“Yes,” she answered, it never took her that long to get ready. However, she had better take a bit more care this morning if she was going to meet his sister. “What should I wear?”
The last thing she wanted was to spend the next two hours agonising over what she should put on.
“Something casual, honestly, don’t worry.” He kissed her cheek, and then said. “You look lovely whatever you wear. I particularly like it when you smudge a bit of flour on your cheek.”
He ducked out of her apartment before she could throw something at him. Yet it was hard to be cross with him when he made her feel so good about herself. She looked at the clock, working out how long she could spend in the bath for before she had to get dressed.
Rachel never spent long pampering herself usually, but this morning she wanted to spend a bit of time thinking things over, so a long bath was a much needed treat. Pouring in some scented bubble bath, she soon filled the bathroom with a wonderful relaxing smell. She took her robe off and slid into the warm water
Letting the warm water soothe her frazzled nerves she closed her eyes and relaxed. If she could simply shut out the images that were troubling her, she would feel better. In business, she had learned to compartmentalise her worries, to focus on what had to be done, instead of what might be.
Her business had been a risk, the biggest risk of her life. She had needed loans for installing the kitchen and making the shop look just as she had imagined. If she had ever stopped and thought about it too much, the fear would have stifled her, so she had ignored it. That was what she needed to do now, with her personal life.
She had to teach herself to let go and enjoy new experiences. Whether things worked out or not with James, she would never find out unless she took a chance. The warm bath had started to do its magic when the phone rang.
Abruptly brought back to the present, she got out of the bath quickly, leaving a trail of wet footprints as she went. She grabbed the phone before it went to answer machine, breathlessly saying, “Hello.”
“So you are home. I thought you were going to give me a ring to let me know how you got on,” Celine said in a slightly accusing tone.
“Oh, sorry. I forgot.”
“Was it that good an evening?”
“Yes, I guess it was,” Rachel answered, immediately regretting it and knowing she had left herself open for the sisterly inquisition that would now follow.
“So, spill.”
“We went for dinner...” Rachel began.
“Hey! Back up. What did he think of the dress, and everything?” Celine had her fashion head on, and she delighted in feedback from clients on her dresses. Rachel knew this, but had never been subjected to it before. It gave her time to plan how much detail she was willing to share about her date while she reported on the look on James’s face when he set eyes on Rachel last night.
“So he liked it. Knew it! Any time, let me know if there's anything else you need.”
“Well I am seeing him again later. We are going to see his sister.”
“Meeting the family already. Oh my, what are you like between the sheets.”
“We didn’t...well, not what you are thinking.”
“This sounds too good for the phone. I’ll grab some things and come on over. Susie is with me, is that OK?”
“Sure,” Rachel said, although she was not. However, she would be grateful of a second opinion on what she should wear.
While she waited, she went back to the bathroom and jumped in the shower to swill off the bubbles and wash her hair. She then sat and dried herself, leaving her hair wet until Celine arrived and gave instructions on how she should wear it.
She put some coffee on, and found some biscuits. As her nerves grew so did the need to munch on something sweet, and she knew her sisters would not say no. Especially Susie. Rachel was worried, seeing her sister in a state of sadness over her relationship, would tip her back into her insecurities over starting a relationship with James.
The doorbell sounded and it was too late for any kind of debate with herself. She went and let them in, and soon got swallowed up in arms giving her a sisterly hug, and the twenty questions that all spilled from Celine.
Straight away she was glad that Susie was there, she had less than an hour to go before James returned. It was only Susie's insistence that Celine worked while she talked, that got Rachel into the outfits Celine had brought with her.
“So, dinner, where?” Celine asked, eyeing the trouser suit Rachel had squeezed into, with distaste. “No. doesn’t suit you. Next.”
Rachel stripped off while talking. “We went to a lovely restaurant by the beach, and the meal was wonderful.”
“For once, let’s not concentrate on the food, get to the juicy details.”
“Afterwards we went for a walk.” She hesitated and then finished with, “And then we kissed.”
“Peck on the cheek kiss or knees trembling kiss.” Rachel blushed; she had put on a long skirt, a dark blue with embroidery on it. Celine’s face lightened. “Perfect.”
“And then he brought me home.” Rachel finished, hoping Celine would become more interested in finding her something to go with the skirt.
“That’s it?”
“Come on Celine, if Rach doesn’t want to tell us then she doesn't have to.”
“Yes, she does. We always share.”
“Not everything. Anyway, you can tell by her face that this guy is special. Leave her alone.”
For the first time Rachel turned and looked at Susie's face. If Susie could tell how much Rachel was feeling, then surely Rachel could do the same to her. Yet Susie seemed to have a mask on, no real emotion showed. This must be bad.
“I’m sorry, Susie. There’s me talking about myself. How are you doing?”
“I’m OK. You know.” However, her face cracked just a little and Rachel went to her and gave her a hug.
“Please don’t be upset. When I look at you like this, I wonder if it’s really worth it. You know I’m happy on my own, perhaps I should stay that way.”
Both of her sisters looked at her horrified, but it was Susie who spoke, her voice calm and firm. “Don’t ever think like that. It’s always totally worth taking the risk.”
“But you are so upset. What if that happens to me, and my business suffers. Or if he wants me to give up my shop so we can have a family.”
“Oh, honey.” Susie began to cry, large tears falling quietly down her cheeks. “That’s all part of a relationship, finding out what makes you both tick. I’m not saying it’s all plain sailing, but don’t let anything put you off at least trying.”
Rachel began to cry too, holding her sister tightly. “I’m scared. I’ve never done anything like this before. What if he finds that silly, thinks there's something wrong with me because I have no experience.”
“Then he’s not the right one, and you move on, taking the experience with you.” Susie pulled away and looked Rachel directly in the eyes. “What happened between you last night, he didn’t pressure you to do anything you didn’t want. Did he.”
“No, the opposite in fact. He stayed the night, but it was him that backed off.”
“There, you see. Have you ever thought that he might be as scared as you?”
“I don’t think that's possible.”
“You would be surprised. Men are not always what they appear to be.”
“I never guessed it was so confusing. No wonder you all spent so many hours crying over boys when we were growing up.”
“I bet we are the reason you never dated, all the histrionics, it must have been unbearable. I’m sorry you missed out because of us.”
Rachel thought back over her teenage years, she had thrown herself into baking and school. Her life might have turned out differently if she had not had to put up with her sisters. Yet would she have been any happier, no, she did not think so.
Taking a deep steadying breath, she pulled away from Susie and turned to Celine who had been standing pati
ently to one side. A small miracle she had managed to let her sisters work things out without interfering, but now she was eager to get Rachel ready.
“Come on, let’s make you beautiful. It’s a good job I can work miracles because you don’t have much time.”
With Susie drying her hair while Celine did her make up, the three of them joked and chatted as they had when they were kids. The atmosphere seemed to have lifted, and Susie looked a little happier.
When she was ready, Rachel looked at herself on the mirror. Classy and casual, she turned and kissed Celine. “Thank you,” she said before pulling Susie into a hug too. “Both of you.”
“Our pleasure,” said Susie, “And thank you.”
“What for?”
“Reminding me to take my own advice. Mark might not have been the one, but my romantic heart believes he is out there somewhere, so I am going to move on.”
“I know there is someone out there for you, Susie. For all of us.”
Celine laughed, “I’m not so sure about Anna. It will take quite a man to be able to rein her in.”
“Celine!”
“Just saying. Your delicate ears haven't heard all she gets up to.”
There was a knock at the door, and Rachel visibly paled. “He’s here.”
“What do you want us to do? We can hide until you’ve gone.” However Celine and Susie were dying to see James, and after everything they had done she felt she should give them the satisfaction of being the first to meet him.
“No. I’ll let him in, but please behave. Say “Hi” and then go.”
“Promise,” said Celine, but she did not sound convincing.
Rachel opened the door and let James in. “Two of my sisters are here,” she said, but Celine was already behind her.
To his credit, James had to drag his eyes off Rachel before he spoke. “Hi, I’m James.”
“We know,” Celine answered. “Rachel has told us all about you.”
“No, I haven't”
Susie appeared too, “Hello,” she said, tucking her arm through Celine’s. “We were just leaving.”
“I thought we were going to chat a little,” said Celine.
“No, we are not. I am going to buy you lunch.”
“Oh, in that case...good bye James, look after Rachel.”
“I will,” he said, moving out of the way while Susie propelled Celine out of the door.
Rachel thought she had got away with it, but Celine mouthed, “He’s gorgeous,” rather too loudly as she went out.
James turned and grinned, and Rachel wanted to curl up and die.
“Bye,” she said, and then shut the door firmly behind them.
“Two down, four to go.” James was still grinning.
“And they were two of the saner ones.”
“Then I look forward to the others,” he said, coming close to her and pulling her into his arms. His lips mesmerised her as they drew closer, and he muttered. “You will always be my favourite.” Before he took her breath away with his sweet kisses.
Chapter Six
“I’m intrigued to know what your sisters wanted.”
“They came around to help me get ready. Although they did have a bit of an ulterior motive in that they wanted to hear about last night.”
He had only just let her go and she felt as though she was coming up for air after being underwater for too long. Her head spun around and around and she struggled to keep her balance. He was as intoxicating as any liquor she had ever drunk.
“You certainly look good enough to eat, although I think that might have to wait for later.”
She blushed at his words, understanding now their inference, and feeling embarrassed by their intimacy.
“I take it you didn’t tell them all the details.”
“Goodness, no. It still seems strange to me. The thought of them knowing what their baby sister got up to last night makes me cringe.”
“I plan to share so much more with you. When you're ready of course,” he finished.
“I think I might be ready right now.” She pressed herself against him and was delighted to find him hard.
“Your timing is incredible. However, unless you want a very quick quickie, and I don’t. Only because I want to take my time with you. Then we had better go. My sister is expecting us. I would be more than willing to put her off, but I want you to meet her. She is desperate to get her wedding cake ordered.” Then he added, “If you don’t mind.”
“Not at all. I have waited this long, another couple of hours won't hurt,” she said, grabbing her purse and keys.
If they were not going to make love right this moment they had better leave. She did not know how much self control she had. Not now she had made her mind up to take their relationship further.
Following him out of her apartment, her eyes drifted down to his tight ass, and her imagination went into overdrive picturing him naked in her bed.
They went out to his car and she slid in, fastening her seat belt while he started the engine. Pulling out into the traffic, they were soon heading towards the outskirts of town, eventually pulling up outside a small block of apartments that looked as though it had seen better days.
“You can see why I want to buy her a house. This place is all they can afford at the moment. It worries me that she lives here.”
“It’s not a bad neighbourhood.” Rachel did not think there was too much trouble around these streets.
“I know, but I want to give her a better start. It would take them forever to save up a deposit for a house, and I think they will be starting a family soon. I believe children need a garden to play in.”
“Do you? At least that is something we can agree on.”
“We agree on everything.”
“We won't always,” she said honestly.
“I know. But I do expect to win sometimes.”
She laughed. “I can’t imagine you would be a push over all the time. You have a successful business; you don’t get that by always going along with everyone else.”
“I know. But I don’t like confrontation, and I want you to be happy.”
“You make it sound as though we are the couple getting married.” She laughed, and then realised what she had said. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to imply we should get married. We've only just met.”
“Does that mean you would say no if I asked you?” He asked.
She could not tell if he was joking, and stood staring at him, not knowing what to say. Thankfully, she was saved by the door opening, followed by a pretty young woman launching herself at James. “Hello, I thought you weren’t coming.”
Rachel stood silently, feeling bad for making them late. James disentangled himself from his sister and introduced Rachel.
“Rachel, this is my scatty sister, Emily. Emily, this is Rachel.”
“The cake lady. James has told me all about you.”
“Oh.” Rachel could not imagine what he could have told his sister that was not boring.
“Don’t worry, all good things. And he bought me one of your cakes. It was delicious, and I am so glad you’ve agreed to make my wedding cake.”
“Why don’t you tell me what it is you want and I’ll see what I can do.”
Emily proceeded to explain in great detail what she wanted. James sat quietly while Emily talked, occasionally glancing at Rachel and smiling, raising his eyebrows at the fanciful cake his sister wanted.
“I saw that, James,” Emily said.
“What?” he asked innocently.
“Do you think it’s too much?” she asked Rachel.
“We might have to experiment a bit, but on the whole I think it will work.”
They chatted on and James disappeared into the kitchen to make some tea.
“Is it going to cost too much?” Emily asked when he was out of earshot. “James said he would pay, but I’m a bit worried it’s more than he thought.”
Rachel smothered a smile. Emily obviously had no clue of what James’s
other wedding gift was to his sister.
“I believe he will be able to afford it.”
“If it’s going to be a lot let me know and I can always lose a layer,” she said wistfully, looking at the rough sketch Rachel had done.
“I think we can work something out.” She looked down at the sketch, and smiled at how whimsical it was. Lifting her eyes to Emily, she thought how different she was to any of her sisters, and how much she liked her; there was an innocence to her. An innocence Rachel recognised in herself.
They discussed Emily’s wedding, Rachel had a sneak peak of the dress, in photo form anyway. They laughed, and the excitement passed from James’s sister to Rachel. There could not be too much difference in their ages, but next to Emily, Rachel felt weighed down. She must learn to love life and its many riches.
The time passed quickly, and eventually James dragged her away. Emily showed them out, promising to drop into Rachel’s shop in the next few days. James kissed her good bye and then went around to the driver's side of the car to get in.
Emily hugged Rachel. “Thank you so much, Rachel.” She glanced around her to look whether James was in the car yet, he was. “I am glad he’s met someone like you. I was beginning to despair, but you two make a great couple.”
“We've only been on one date,” Rachel said, not wanting to be seen as a gold digger trying to get her claws into James.
“I know. But the way he looks at you...” she sighed. “I hope it works out for you, and you get married too.”
“That’s not something I’ve thought about,” she lied. “I’d better get going James is waiting.”
“I’ll see you soon. Thank you for today.”
“You are welcome. Come and see me in a couple of days I’ll bake you a cake to taste, and then you can let me know what you think.”
“OK. See you soon. Bye James,” she called as Rachel opened the car door and got in.
James waved and said “Bye, Emily.”
He started the engine and pulled away, Emily stood waving as they drove down the road. Rachel settled into the luxurious seat of his car, and then something Emily had said popped into her mind.
Rachel Page 5