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About the Author
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To Mark, Matt, and Jason with all my love!
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thank you to my wonderful ex-editor, Rose, who I miss but will always be a helpful voice in my ear. Thank you to my new editor, Eileen, for being so patient and helpful in our transition. And thank you to my agent, Emily, who I can depend on to always help forge the path forward. Also, thank you to my husband and sons for their unending support and love.
CHAPTER ONE
Abi ran her finger over the embossed wedding invitation. The feel of the raised flowers, smooth under her fingertip, made her think of white satin.
She stared at the silver letters … Join us … and her mind drifted off, imagining herself walking down the aisle, wearing a beautiful white satin and lace dress adorned with delicate pearls and white sequins. In her daydream, her gaze locked on her groom, standing at the altar watching her approach with eyes filled with joy, his beaming smile melting her heart.
Del.
“Hey, earth to Abi,” Jaime, her older sister, said. “You know we’ve got to get all these done this evening, right?”
Claire, Abi’s other sister, laughed. “Don’t worry about it, Jaime. If our little sister wants to daydream a little, that’s okay. She’s already stuffed more invitations than both of us combined. What were you thinking about, Abi?”
This time Jaime laughed. “Isn’t it obvious? She’s thinking about Del.”
Ignoring her sisters, Abi slipped an RSVP and the invitation into an envelope, then turned it over and ran her dampened sponge over the glue on the flap and sealed it. Then she flipped it back and wrote Del’s name and address on the front.
He was the next guest on the list.
She sighed, wishing this was her wedding coming up instead of her brother Kurt’s. But despite the intense attraction between her and Del, he seemed more than happy to be just friends. Which she couldn’t really blame him for after their false start in college.
But she’d do anything to turn things around. To finally find her happily-ever-after in his arms.
Jaime plucked the completed invitation from Abi and placed it in the box with the others. Claire added the one she’d just finished. Doing the invitations had been Kurt’s task, but of course he’d left them to the last minute, then got pulled into something at work, so he’d called on his three sisters to help out.
Abi sipped her wine and realized Jaime was staring at her.
“What?” Abi asked.
“You know you’ll be seeing Del at the wedding. You should make a move.”
Abi’s lips compressed. “I don’t have a move.”
“You’re a woman. The only move you need is to get naked in his bed,” Jaime said.
Abi’s mouth dropped open. It wasn’t like Jaime to say something so brash.
Claire’s eyebrow arched. “You’re suggesting our little sister march into a man’s room, strip down, and climb into bed with him?”
Jaime shrugged. “I suggest a little more finesse than that but, yeah, essentially. And the point is, this isn’t any man. It’s Del, the man she’s been mooning over for years.”
“Forget it,” Abi interrupted. “That is not going to happen.”
“Come on, Abi,” Jaime said. “You’ve been out of sorts ever since you heard that Scruff was getting married.” Scruff was the nickname her older sisters had for Kurt.
Claire placed her hand on Abi’s, staring at her with concern. “What is it, honey? Why is Scruff getting married bothering you?”
Abi shook her head. “It’s not. I’m thrilled for him. Suzanne is wonderful and I know they’ll be very happy together.” She squeezed Claire’s hand. “I really want that for him.”
Claire stroked her shoulder. “Of course you do. We all do.”
“It’s not really about Scruff,” Jaime said, leaning back in her chair. “Is it?”
Abi shook her head. She’d been thinking about it a lot lately, confused by her own reaction to her brother’s fabulous news. And she’d finally figured it out. “It’s because after this, I’ll be the only one in the family who’s not married.”
“But, honey, you are married,” Claire said.
Abi sighed, pain flaring through her.
“Technically, yes. But I was married for barely a year before we separated and we’ve been apart for over two years now. I don’t really think that counts.”
Her chest constricted at the thought of Liam. The whole ordeal around their separation—her hands tightened into fists—around their marriage … was still difficult for her to think about. It brought up memories that were too agonizing to relive.
Claire slid her arm around Abi’s shoulders and squeezed.
“I know it’s been tough on you. But I still think you and Liam have a chance to make it work. I think the fact that he hasn’t signed the divorce papers yet means he’s not ready to let you go.”
“No,” Jaime said, “it means the jerk’s a son of a bitch who just wants to prolong Abi’s suffering. She belongs with someone who’ll make her happy. Del will do that.”
Abi glanced at Jaime who sat in the chair opposite the couch, sipping her wine. “I always thought you liked Liam.”
The severe expression on Jaime’s face softened.
“I did. Until he hurt my little sister.”
* * *
When Abi got home, she slumped into her bed and stared at the ceiling. Both her sisters were home with their husbands now. Jaime with her two boys in the next room. Claire didn’t have kids yet, but Abi knew she and her husband, Bill, were thinking about it.
Her sisters had everything Abi had ever wanted.
