Hannah nodded warily, a slight smile working its way onto her face. “He needs us to look out for him.”
“But I’m sure he’d appreciate it if you took a more, shall we say, subtle approach.”
“Maybe I’ll think about it.”
Kendall figured it was as much of a concession as she was likely to get.
“Where’s Rick?” Hannah asked.
Obviously her sister had a thing for the middle Chandler, something Kendall could well understand. “Showering I think. He’ll be down in a few minutes. Hannah, about the principal . . .”
“I swear it was an accident.” Hannah held up her hands in her own defense. “I was getting one guy back for squirting my shirt and he was quick enough to duck first. It’s not my fault Dr. Nowicki is short enough to be a target.”
At Hannah’s age, it seemed nothing was ever her fault.
“Well, look who’s here!”
Kendall turned to see Raina and the town doctor walk up to their table, saving Hannah from a be-more-careful-next-time lecture. “Hi, Raina, Dr. Fallon.”
“Eric,” he said. “No formality here.”
Kendall smiled. “Eric. I’d like to introduce you to my sister Hannah,” Kendall said, along with a silent prayer for Hannah’s polite behavior. “Hannah, this is Rick’s mother and Dr. Eric Fallon.” She added the Rick connection for extra luck in gaining her sister’s goodwill.
“Nice to meet you.” Hannah graced the older couple with a genuine smile.
Raina walked over and shook Hannah’s hand. “Same here. You’re a beauty, young lady.”
To Kendall’s surprise, Hannah blushed.
“I need to talk to you, Kendall, and since your sister is here, I can use her help too.” Raina glanced at Eric. “Give me five minutes would you?”
“Anything for you. But you need to sit down and rest.”
Raina shot him a glare, narrowing her gaze. She obviously disliked being told what to do.
“Your heart,” Eric reminded her, tapping his chest. The older woman flushed and nodded, but Kendall focused on Eric. Was it her imagination or was there a sarcastic bent to his voice? She shook her head. Not possible.
“Raina, Eric, please join us.” Kendall gestured to empty chairs.
After the older couple seated themselves, Raina launched right into her request. “I’ve planned a surprise party for Rick’s birthday. Or should I say I’m delegating plans for a surprise party, since my daily activities are limited.”
“It’s Rick’s birthday?” Kendall asked. “When?” He’d never mentioned a thing. And she wondered why she was insulted he’d kept something so basic from her.
“Well, duh,” Hannah chimed in. “Tomorrow. That Lisa woman—”
“Ms. Burton,” Kendall corrected.
“That Ms. Burton woman said she had the p-u-u-rfect gift in mind.” Hannah shuddered in complete and utter revulsion.
Kendall sighed. Some women never gave up.
“Can you imagine what she wants to do to him?” Hannah asked, horrified. “Kendall, you have to keep her away from Rick.”
“Oh, I do so enjoy young people.” Raina laughed. “Hannah’s right. We need to keep Lisa away. I realize I might have encouraged her—before you came to town, you understand,” she said to Kendall. “But I never knew she was so persistent. You’d think once a woman had been turned down, she have more pride than to keep at it. I know I would.”
“I thought men asked women out in the olden days,” Hannah chimed in.
“Oh, Lord. Hannah—”
Eric’s booming laugh cut off anything Kendall might have added. “You’re right, young lady. In the olden days, most women were more demure and passive and let a man do the bidding. But then as now, some women were more brazen and had a mind of their own.” His smile grew wider as his gaze drifted to Raina, the caring and affection between them obvious.
An unfamiliar knot twisted tight in Kendall’s chest. “So Mrs. Chandler’s got her own mind?” Hannah perched her chin in her hand and focused on Eric.
“I think we should get back to Rick’s birthday discussion before he shows up,” Kendall said. Before Hannah got completely irreverent.
“Good idea. But don’t worry.” Raina leaned closer to Hannah. “You and I can finish this discussion another time.” She patted Hannah’s hand. And Hannah didn’t pull away.
Would wonders never cease, Kendall thought. The key to her sister’s heart seemed to revolve around the Chandlers.
“At any rate, I’m going to ask Rick to bring the two of you to dinner tomorrow night. Izzy and Norman said they’d do the catering and cleaning, so that’s set. I don’t have to lift a finger. You two will bring the guest of honor and I’ve already made phone calls, the only thing I can do to arrange Rick’s various surprises.”
“What surprises?” Kendall and Hannah asked at the same time.
“I want to do a version of This Is Your Life. Let Rick’s childhood memories come to him.” She clapped her hands. “It’s going to be such fun.”
“What’s going to be such fun?” Rick arrived and in typical cop fashion didn’t miss the conversation or the opportunity to interrogate.
“Well, your birthday dinner, of course.” Raina didn’t miss a beat.
“Your mother invited me and Kendall to dinner tomorrow. Isn’t that cool?” Hannah asked Rick.
From the flicker of aggravation and something more in his eyes, Kendall had the sense “cool” was the last thing Rick thought this birthday celebration would be. And poor man, he thought it would just be family. Wait until he realized what his mother had in store.
Recovering quickly, he walked over to Hannah’s chair. “It’s Da Bomb,” he said and ruffled her still purple hair with his hand.
Kendall wondered what she’d have to do to get her sister to rinse out the dye and go au naturel again. But when Hannah giggled over Rick’s attempt at teenage slang, Kendall realized there was something more important in life than how her sister chose to look. And that was how she felt inside. When Rick was around, Hannah’s laughter was easy and carefree, like the happy kid she ought to be. Kendall’s heart felt like it blossomed inside her chest.
“You’re such a Poindexter.” Hannah rolled her eyes as she poked fun at Rick, bringing Kendall’s concentration back to the conversation at hand.
Raina and Eric looked at Rick expectantly, obviously waiting for a translation.
“A nerd,” he explained. “Working with teenagers has expanded my vocabulary.” He grinned.
Hannah laughed again and over her head Rick caught and held Kendall’s gaze. Warmth translated between them along with an electric reminder of just how intimate they’d been before the telephone rang in his apartment earlier.
Now his hair was damp from his recent shower and he hadn’t shaved, the razor stubble she’d felt against her cheek earlier adding a sensual edge to her reaction to his ruggedly sexy appearance. Later. He seemed to transmit the thought with his darkened eyes. And oh how she wanted to be with him, Kendall thought.
But with a birthday bash to get him to and her sister who adored him, Kendall wondered how they’d find the time to pick up where they left off.
* * *
The morning after Raina informed them of Rick’s last-minute party, Kendall paced the floor of her attic workspace while Hannah cracked her gum and shot down every suggestion Kendall made for Rick’s birthday gift. They needed to create something by late this afternoon before they picked up Rick for what he thought was a family dinner at his mother’s.
In her brief time in Yorkshire Falls, Kendall had grown to know Rick well, his expressions and what went on inside his head. And though she didn’t know why, she was certain he wouldn’t be pleased with tonight’s event. She’d debated warning him ahead of time, then decided she had no right to come between mother and son or betray Raina’s confidence and surprise.
Kendall concentrated on his gift instead. She and Hannah had agreed to make a joint present, some
thing special for Rick that no one else would possibly come up with. They’d been back and forth with ideas since late last night. With no success.
“Cuff links?” Kendall offered as another suggestion. Hannah rolled her eyes. “Yeah like he’s gonna use those in his T-shirts.”
“Tie clip?”
“Puhleeze.” She folded her arms across her chest. “What are you trying to do? Turn him into a dork?”
Kendall groaned and tossed her hands in the air. “Okay, I give up. What would you like to make for Rick?” So far the only other thing they’d agreed upon was the fact that they’d create his birthday surprise instead of purchasing an impersonal store-bought item. Short on cash and credit, Kendall had been relieved Hannah had gone along with the idea.
“Well since you finally asked, I think we should make him a necklace. Not a pansy kind but a cool kind. Leather braided maybe.” Hannah walked around the bridge table, searching through Kendall’s plastic containers with assorted varieties of stones and beads. “Hey, what are these?” She picked up a handful of round beads.
“Hematite rondelles.”
“Geez. How about using my language?”
Kendall laughed. “They’re rounded flat beads. Shiny and blue-black in color. All of which you can see by looking at them. The technical term for the mineral used in making the jewelry is hematite and rondelle describes the shape. That’s where the name hematite rondelles comes from.”
Hannah stared at her wide-eyed, a hint of interest flickering across her features. Perhaps they’d found a topic that could help them bond, Kendall thought. She’d love to teach Hannah all she knew about beads and jewelry making and she’d be happy to learn what she could from Hannah’s fresh, young perspective. She’d start by giving her sister a confidence boost.
Kendall held out her hand for some of the beads and Hannah transferred them to her palm. She fingered the smooth, lustrous stones and held them up to the window light. “Strung together they’d have a masculine look.” She glanced at Hannah. “You’ve got an eye for this, you know.”
Her sister blushed red. “Okay, these are way cool. Rick gets a necklace of hemorrhoids.”
“Hematite, you wise guy.”
Hannah giggled. “Whatever. We’ll use these.”
“I know which bead would break up the solid black look.” Kendall sorted through her sterling tube beads and pulled out her favorite. “Check this one out. It’s handcrafted on the outside of the tubing. Every twenty-fifth or so hematite bead, we add one of these for contrast.”
“Let’s get started.” Hannah rubbed her hands together and pulled up a chair to the work area.
Kendall was thrilled to see her sister animated and interested in something so close to her own heart. “Why don’t you pull out the nicest-looking hematite’s and I’ll get the wire ready.”
Half an hour later, they were still at it, Hannah absorbed in choosing flawless beads and asking all sorts of questions while she worked. For the first time since her arrival, Kendall felt as though Hannah had let down her guard, enabling Kendall to do the same. The sense of family and bonding she’d always missed in her life surfaced now and it was all Kendall could do not to pull her sibling into a huge hug and spoil everything.
“So how’d you get into this?” Hannah asked.
“Aah. Well, with all the moving around I did, I didn’t have many toys or things. But when I lived with Aunt Crystal, she taught me how to string macaroni as a way of making jewelry. We’d use all different kinds of pasta and put hooks on them. Then we’d paint. Aunt Crystal worked with real beads and things until her arthritis hit her hands. I guess you could say jewelry making runs in the family.”
“She probably made old lady stuff,” Hannah said in the snotty tone that had been noticeably absent the entire morning.
Kendall narrowed her gaze. “Crystal had talent.” She glanced over at Hannah’s choices in beads. “And so do you.”
“Right. Like it’s so hard to pick black beads.” Hannah scooped up a handful and tossed them all together, mixing all the beads and undoing the meticulous work she’d already accomplished. “Here you go. All done.”
“Oh, Hannah, why?” Looking at the mess, Kendall’s heart squeezed tight. “You did such an amazing job and now you combined them all again.” Hours of her sister’s work, undone for no good reason.
Or was there an explanation Kendall just didn’t know about? If so, Hannah didn’t appear inclined to elaborate. She sat with her jaw clenched tight leaving Kendall with no choice but to replay their conversation in her head. Her sister’s attitude had changed the second Kendall mentioned Aunt Crystal but she didn’t understand why Hannah would be angry or envious of an older relative she’d never even met.
“Hannah,” Kendall began tentatively. “Are you jealous of Crystal? Of my time with her?”
“Why would I be jealous just because you had time for her and not me?”
“That’s not how it was.” Kendall reached for Hannah, but her sister twisted her body out of reach.
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
And the mutinous set of her jaw told Kendall she wasn’t kidding. She exhaled hard, knowing she needed a subject change and fast if she wanted a return to the bonding they’d begun to share. “Do you like making jewelry?” Kendall asked.
Hannah shrugged. “It’s OK.”
But recalling how the young girl had eyed the assortment of beads, Kendall figured it was more than just okay. “You know, I used to do pasta jewelry everywhere I went. From home to home. Wherever I lived, no one minded me keeping busy by creating necklaces. It kept me quiet and out of their hair till I moved on.” Kendall shrugged, good memories mixed along with the bad. “Stability’s the one thing you had that I didn’t.” Maybe she could get Hannah to see the positives in her life.
“Big deal. Staying in the same place, year after year. No family around. Friends come and go depending on their family situations. It’s not as hot as you think.” Hannah’s over glossed lips set in a pout.
Obviously Kendall wasn’t getting through to her sister. “Well . . .”
“Ladies, where are you?” Pearl’s voice carried from downstairs. The sound of her muffled footsteps quickly followed as she tread up the stairs and joined them in the attic.
They were no longer alone and Kendall lost the opportunity to talk to her sister and maybe, somehow fix things for Hannah, herself, and their too-fragile relationship.
* * *
Rick couldn’t help but notice the tension was thick when Kendall picked him up and drove them all to his mother’s house for dinner. He didn’t know what had happened between the sisters earlier but obviously both were upset and neither had much to say to each other.
They had plenty to say to him. At least Kendall did. “So when were you going to mention it was your birthday?” she asked him and not for the first time.
“Yeah, even Lisa Burton knew. You should have seen Kendall’s face when she heard that Lisa knew and she didn’t.” Hannah spoke gleefully from the seat behind them.
“Sit back and be quiet,” Rick and Kendall snapped at the same time. Hannah was deliberately baiting Kendall, trying to get on her nerves, and he had to admit, she was doing a damn good job of irritating him too. Or maybe it was just the date that was getting to him.
“Touchy subject?” Hannah asked, before surprisingly doing what she was told and curling up into the corner of the car.
Rick groaned. The kid had a point in more ways than she knew. His birthday was definitely a touchy subject. He acknowledged the date and put up with his mother’s family celebrations. But he didn’t choose to make a big deal about it. Because his birthday also happened to mark his wedding anniversary to Jillian, an occasion he’d rather forget than remember.
Kendall pulled up in front of Raina’s and Hannah bolted out of the car. As Rick started to do the same, Kendall put a hand on his arm, stopping him.
He turned toward her.
“You should ha
ve told me,” she said, no doubt about what she was referring to.
“It was no big deal.”
But the hurt in her soft eyes told him a different story. He hadn’t deliberately hidden the information, he’d just refused to acknowledge it to anyone, including himself. But he didn’t think she’d accept or appreciate the distinction any more than he felt like getting into the specifics of why he’d kept quiet. Kendall and her plans, her eventual departure, reminded him too much of a painful past he had no desire to repeat.
In the wake of his silence, she exhaled hard. “Let’s go. Your mother’s waiting.” She got out of the car, slamming the door behind her, leaving him with the distinct feeling that by virtue of his silence, he’d betrayed something precious and important.
Chapter Ten
“Surprise!”
Rick jumped back, startled at the crowd of people waiting for him inside his mother’s house, and as he glanced around, he realized he’d been ambushed. A goddamn surprise party, he thought. He’d rather be alone on this night as had been his ritual for years. And his mother knew better than to gather a crowd.
He loved people but this was the one particular time he preferred his own company. Being surrounded by the very folks who’d probably committed this date to memory wasn’t his idea of a fun night. Kendall’s hand unexpectedly came to rest on his shoulder in a show of support. A nice surprise considering how hurt she’d been earlier. He figured she still expected some answers but he appreciated her insight and presence beside him anyway.
“Happy birthday.” His mother slowly walked up to him and kissed his cheek.
Knowing stress was no good for her heart and she’d gone to a lot of trouble for him, he forced a smile. He’d deal with her later when they no longer had an audience.
The Playboy (The Chandler Brothers Book 2) Page 18