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“No idea,” she replies, shoving a handful of chips in her mouth from the bowl in the center of the table. I mull the situation over in my head, trying to formulate any advice. Part of me wants to tell her to just forget the idiot. If he hasn’t caught on about her feelings, he’s not good enough for her. But I know Alice. She’s relentless. She never gives up, and she won’t let go of this unless she’s absolutely sure there is nothing more she can do.
“How about this: make your play whenever he’s in town. If it works out, fine. If it doesn’t, I’ll give him a black eye. At least you’ll know where you stand.”
“Can’t believe it. One of my brothers telling me to go after a man instead of flexing your alpha muscles and telling me no man’s good enough?”
“That would only make you want him more.”
“You know me too well.”
I kiss her forehead. “True.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Alice exclaims. “You don’t suck at giving advice on love as much as I thought.”
“That’s supposed to be a compliment?”
“Of the highest order.” She tips up my beer glass, drinking the very last few drops.
“You just had to drink mine instead of ordering a new one, didn’t you?” I ask.
“Yep. It’s more fun to steal yours. Now I really have to go if I wa
nt to make it to Nadine’s. God knows I can use some girl time.”
“Emilia has no time for girl time,” I find myself saying.
Alice, who was in the process of rising from her chair, sits again. “She has that much on her plate, huh?”
“Yeah. She works full-time as a therapist, takes jobs on the side so she can pay a caretaker for her grandmother during the day, and looks after her grandmother herself on evenings and weekends. There’s a neighbor who sometimes helps her out, but….”
“Maybe I can help. Let me know when you want to take Emilia out next time, and I can watch her grandmother. Not sure how much she’ll remember me, but… I liked her. She was a force of nature back in the day.”
“But you’re busy,” I counter. “You’re running a restaurant and opening another one.”
“It’s not a problem.”
“Alice, if you do this, you can steal my food and drinks all you want, and I’ll never be mean to you again,” I say, kissing her forehead. Out of my three sisters, Alice is the one hardest to predict. She can go from spitfire to the loveliest person in a split second. Her nurturing side might not be as obvious to others as Pippa’s, but it runs just as deep. I shouldn’t play sister favorite, but Alice and I always had a special bond.
She smacks my shoulder. “Don’t you dare not be mean to me. It’s our thing. Now, I have to go meet the girls. I want to try one of those dresses with lace at the waist. Maybe one with crinoline too.”
And here she goes with the pig latin again.
***
Emilia
“You need to give me the recipe for your beauty treatment,” Abby says on Tuesday as we’re in the clinic’s break room, nursing cups of coffee. Evelyn is with us too. She lies on three chairs, with her arms bent under her head.
“I slept well this weekend, that’s all,” I mumble, not willing to spill the beans. Abby and Evelyn never have any qualms about dishing on details about their private life, but I’ve never felt comfortable doing the same. Now more than ever, I feel as if I should keep quiet, as if what Max and I have together might disappear if I tell anyone about it.
“Girl, I bet you haven’t slept at all,” Evelyn says knowingly, sitting up on one chair. “Did you and Max finally get down and dirty?”
Heat creeps up my cheeks, and Abby’s eyes widen. “Do tell.”
“Yeah, I spent the weekend with him,” I admit. They exchange knowing glances, and I suspect I’m missing something.
“How was it?” Evelyn asks.
I shake my head vehemently. “I don’t share details, you know that.”
