Diana looked at Liz. “Would you say you risked anything to have your relationship with Jack?”
Liz tilted her head and Carrie saw the new light that had shone in her sister’s eyes ever since hooking up with her private eye. “Well, I’d say you always risk something when you commit to someone. You risk your heart.”
“Exactly,” Diana said. “I put myself at risk with Marc, too. And I almost blew it by not letting him know how I felt in time. I’m just lucky things worked out the way they did, and that he was willing to take a chance on me.”
“Don’t get me wrong—I admire you guys for being brave and taking a chance on relationships, but…” Wow, this just hit her. “Maybe this fiasco with Jon has had a bigger effect on me than I thought. I’m not sorry it happened exactly, but…right now, more than ever, I’ve seen how quickly things can change, how the rug can be pulled out from under you, that nothing is totally dependable. And maybe it feels important to me to hang on to the few things in my life that are dependable—like my store, and Mom and Dad.”
“But if you think back,” Diana imparted, “how dependable was Jon really? It took ten years for him to propose, for heaven’s sake, and you two certainly did your fair share of bickering. Have you seen any reason to doubt Chris?”
Carrie only sighed. “How many times do I have to remind you—I’ve only known him a week.”
“That’s about how long it took for me and Jack to know we wanted to be together forever,” Liz said.
Diana tilted her head. “Same for me and Marc. Think about it, Carrie. Don’t be so quick to pass up something that might never come your way again.”
The three sisters stayed up talking long into the night and by the time they’d drained their third bottle of wine, Diana was telling them just how wild she and Marc had gotten together—and with other people, too! Carrie nearly fell out of her chair, since some of Diana’s stories made hers seem weak in comparison. They also urged Liz to share, and Carrie was stunned to discover just how much her mature, staid, older sister had loosened up with her sexy P.I. After taking a deep breath, and encouraged by their stories—and the wine—Carrie finally took the plunge, too, telling her sisters about The Garden of Ecstasy, about her adventurous boat rides and hot tub encounter. They were all giggling by the time it was through—clearly all the Marsh sisters had been indulging themselves sexually in the past few months.
Her sisters pointed out that for them, those indulgences had led to impending wedding bells, as both of them were engaged now. Liz was planning a classic wedding at a picturesque church just around the corner from their parents’ house, saying Jack was ready and willing to bring the party north, so long as they made their way back to the French Quarter as soon as the honeymoon ended. Diana, conversely, was planning a huge, extravagant blowout at the Venetian in Las Vegas, where the couple would depart the reception in a gondola.
“And what if you married Chris?” Diana asked, eyebrows raised. “What would your dream wedding be?”
Carrie could only roll her eyes. “Marry Chris? I’m not marrying Chris. I just left Chris behind, if you recall.”
“Humor me.”
Carrie sighed, and tried to envision what her sister asked. “Well, given that I just saw a big, traditional wedding go to waste… I think if Chris and I got married, I’d be happy to do it on the beach at sunset, or on his boat, with just a few close friends and family.”
Diana and Liz both smiled. “Sounds nice,” Diana said.
* * * * *
“I told you. Didn’t I tell you?”
Chris looked up with a start at Shay. He’d been staring off into space, behind the bar at the Lazy Lizard, thinking about Carrie, reminding himself why he’d spent the last few years being so careful with his heart. Fuck, this hurt even worse than he remembered. Love sucked, and it was a trap he wouldn’t fall into again. “You told me what?”
“That things would change because of her. That you’d change.”
Damn, she had. Of course, at the time, she’d predicted things would change because he and Carrie would stay together, not because they were apart. Even so, he guessed the effect on Shay was the same—in the days since Carrie had gone, he hadn’t been himself. He knew he’d been no fun at all, barely speaking, never joking, and as for fooling around with Shay, well—having sex with anyone but Carrie was the last thing on his mind. Knowing Shay as he did—that she wasn’t nearly as strong and brash on the inside as the out—he suspected she needed sex more than he could quite understand, that it probably made her feel cared for. “Sorry, Shay,” he said earnestly. “I don’t mean to be an ass, but I probably won’t be in the mood to party with you for a while.”
Shay slammed her empty drink tray lightly on the bar. “You idiot. I don’t really give a fuck whether or not you want to party. And for your information, I’ve kind of hooked up with Jake now—exclusively.”
He blinked, stunned. He’d never known Shay to hook up with anyone exclusively. “Really? You and Jake?”
She sighed. “Yes, me and Jake. He’s really…sweet to me.”
Wow. Shay had a boyfriend. Who was sweet. And she liked that. He couldn’t quite absorb it, thinking—just when you think you know somebody…
“Anyway,” she went on, “I don’t care about your party schedule. I just…wish you were happy.”
He let out a long sigh. “Me, too. And I’m sure I will be again, eventually. I just don’t know when.” Although as of right now, he couldn’t imagine being happy—truly happy, deep down inside—ever again, without his angel.
* * * * *
A week after Diana and
