nuzzled against her neck.

  “Get a room,” Max said as she and Abby returned.

  “Sounds good to me,” Blake teased.

  “Did the kids go down okay?” Danica saw her mother take a quick glance at her father. Her stomach was tied in such tight knots that she thought she might be sick.

  “Yeah, fine. Lexi is such a little bossy girl,” Abby said. “Cute as a button, but no man will have a chance with her around.”

  “She’s Kaylie, version two.” Danica flashed a smile, then pretended to cough as she turned to look at her parents again. Her father was looking right at her, and she was compelled to go speak to him. “Is Kaylie coming down?”

  “She said she might, at least to touch base,” Max answered.

  “I’m gonna talk to my dad for a minute.” Don’t say anything. I didn’t see anything. “Hi, Dad.”

  “Danica.”

  “You look like you wanted to say something to me.”

&nbs
p; He put his hands in his pockets, then took them out and nervously rubbed them together.

  “Dad?” Please don’t tell me that you and Mom are cheating on Madeline, because I’d have to die. Right here and now before I ever have a chance to marry Blake.

  He shoved his hands in his pockets again and took a deep breath, then lifted his chin. “Danica, I know it’s been a very long time since we’ve spent any time together.”

  “We sent letters and we talked on the phone.” I’m so lame.

  “Yes, you’re right. We did. But we haven’t. Well, I don’t really know you and Kaylie very well anymore.”

  The truth hurt. The knot in her stomach tightened a notch.

  “And, well, ever since you girls were little, I dreamed about giving you away at your weddings.”

  Oh my God. How could I not have anticipated this? There had never been a question in their minds about walking down the aisle. Neither Danica nor Kaylie had brought up their father giving them away. One afternoon when their mother was playing with the babies, their mother had asked them who was walking them down the aisle, and Danica remembered looking at Kaylie and thinking that if anyone had the right to give them away, it was their mother. She’d taken Kaylie into the nursery and asked her how she felt. Kaylie said she preferred her mother, but felt even more strongly that she and Danica walk down the aisle together. The choice was an easy one. Until now.

  “Dad.”

  Kaylie sailed into the restaurant and grabbed Danica by the arm. “Excuse us,” she said as she dragged her across the room.

  “What? Is one of the twins sick?”

  “No.” Kaylie shook her head, then threw her hands up in the air. “We can’t sleep in our rooms tonight.”

  “What? Why?”

  “The grooms aren’t supposed to see the brides on their wedding day until the ceremony!”

  “Do you really believe in that?” Danica needed a change of rooms like she needed a hole in her head.

  “Danica, turn around.”

  She turned and faced their guests.

  “What do you see?”

  Danica scanned the room. “Mom, Dad, Blake—”

  “Not who! What?”

  “I don’t know. People talking.”

  “God, Danica. Broken marriages—everyone in here is broken in some way. Chaz’s father cheated on his mother. Granted she’s a bitch, but still. Dad cheated on Mom.”

  Mom and Dad are cheating on Madeline.

  “Don’t you see it? We can’t take any chances. We need a plan. Where’s Max?” Kaylie looked around the room. “There she is. Thank God.” She headed for the table, where Max sat next to Chaz’s brother, Weston.

  “The weather is supposed to be beautiful and the boat to the island will leave at one p.m. sharp.” Treat’s deep voice cast a positive spin on a room that felt to Danica like it was quickly spinning out of control.

  The smiles on everyone’s faces told her that she was the only one looking around with a skeptical eye. She cast a smile in Treat’s direction, noticing how distinguished he looked in his dark suit and white shirt. He’d worn equally attractive attire earlier in the day, and she wondered if he always dressed that nicely.

  “Fantastic,” Blake said with a wide smile. “We’ll be ready.”

  “It looks like I might be here to sail with you and stay for the ceremony after all, but I won’t know until tomorrow morning.” He looked around the room, then said, “I’ll be right back.” Treat headed toward the table.

  Max stood as he approached, and Danica noticed for the first time that Max’s hair was no longer in a ponytail, but billowing over her shoulders. She’d traded in her shorts and T-shirt for a cute little navy shift, and she was actually wearing makeup. How had she missed that? Wow, she looked cute!

  Kaylie took a step away when Treat arrived. He touched Max’s arm, and Danica moved in closer to eavesdrop on the conversation.

  “Sure. We can arrange that,” Treat said.

  Arrange what? What’s she doing now?

  “Max, do you want to come with me? We can work out the details.” He took Max’s arm in a formal manner and guided her out of the restaurant.

  “What was that all about?” Danica asked.

  “I’m getting us a room. You and me. We’re bunking together tonight.”

  “You’re leaving Chaz with the babies the night before the wedding? And what about Blake?” She missed him already.

  “Relax. Chaz said he’d switch rooms with Mom, and you know she won’t care if she sleeps in the room with the kids. She adores them. But we have to get upstairs before midnight. I don’t want to take a chance that Chaz sees me after midnight.”

  Kaylie had it all figured out, and Danica should have been thankful. Instead, her stomach hurt, and all she wanted to do was curl up in Blake’s arms and fall asleep listening to the familiar rhythm of his heart beating against her.

  She looked across the room, and her father was watching her with sad puppy eyes. She groaned.

  “What’s wrong?” Kaylie asked. “You don’t have your period, do you? Because—”

  “God, no. What is wrong with you? Dad wants to walk us down the aisle.” She waited for the scream, the stomping foot, the angry stare that could melt ice.

  “He does?” Kaylie’s eyes grew wide, like she was surprised, but her voice softened, as if she were actually considering the possibility. “I don’t know, Dan. I mean...”

  Danica had to do a double take to make sure she really was talking to Kaylie. “I know...Let’s not worry about it...” Her voice trailed off as she looked across the room again. Madeline and Elise were deep in conversation, with a glass of wine in their hands and smiles on their lips.

  Her father was nowhere in sight.

  Neither was her mother.

  Where the hell is Lacy?

  Chapter Seventeen

  With the room situation sorted out, Kaylie was relaxed and ready for a good night’s sleep. She lay on the bed reading, while Danica paced the room.

  “What on earth is wrong with you?” Kaylie looked over the edge of her magazine at Danica.

  “Oh, it can’t be that I’m getting married tomorrow, could it?” She hated to lie to Kaylie, but what was she supposed to say? I think Mom and Dad are sneaking around together?

  “Take an Ambien.” Kaylie reached over to the nightstand and rifled through her makeup bag. “Here.” She held out a prescription bottle.

  “You’re still taking those? I thought those were just to get you through that rough period you had when you were too high-strung to sleep.”

  “No, I’m not still taking them. I mean, yeah, I took one tonight so I would be fresh faced tomorrow, but I don’t usually.” She thrust her hand out. “You should too.” She yawned. “You don’t want to be all puffy eyed tomorrow, do you?”

  Danica went back to trolling the floor. Puffy eyes were the least of her worries. She’d never answered her father about walking them down the aisle, and she wanted to tell Blake what she’d seen, but Kaylie had been in too big of a rush to get to the room before midnight. Blake would have calmed her down and said just the right thing to center her around what was important. What was important? The wedding. Sleep. Mom and Dad. Shit. She knew what she had to do.

  “I’m gonna go down to the lobby and find a book or a magazine or something. I’ll be right back.”

  “Take the key.” Kaylie said. “I’ll be asleep in ten minutes.”

  Danica pocketed the room key and headed down the hall to Lacy’s room.

  She knocked once. Twice. Three times.

  Danica headed for the elevators in search of Lacy.

  She tried to concentrate on the glow of the moon on the water to calm her nerves, but her mother’s laugh ran through her mind as she headed out to the veranda, cursing beneath her breath. Danica wondered what she was doing, the night before her wedding, searching for the half sister she’d only just met and worried about her divorced parents making out behind her father’s wi
fe’s back. She leaned on the railing and banged her head against the iron.

  “You know, you could hurt yourself doing that.”

  Danica came to attention. “Treat. Hey, sorry. I lost my mind for a minute.”

  “Most people do before they get married.”

  “You’re serious.” She watched him lift a glass of liquor to his mouth and wondered how he’d made it to his late thirties without being nailed down by a woman. He was handsome, incredibly wealthy, and as kind as the day was long. “Have you ever been married?” she asked.

  He shook his head. “Not yet.”

  “Why?” She remembered what Blake had said about the brothers being players, and she was suddenly embarrassed.

  “Not because of the reasons Blake may have told you.” His smile didn’t reach his eyes, which were still dead serious.

  “How could you know what Blake said?”

  “Because we Braden boys are known for being ladies’ men. Just about all of us. Except my father, that is.”

  She looked out over the water, thinking about his admission. As a therapist, she’d have asked him why he’d chose that lifestyle, what appealed to him about it. That was the old Danica. As a woman, she wanted to know this: “Is it really that great, sleeping with different women all the time?”

  For a long time, he said nothing. He looked out over the water, sipping his drink and seemingly not doing much else. Just when Danica was about to apologize for asking, he said, “It has its moments of pleasure, but that’s not why I’m not married.”

  Danica heard her mother laugh and she stopped breathing, listening intently for where they were. The wind carried noises from all around, and she looked frantically from side to side.

  Treat leaned down next to her and pointed to a palm tree to her right. Below the tree stood her mother and father. Together. Alone.

  Treat tapped her shoulder and pointed across the lawn to a table beneath another palm tree. If he hadn’t pointed it out, Danica wouldn’t have noticed it. Lacy stood beside the table watching her father; her arms hung limply by her sides.