by Jane Graves
Liz turned to Nick. "You'll come with us, of course."
Nick smiled. "Of course."
Sarah knew it was wrong for her to spend any more time with Nick than she already had, but what was she supposed to do? Act as if being with her future brother in law was a bad thing?
As they hopped up to the boardwalk, she told herself just to relax and enjoy the company of her friends. If Nick happened to be there, too, so what?
They rounded the corner to the central patio and nearly ran into somebody walking the other way.
Mona.
Three people were with her, two women and a man. Mona jolted to a halt and stared at Sarah. "Oh, dear God!"
Sarah drew back. "What?"
"Your face!"
"My face?" she said, putting her palm to her cheek. "What's wrong with my face?"
"You have a sunburn!"
Sarah fumbled through her bag, grabbed a compact, flipped it open, and nearly groaned out loud. She looked exactly like that lobster Mona had warned her not to become.
"She's not sunburned," Nick said with a smile. "She's sunkissed."
"No," Liz said, eyeing her carefully, "she's definitely sunburned."
Thanks a lot, Liz.
Mona slowly regained at least a modicum of composure, speaking calmly even as her eyes were still wide with horror. "I assume you forgot your sunscreen."
"No! I put it on this morning. And then—"
"And then she went swimming," Nick said.
Damn it. It must have washed off when Nick pulled her under the water, and she'd forgotten to put it back on.
"Yes," Sarah said. "I guess I did."
There it was. That expression. Judgment. Mona looking straight down her long, aristocratic nose to make Sarah feel as if she didn't measure up, that she was beyond disappointed that her future daughter-in-law could have done something so incredibly dumb.
But true to Mona's nature, she persevered in the face of all her suffering. She introduced Sarah to the people she was with, who turned out to be Randall's aunts and uncles. Nick greeted them cheerfully, but for some reason, they didn't seem quite as happy to see him, which meant his reputation had made it all the way to his extended family. Sarah followed suit and introduced Kelsey and Liz. As everybody was making nice, Mona sidled up next to Sarah.
"Go straight to the spa," she said quietly. "Tell them they must treat your sunburn. They have forty eight hours to make it go away. I don’t care what it costs. Tell them to put it on my tab."
"Uh, Mom?" Nick said. "Forty eight hours is pushing it, no matter how much money you throw at it."
Mona glared at Nick. "Why are you with them?" she whispered harshly. "Where is Randall?"
"Golfing. You know how important that is. As for us, we're going to lunch."
"No," Sarah said. "The girls and I are going to the spa."
"So we're not eating?" Liz said.
"They'll have food there."
"Sure," Liz said glumly. "Healthy stuff. Probably a vegetable tray. Yum."
"It'll have to do."
After sharing the obligatory "nice to meet yous” and "see you laters” with Mona and the relatives, Sarah started toward the building. The others followed, including Nick. Once Mona was out of earshot, Sarah turned to her Liz and Kelsey. "You guys go on. I'll be there in a minute."
As the three of them walked away, Sarah looked at Nick. "I said the girls and I are going to the spa."
"Hey, it's coed, isn't it?"
"It's your fault I have to go in the first place. You pulled me under the water and my sunscreen came off!"
"And you forgot to put it back on."
"This wouldn't have happened if you hadn't insisted on going parasailing."
"Which you loved."
"I look like a lobster."
"I know," Nick said, smiling. "A cute little girl lobster."
"Will you stop it?"
"A sunburn isn't the end of the world."
"It is to your mother. She's paying for this wedding, and if I show up looking like this and ruin the photos, she'll never forgive me!"
"Will you listen to yourself? Just listen to how uptight you are over a stupid sunburn."
"We're talking about my wedding pictures!"
"That's what Photoshop is for."
Sarah let out a harsh breath.
"Come on,'"Nick said. "Do you really want to spend the rest of your life like this?"
"Mona has a point," Sarah said. "I should have been more careful. I should have—"
"Don't you understand? This isn't about the sunburn!"
"Of course it's about the sunburn."
"Keep telling yourself that."
"I have to go."
Nick called after her, but she wheeled around and hurried away, her mind a jumbled mess. She couldn't listen to Nick anymore. She couldn't. Because no matter how much she tried to justify things that were happening, it was possible—just possible—he was right. And if he was right, what did that mean for her future?
Fifteen minutes later, Sarah lay on a lounge in the spa, her face slathered in aloe and topped off with a dozen slices of cucumber. The spa attendants assured her it would stop the burning and start the healing, but Sarah wasn't so sure about that.
Liz leaned toward Sarah, examining her face. ”You'd better hope it doesn't start peeling before the wedding. You'll look like a zombie."
"Will you knock it off?" Sarah said. "I don't need that mental image right about now."
"Well, aren't we the crabby one?"
"I have a lot on my mind. You're not helping things."
Liz settled back on her lounge. "You weren't crabby when we were parasailing."
"I was too caught up in not dying to be crabby."
"Nah, you had fun. I'd have had fun, too, if I'd been up there with Nick. May I be the first to say that he is hot?"
Sarah closed her eyes with dismay. She should have known Liz would zero in on Nick. She'd been boy crazy since they were thirteen years old, and it looked as if nothing had changed.
"Randall is hot, too," Kelsey said.
"Yeah, but he's a different kind of hot," Liz said. "He's Wall Street hot. Nick is outdoorsy, casual hot. Sarah has always liked the Wall Street guys. So which one do you go for?"
"Neither one," Kelsey said. "I don't do men."
Liz's eyes widened. "You're a lesbian?”
“Are you kidding? Women are even more of a pain in the ass than men. I’ve just had it with dating and all the crap that goes with it.”
“You'll have to get married soon,” Sarah said. "You'll have no choice."
“Yeah? And why is that?”
“Because I’m going to throw my bouquet right at you, which means you'll be the next one to get married."
“Huh?”
“You’ll have no competition. What are you going to do? Let it fall?”
“Throw it to Liz.”
“Nope,” Liz said. “Throwing it to me would be a waste. My luck with men stinks so much that even a bridal bouquet couldn't save me. I haven’t had a date in six months.”
“But you work at a bar. That should be a good place to meet men.”
Liz sighed. “You’d think so, wouldn’t you? But it’s kind of a snooty place. The guys who go there wouldn’t think of bringing a lowly bartender home to meet Mom, if you know what I mean.”
Sarah knew exactly what she meant. It was only because of her advanced degree that Mona had deemed her worthy of passing through the Baxter’s front door. If family money had been a criterion, she’d still be standing at the curb.
”Speaking of rich people,” Liz said, “what about Nick? He's a Baxter. Does that mean he's loaded, too?"
"I'm not really sure," Sarah said, wishing Liz would shut up about Nick. "He doesn't work in the family business."
"So what does he do?"
"He has an online snowboarding shop."
"That's cool."
Sarah just shrugged.
"I didn't even kn
ow Randall had a brother," Kelsey said.
"I just met him myself yesterday."
"So where has Randall been hiding him?"
"He hasn't been hiding him. Nick lives a long way from Houston in…Wyoming."
She almost said he lived in Park City, but everybody knew she went there once a year, and if she mentioned that, the questions might begin.
Liz grabbed a celery stick, made a face, and took a bite. "So is Nick seeing anyone?"
Stop talking about Nick! "I wouldn't know."
"Actually, you two seem pretty chummy."
Sarah's heart started beating faster. "Chummy?"
"You parasailed together."
"So?"
Liz took another bite of her celery, talking as she chewed. "He refused to go up with me. It was you he wanted."
Sarah's heart nearly stopped. "What are you talking about?"
"I'll tell you what she's talking about," Kelsey said. "When we were on the boat, Nick was looking at you that way."
“That way? What way?”
“Like he wants to eat you up and lick the spoon," Liz said.
"Are you two nuts? He's going to be my brother in law!"
"I know what I saw," Kelsey said. "You'd better look out for him."
Sarah tried to respond, but even though her mouth moved, words wouldn't come out.
"Oh, my God," Liz said.
"What?"
“I’ve seen that look before.”
"What look?"
"Guilt."
"It's just the cucumbers," Sarah snapped, shoving them around a little. "They're slipping."
"Nope,” Liz said. “I know that look, too,” She looked at Sarah a long time, then tilted her head questioningly. "Sarah? What's going on between you and Nick?"
11
Sarah sat up suddenly, and a few of the cucumbers fell to her lap. She grabbed them up, knowing she'd reacted just a little too much. She started to stick them back on, but she realized she didn’t know which spot on her face they’d fallen from. Finally she dropped her hands to her lap with resignation.
She couldn’t take it anymore. She had to talk to somebody about this or she’d go stark raving mad. She put the cucumbers on a nearby tray and swung her legs around to the side of the lounge.
"Okay," she said carefully. "If I tell you guys something, you can’t breathe a word of it. Understand?”
They all nodded. Sarah pointedly fixed her gaze on Liz.
Liz blinked. “What?”
“Not one word,” Sarah said.
“Me? What makes you think I’m going to say something?”
“History. When we were kids, you had a problem keeping your mouth shut.“
“Hey! That happened once!”
Sarah pursed her lips. “More like once a week.”
“Just tell us,” Kelsey said. “If Liz talks, I’ll kill her for you myself.”
Sarah took a deep, shuddering breath. “Nick and I knew each other before Randall and I met.”
“You ‘knew’ him?" Kelsey said. "Exactly what do you mean?”
Sarah raised an eyebrow.
“Oh, boy,” Kelsey said. “You slept with Randall’s brother?”
“Now, wait a minute! You have to hear the whole story. I hadn’t even met Randall yet. And I didn’t realize they were brothers until Nick showed up here at the resort.”
“Holy crap," Liz said. "Did he know you were Randall’s fiancee before he came here?”
“It’s why he came here.”
"To get you back?" Kelsey asked.
"No! He never had me in the first place!"
"What do you mean?"
"Wait a minute," Sarah said, waving her hand. "Let me start over. I flew to Park City for Sundance like I do every year. I met him there. It was just one weekend. That's all."
"Just a fling," Kelsey said.
"Exactly."
"I don't get it. Why just one weekend?"
Sarah started to answer, but for some reason, all her brain could do was repeat the question. Why just one weekend?
"Because Nick and I were never compatible," she finally said.
"So when you were in Park City, you and Nick agreed not to see each other anymore?"
"Well, no. Not exactly. I just kinda…left." Sarah cringed. "Before he woke up."
"You walked out on him in the middle of the night?" Liz said.
"Hey! The sun was coming up! You know. A little. And I did leave a note."
"Did he try to contact you after that?"
"I don't know. I didn't exactly leave him contact information."
"Why not?"
"I told you before. We're incompatible."
"So what makes you incompatible?"
"Our personalities are totally different."
"Opposites attract,” Liz said. “Everybody knows that.”
"Wait a minute! Why are we discussing my compatibility with Nick? I'm engaged to Randall!"
"Speaking of Randall," Liz said, "you told me you met him on a flight from Park City to Houston. Does this mean…"
Her voice trailed off, and Sarah wanted to die.
"Are you kidding me?" Liz said. "You met Randall on the plane coming back from the Sundance Festival? After you slept with his brother?"
Sarah closed her eyes. "It sounds so much worse when you say it."
"Wow,” Liz said, sitting back in her chair. “You have a real problem."
"No! There is no problem. As long as Nick doesn't open his mouth, there is no problem!"
"Do you love Randall?" Kelsey asked.
Sarah blinked. "Of course I do."
"You hesitated.”
"I did not."
"In my experience, when somebody hesitates, they're usually lying."
"Will you stop with all the cop stuff? I love Randall. I'm marrying him. Nick is past history."
"He's not exactly past history," Kelsey said. "He's kinda present tense."
"And future," Liz said.
"What do you mean?" Sarah asked.
"Even if he says nothing now, this could still blow up in your face. If not now, a year from now. Five years from now. Hell, fifty years from now you and Randall could be sitting in a retirement home somewhere, and Nick could visit, and all at once he could say, 'Hey, Sarah. Remember that wild, screaming affair we had that weekend in Park City?' Randall would fish his teeth out of a jar, grab his walker, and walk out the door."
Oh, God. Liz was right. This was going to be hanging over her head for the rest of her life.
"Maybe I should tell Randall," Sarah said. "Just get it out in the open."
"Don't you dare," Kelsey said. "There's no telling what a guy like him might do."
"What do you mean a guy like him?"
"He's always seemed a little possessive to me. If he finds out his brother slept with his fiancee no matter how long ago it was, that's a recipe for disaster."
It wasn't as if Sarah didn't know that, but hearing Kelsey say it out loud really brought it home. "Nick is telling me the only reason he's here is because he thinks Randall isn't right for me."
"Why does he think that?"
Sarah sighed. "They have history. Nick is the black sheep. He doesn't get along with his family, so he doesn't think Randall is right for anyone. He says he doesn't want me to make a mistake and marry him."
"Oh, puleeze," Liz said, rolling her eyes. "It's more than that. He couldn't take his eyes off you. He wants you back."
"Thinking about it, it wasn't only on the boat," Kelsey said. "You were just a tiny bit too close to each other in the pool when we arrived."
“That was Nick's doing, not mine!"
"So what is he likely to do if you try to go through with it?"
"I don't know." Sarah sighed with frustration. "So what do you guys suggest I do?"
"Stay away from him," Kelsey said. "Avoid him at all cost."
"Easier said than done. His suite is next door to mine."
"Well, that couldn't have been an accident."
"It wasn't."
"Wow," Liz said. "He's a really romantic guy, isn’t he?”
“No! He’s not romantic! He’s crazy! The only person I get romantic with is Randall!”
“How’s that been going lately?”
Sarah opened her mouth to respond, only to close it again.
“Oh, my God. There’s trouble in paradise?”
“No! We’ve just had a lot of stress surrounding the wedding. Once we’re married, everything will be just fine.”
When Liz and Kelsey glanced at each other skeptically, Sarah said, "Look, you guys. I'm not about to throw away my future just because Nick showed up here and reminded me of three days of fun in the snow and a little hot sex."
Liz's eyes lit up. "Hot sex? Just how hot was it?"
Sarah shook her head. "Why do I tell you anything?"
"Because you love me."
"If you love me, you won't breathe a word of this."
"Breathe a word of what?"
Sarah turned at the voice behind her and saw a woman approaching. Oh, God. Brandy?
She stopped beside their lounges. She wore one of the spa's white terry robes, and her face was slathered with green goop. Most people would assume it was an avocado masque, but Sarah was pretty sure her alien complexion was showing through.
"Are you gossiping?" Brandy said. "I love gossip."
Kelsey glared at her. "This is a private conversation."
"Yeah, but girls always share. I hear all kinds of things in ladies' rooms."
"Does this look like a ladies' room to you?"
Brandy rolled her eyes. "Obviously not. Do you see any toilets?" She turned to Sarah. "Are you gossiping about that cute gay priest?"
Yes!
"No," Liz said. "He's too holy to do anything worth gossiping about."
"Yeah, that's priests for you." She turned to Sarah. "It's only two days till your wedding. I was thinking maybe I'd come."
Sarah felt a glimmer of panic, but Kelsey was on it. "You can't come. You haven't been invited.”
"It doesn't matter. The weddings here are in the gazebo. Anybody could stand right there and you couldn't stop them. If you pay to be here, you can stand anywhere you want to."
"Let me amend that," Kelsey said. "Polite people would require an invitation."
Brandy's eyes narrowed. "I don't like you."
"Yeah? Well, I'm not wild about you, either."