AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Before I left, I told her I was holding her to it.”
She smacked me. “You’d better reconfirm.”
“She’s coming.” Though a niggling doubt crept into my brain.
“You can’t call. She’ll never answer.” She propped a hand on her hip.
“One way to find out.”
I’d already dialed when Vivian held up her phone.
“Should’ve used this,” she whisper-hissed.
After a few rings, Muriella’s voicemail clicked on. Just a generic voice, not even hers. “Darlin’, I’ll pick you up around ten on Sunday.” I paused, avoiding Vivian’s stare. “It’s just lunch.”
But it wasn’t. This date would determine our future.
Chapter Fifty-Three
Muriella
Vivian was acting strangely.
Or maybe it was just me.
When Valentina had given me a ride home from the shooting range, we’d cemented my plans. Buried in my closet were two guns and a box of ammunition. The serial numbers had been filed off. I had a plane at my disposal. No questions asked.
Tomorrow was the day. My plan was to get in, get out, and get on with my life.
Today, though, I would keep my promise to Stone and go on our third and final date.
“Fabulous, isn’t it?” Vivian straightened the deep violet wrap dress I’d never seen before I put it on. “I knew it would look perfect,” she declared, her eyes glittering like the black diamonds around her neck. She’d been wearing the necklace more frequently since she and Daniel had reconciled. It was a sign that she belonged to Daniel, and because she really and truly did, she allowed it. It was what she wanted.
What would it be like to have that kind of bond?
“Jewelry,” she said, snapping her fingers as if she’d just remembered. She grabbed a black velvet box off the nightstand and pried the resistant hinges open. “We’re really cutting it close. He’ll be here any second.” She held up a gold chain, letting it dangle for me to see. There were two hearts entwined.
“It’s beautiful. Daniel didn’t give this to you, did he?”
“No. It’s new.” She moved behind me, and I lifted my long hair. Once the necklace was clasped, it hung to my breastbone. Vivian reached for another box, the black velvet almost gray from years of use. “Neither one of us have our mother’s pearls, so these will have to do.” She threaded large pearl earrings through my lobes.
“Where did you get these?”
The doorbell chimed before she could answer. My stomach lurched. This was worse than the nervousness I’d had before the first date, maybe because I was afraid it was going to be the last. Vivian grabbed my purse from the bed and then my hand and dragged me to the front door.
“Slow down. These heels are really thin,” I protested to no avail. If anything, her pace quickened. “Wait,” I said when she started to turn the knob.
There was love and understanding in her eyes. “You have nothing to lose,” she said, and flung the door open.
His hair had been trimmed since I’d last seen him, though it still swept across his forehead to his eyebrows. He had on a white shirt that looked custom tailored, stretching across his muscles. Instead of jeans, he wore charcoal gray slacks and a matching suit jacket, but no tie. He’d left the top two buttons of his shirt open, and he had on black Italian loafers, not his old boots.
He presented a bouquet of bluebonnets, and his chocolate-colored eyes locked on mine. “For you.”
His voice struck me straight in the heart. I’d missed hearing it more than I’d realized.
I’d missed everything about him. He wasn’t cold, angry, or guarded. His crooked smile said he was happy to see me.
“She’d say thank you if she could find her tongue,” Vivian said as she snatched the bouquet from his hands, “but you’ve rendered her speechless.”
