“I think you’re amazing for even offering to consider this. It could be my last chance.”
“Stop talking about last chances,” Gabi said firmly. “This is going to work. And from now on, all of our spin is going to be positive. Understood?”
Samantha still didn’t look totally convinced, even though she seemed more optimistic than she had a few moments earlier. “I hope you’re right,” she said. “But I think it may be time for me to start being more realistic. If the parts simply aren’t going to be there. I need to begin thinking about what comes next.”
“In due time,” Gabi told her, determined not to allow Samantha to sink into despair before they’d even given a good publicity campaign a try. Gabi sat beside her and nudged her with an elbow. “So, you’re in? You’ll work with me on this?”
Samantha glanced over at her, a smile on her lips. “I’m in,” she said. “And if this works, I will pay you.”
“Not even the tiniest chance I’ll let you do that,” Gabi said. “This is what sisters do, period.”
She’d come to appreciate that kind of unconditional support lately. She’d had it from Emily and Samantha the moment they’d learned about the baby. Now it was her turn to return the favor.
* * *
Gabi, Cora Jane and Samantha had barely finished dinner when the phone rang. Samantha glanced at the caller ID and chuckled.
“Surprise, surprise, it’s Wade,” she announced, handing the phone to Gabi without answering. “For you, no doubt.”
Gabi scowled at her sister, but took the phone. “Hey. I wasn’t expecting to hear from you tonight. I thought you were going to spend the evening with your sister and the kids.”
“I did,” he told her. “And now I’m calling to warn you to be on the lookout for a wolf in sheep’s clothing.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Louise wants to get together with you.”
“Uh-oh,” she said, immediately understanding his concern.
“My sentiments exactly, but she swears she will be on good behavior, that she won’t try warning you off, or make any trouble.”
“And you believe that?”
“She did promise,” he said. “But I’d still keep my guard up, if I were you.”
“Maybe I should just avoid this little get-together,” Gabi said, thinking that would definitely be the least stressful strategy.
“Have you met my sister?” he asked with a rueful laugh. “Evasion is not an option. She will hunt you down.”
“Gee, what fun!”
“You can handle her. Just tune her out, if that’s what you have to do.”
“You don’t want me to do my best to impress her?”
“Sweetheart, you don’t need her approval. You have mine. Though it would be nice if the two of you could find a way to get along,” he said wistfully.
Even though their relationship was far from certain, Gabi understood how important Louise’s opinion was to Wade. “I’ll be on my very best behavior, too,” she promised, then teased, “First, though, she has to catch me.”
“I’m sorry to put you in this position,” he said.
“You’re not putting me in any position,” she said. “Louise is the one with the problem. Since you’re my friend and I know how deeply you care about your sister, I’ll try to smooth things over. I’m all about being surrounded by positive energy these days.”
“You’re an angel,” he said.
“Some would say if I am, then I have a slightly tarnished halo,” she replied. “I’ll keep you posted if I hear from her.”
“Oh, you’ll hear,” he said. “The only question is when.”
“Good night, Wade.”
“Night, angel.”
Despite the troubling warning he’d just delivered, Gabi discovered she had a smile on her lips as she hung up.
“Trouble with the potential in-laws?” Samantha asked, obviously having eavesdropped.
“Pretty much,” Gabi said. “If Louise has her way, Wade and I will never get past the holding-hands stage. Not that we’re even there yet,” she added hurriedly for her grandmother’s benefit. Cora Jane could probably turn handholding into an engagement in the blink of an eye.
Even so, the remark about Louise’s sour attitude caught Cora Jane’s attention. Her gaze immediately narrowed. “What’s her problem with you?”
“She’s worried I’ll break her brother’s heart,” Gabi said, then admitted, “I can’t deny it’s a real consideration. How can I fault her for that?”
“Worrying about loved ones comes with the territory,” Cora Jane conceded. “Interference, though, that’s something else.”
Gabi exchanged a look with Samantha. “Isn’t that the pot calling the kettle black?” she teased her grandmother.
“But I want the best for both of you,” Cora Jane said, clearly convinced she was on the high road. “Trust me, it’s entirely different.”
“If you say so,” Gabi said, smiling.
“I do say so,” Cora Jane responded with a little huff. “And if you need me to have a word with Louise, just let me know.”
Gabi managed to contain a chuckle until after Cora Jane had left the kitchen. “Oh, she is priceless,” she murmured when she and Samantha were alone.
“Absolutely priceless,” Samantha agreed.
Gabi grinned at her and lifted her glass of tea in a mocking toast. “And just think, sister dearest, your turn is yet to come.”
“Heaven help me,” Samantha said with heartfelt emotion.
* * *
Gabi had come up with her first idea for an original wind-chime design, based on the graceful flow and colors of a weeping willow. She could see exactly how it should look in her imagination, had even roughed out a sketch on a piece of paper, but now she was completely stymied.
“What’s the problem?” Sally asked, peering over her shoulder.
“I have this vision,” she said, her voice filled with frustration. “But I don’t have a clue how to execute it.”
“You’re going for the cascading branches and leaves of a weeping willow, right?”
Gabi regarded her with astonishment. “You can actually tell that from
