“Hey, girlfriend. Let’s go have our picture taken.”
“They’re here.”
Danielle glanced toward Trey, who stood at the window peering out.
He seemed so nervous. She couldn’t help feeling he didn’t think his sisters would like her. She picked up the pewter frame that contained the photo they’d printed off less than an hour ago. She and Trey looked like a perfect couple. He’d grabbed a handful of her long red waves and had pulled her in for a kiss, then they’d glanced toward the camera, their cheeks pressed together, Trey with a silly grin on his face, and her . . . well, she almost beamed.
Jake had taken about a hundred pictures, trying to get the ideal candid shot. He’d done a good job. She and Trey looked happy together. Like a perfect match.
She set the picture on the side table again. Trey walked toward the door, Hickory following on his heels. As soon as Trey opened the door, Hickory raced outdoors.
Danielle stood up and brushed at her pants, smoothing the fabric, then stepped toward the door. A petite brunette walked up the stone path leading to the front door, a taller, slim teenager following behind her.
“Trey!” The older sister, Suzie, launched herself at Trey and he threw his arms around her, then gave her a big kiss.
The younger sister—Trey had said her name was Tasha—stood demurely behind Suzie. When Trey released Suzie he smiled broadly at his youngest sister.
“Tasha. You’ve grown so much.” He held open his arms and she stepped into them.
She might have gone into the hug hesitantly, but Danielle could see her arms tighten around her older brother. Trey kissed her, then picked up their bags and carried them down the hall to their bedrooms . . . leaving Danielle staring at the two of them.
“You must be Danielle,” Suzie said, smiling warmly.
Fifteen
Danielle held out her palm to shake hands but Suzie laughed and threw her arms around Danielle, giving her a warm hug. When she released Danielle, who had stiffened at the unexpected contact, Tasha stepped forward and hugged Danielle, too. Her slim arms encircled Danielle’s body and she gave a quick squeeze, then stepped back.
“Great, you three have managed the introductions,” Trey said as he returned to the room. “Dinner will be ready in about twenty minutes. Do you want something to drink?”
Trey led them into the kitchen, where his sisters sat on the tall stools at the counter eating area. Danielle opened the fridge and took out the pitchers of lemonade and iced tea that she’d prepared earlier and placed them on the counter. Trey placed four glasses on the counter beside the frosty pitchers.
“We’re having lasagna for dinner, since I know how much you love it, Tasha,” Trey said.
“With garlic bread and Caesar salad?” she asked as she poured herself some lemonade.
“Of course.” Trey sipped his iced tea. “How was the drive?”
“Great,” Suzie answered. “Good weather all the way here.” She glanced at Danielle. “So, Danielle, what do you do?”
“Me? Oh, I’m self-employed. I develop Web sites for small businesses.”
“That’s sounds like fun. Do you work from home?”
“Mostly, though I do spend some time with my clients determining their needs. What about you?”
Trey placed a tray on the counter with a selection of cheese and crackers and a few red grapes as garnish, then went to the sink, where he began washing lettuce for the salad. Tasha popped a grape into her mouth, and Danielle took a slice of cheddar and placed it atop a stone-ground whole wheat cracker.
“I’m a guidance counselor at a high school.”
“At the same high school Tasha goes to?” Danielle asked.
“Oh God, no,” Tasha said in such an animated voice, especially given her quiet demeanor so far, it caught Danielle off guard. “That would be awful. My sister working at the school I go to!”
Danielle would have thought it would be great, but she wasn’t really an expert on sister relationships. Didn’t Tasha and her sister get along?
“Don’t mind her. No teenager wants her big sister anywhere near her friends . . . or her social circle.”
“So, little Tasha is going to university next year,” Trey said as he sat down on the stool beside his youngest sister.
Tasha didn’t look all that little. She was tall and slim with a well-proportioned figure, long straight dark hair, and the same warm brown eyes with gold specks that Trey had. Whether Trey saw it or not, she was definitely a young woman.
They chatted for a while, then Trey served dinner. They made plans to visit the university the next day, mostly for just a look-see, since it was a Saturday. They’d do a full tour on Monday.
After cleaning up the dishes, they all watched a movie in the living room before calling it a night.
Danielle followed Trey into the bedroom and closed the door behind her, feeling odd going in there with him while his sisters were in the house.
“So, what do you think of Suzie and Tasha?”
“They’re beautiful—and so nice.”
He stroked her cheek. “Then why do you look perplexed?”
“No, it’s just that . . . I found it weird . . .”
“What’s weird?”
“They hugged me. When they first got here. But they don’t even know me.”
He pulled her into his arms and hugged her. She leaned against his familiar warm chest.
“Danielle, you’re my girlfriend. That means you’re part of the family.”
Part of the family. As simple as that. She would love to be part of his family. To have many more nights like the one they’d just had. To feel like she belonged.
After changing into her nightgown, she climbed into bed beside Trey. As nice as the evening had been, as she lay there, it felt like something was missing. It took her only a moment to realize that . . . it felt strange lying in bed beside Trey without Jake.
In
