Playing for Keeps (2 page)

“
What’s up
?” I sounded shrill even to myself. “What’s up is I had to hear about my sister’s engagement through an outside source.”

Nell frowned. “Chloe’s getting married? She’s too young.”

“Not Chloe.
You
.” I rubbed the stress off my forehead. Thirty-two was too young to get wrinkles.

Nell blinked at me with wide green eyes. It was the only feature my sisters and I shared. Nell and Chloe resembled Mom. I took after my father: long, lean, and flat chested. They both had honey blonde hair while my hair was just plain mousy. I tried not to resent fate just because they were petite and curvy with long thick eyelashes. Sometimes I was successful.

“Ri-ight.” Nell smacked her forehead. “Damn, I forgot to tell you. Colin Farrell proposed to me the other day and I said yes. He said he wants to set up house, and he can’t see anyone else bringing him his slippers when he comes home after work.”

“This isn’t funny.” I snapped a napkin at her. Although, at another time, the thought of her being domestic would have cracked me up too. I dropped onto a chair and scowled. I wished she took things a little more seriously sometimes. The carefree thing was getting old.

She finally stopped laughing and really looked at me. “You’re serious.”

“About time you noticed.”

She slid into the chair beside me. “Hell, Gracie. How could you think I’d get engaged and not tell you right away? You’re my sister. I don’t know who you were talking to but Riley and I aren’t engaged.”

“That’s not what Pete says.”

“
Pete
told you Riley and I were getting married?” She sounded genuinely surprised.

“Pete said the wedding is in October. Riley asked Pete to be his best man.”

She gawked at me for a long second before her legendary temper kicked in. “That bastard!” She jumped up and the chair fell over. She kicked it for good measure, sending it skidding across the kitchen. “How could he just assume I’m going to fall over myself to marry him? I’ll
kill
him. No, I’ll kill Pete. No, I’ll just castrate them both.”

I wasn’t sure why she was going to take this out on Pete—he was just the messenger. It was Riley who needed to be gelded.

I grinned.
That
thought didn’t displease me at all.

Okay, it wasn’t much of a secret that I wasn’t Riley Neill’s biggest fan. There was something phony about him, but I couldn’t quite figure out what it was. He was just too plastic, too perfect. Kind of like a Ken doll. When Pete told me about the engagement, I’d have been seriously upset by the idea of Riley as a brother-in-law if my feelings hadn’t been crushed by Nell not telling me.

But it turned out Nell hadn’t kept anything from me
and
Riley wasn’t about to enter the family. I felt good.

Chloe strode into the kitchen. “Daddy wants to know what the hell is going on in here.”

Nell rounded on her. “I’ll tell you what’s going on. My goddamn boyfriend is going around telling people we’re getting married. Only the bastard’s neglected to ask me first.” She punctuated each word of that last sentence by hammering the table with her fist.

“Careful with the goddamn potty mouth,” Chloe said. “Gracie might wash it out with soap.”

I grinned, remembering the one time I did it to Chloe. She’d been five and it’d been so satisfying. Not that it’d worked. My entire family talked like they just crawled out of the gutter.

Nell responded by grabbing Chloe in a headlock. I’d have been worried about Chloe if I didn’t know she could hold her own. Did I mention our dad had started teaching us kung fu before we could walk?

I picked up a pot and slammed it on the counter. Nell and Chloe stopped grappling and gaped at me. I rolled my eyes. “Oh, like
I’m
the lunatic in this crowd.”

Daddy stormed the kitchen. “What the hell is going on here?”

I smiled. “Dinner’s ready.”

Chapter Two

Do not enter into alliances until you are acquainted with the designs of your neighbors.

— Sun Tzu, The Art of War

Nell called me at the kung fu studio the next afternoon. “I talked to Riley last night.”

“Hold on a second.” I saved the spreadsheet I was working on and turned down my speaker. I tend to listen to my favorite music really loud. “Okay. What’s the deal with him?”

“He’s so sweet!”

I held the receiver out and frowned at it. This didn’t sound like the woman who wanted to reach down his throat and pull his gonads out.

She was talking excitedly when I put the phone back to my ear. “—and that wasn’t what I wanted to wear, so—”

“Wait a minute. Back up. I missed the first part.”

“I
said
, Saturday night Riley was going to take me to dinner. He told me to dress up, so I went out and bought a couple new outfits.”

That meant she bought enough for a weeklong photo shoot. Nell loved fashion. Me, I was lucky if I could stretch out wearing the couple pairs of pants I own until laundry day.

“Well, when Riley arrived, I realized I was dressed all wrong. I had on a skirt and blouse but I should have worn a dress—”

“Uh-huh.” I rolled my eyes.

“—but that meant I had to put my hair up and change my lipstick—”

“Nell.”

She paused. “Yes?”

“What’s the deal with the engagement?”

“I’m getting to that. Damn, you’re impatient.”

“Just give me the Cliff Notes version.”

“Riley was going to propose but I took so long getting ready the ring melted in his pocket.”

“Huh?”

“The ring melted. Well, it didn’t melt so much as it got squished.”

“What kind of ring melts?”

“A wax ring.”

“He bought you a ring made out of wax?” Maybe Riley wasn’t as flush with cash as he looked.

She sighed as if talking to me was a trial. “No, Gracie. He bought me a two-carat diamond. He wasn’t sure how I’d want it set, so the jeweler made him a wax representation to use when he proposed. I’m supposed to go down there today to pick a setting.”

“But the wax melted?” I couldn’t get over that fact.

“No, it got squished. He took it out of the cooler when he arrived at my condo. Then it took me forever to change my clothes, and the ring got warm in his pocket so when he sat down it kind of got a little mushed, and we were late for our dinner reservation so he decided to wait till he had another ring to ask me. Only he was excited about it and couldn’t help telling Pete. Isn’t he so cute?”

“So what does this mean?” I dreaded the answer I knew was coming.

“We’re getting married! In October.”

Expecting to hear it didn’t take any of the shock out of actuality of it. “Are you sure?”

“What do you mean?” The frown in her voice was loud and clear.

How could I put this tactfully? “Riley is a vain, yuppie”—I struggled for the right word that would sum him up—”
lawyer
.”

“Can’t you just be happy for me?”

I felt like a jerk bursting her bubble like this, but Nell was my sister and I couldn’t help wanting to protect her. “I just don’t want you to end up hurt. Like with Rob—”

“Riley is
nothing
like Rob.”

“—or with Rick—”

“That was eons ago, Gracie. I’ve grown up since.”

“—or Randy.” My sister had a long history of guys whose names started with R’s.

“Riley is different. I love him.”

Her emphatic statement should have reassured me but Nell fell in love more often than Christina Aguilera changed her hairstyle. “And what are you going to do about your name?”

“My name?”

“Yeah. Nell Neill. Try saying that three times really fast.”

She laughed. “Gracie, you’re insane.”

Right. Like it was insane to worry about your little sister making a mistake like shackling herself to the wrong man.

“You have to get over it. You’re going to be my maid of honor.”

“I’d be thrilled,” I replied dryly. It would have been nice if she asked rather than ordered.

“Once you get to know Riley better you’ll see how great he is.”

Right. As if
that
was going to happen.

“We only have six months, and there’s so much to do. I thought about hiring a wedding planner, but I decided I want to do everything myself to get the full experience. Will you help me? I want it to be perfect, just like Mom would have wanted it.”

All resistance in me melted. I felt like slime for bringing up my reservations in the first place. “You’ll have the perfect wedding. One Mom would have been proud of.”

My stomach lurched as I made the promise. Mom was perfection personified, and it didn’t get passed down through the genes to me.

But I remembered Nell’s eyes the day Mom died and how lost she looked, and I vowed I’d make sure she was happy from that day on. Her wedding would be an event to be remembered for all time. Just like Mom would have done. Even if I didn’t like Riley.

“Gracie, you’re the best.” She gasped. “I’ve got an appointment with the jeweler in half an hour.”

“Aren’t you working today?”

“The market is already closed. Your portfolio is doing well, by the way.” Nell was a financial genius. Hand her money and somehow she turned it into a fortune. She managed a fund, working online out of her home. I could never get her hours straight. “Riley and I are going to come by tonight to go over some wedding ideas, okay?”

“Yeah, I guess it’s okay.”

“Cool. I’ll bring pizza for the masses. See you tonight.” She hung up.

I sat back and tried to organize my thoughts.

Nell was getting married.

I could be happy for her. Really.

Okay, I might have felt the slightest twinge of jealousy. Who wouldn’t? I’m four years older—wasn’t I supposed to get married first? I winced, thinking of all the old maid comments I was going to get from family we hadn’t seen in ages.

I
could
have been married. Kevin (that jerk) had asked me. Of course I hadn’t thought he was a jerk back then—not until he gave me his ultimatum: him, or my family.

What it came down to: he didn’t want me enough to wait. Chloe was only twelve at the time—too young for me to leave her. Then Daddy had been expanding the studio and needed me.

Kevin (that jerk) didn’t understand that Chloe wasn’t more important than him. She wasn’t—she just couldn’t take care of herself yet. I’d promised Mom I’d take care of the family, and abandoning my dad and little sister wasn’t the way to do it.

Whatever. That was the past. I had bigger fish to fry now. I had a wedding to plan.

I didn’t know the first thing about weddings. It couldn’t be difficult, right? I’ve been to a few and they seemed really straightforward. Buy the dresses, order a cake, pick the flowers—

The flowers…

A hazy kind of euphoria settled on me for the first time since Pete spilled the beans. Maybe Nell would let me do the flowers instead of hiring a florist. I sat back in my chair and dreamed about all the possibilities and what I could do. Something simple—white irises. Or maybe orchids. I could design a beautiful orchid bouquet for Nell to carry, and I could make lovely boutonnières for Pete and Riley.

Riley. I wrinkled my nose. I imagined him as my brother-in-law, hanging around the house, coming to our celebrations.

Maybe I should call Nell and ask her if she was sure she wasn’t rushing into this. She was impulsive but I had to give her credit for her instincts—they were infallible. Usually. But I wasn’t convinced she’d thought this through. I mean, did she really know Riley?

I reached for the phone. Maybe I could catch her before she left for the jewelers.

The phone rang as I touched it. I jumped, dropping the receiver. I fumbled to get it to my ear. “Connors Kung Fu Studio.”

“It’s me, Grace.”

Pete. I smiled. “What’s up?”

“I wanted to apologize again.”

“What for?”

“Last night. I was out of line.”

“Forget that. We have bigger problems to deal with.”

“We do?”

“I’m worried.”

“About?”

“Nell and Riley. I’m just not sure they’re ready to get married.”

Pete didn’t sigh but I could tell he wanted to. “They’ve been dating for over two years, Grace. I think they’d know by now if they’re ready for it or not.”

“But—”

“Stay out of it, Grace.”

Pout.

“Are you pouting?”

“No.” I stuck my tongue out at the receiver.

He laughed.

I loved it when Pete laughed. It was slow to come, starting at his eyes and working its way down to his lips. When he finally let it go, it was soft but masculine and made me feel warm. Except for those times, like now, when it made me want to hit him. Hard.

I heard someone call for him in the background. “I think you’re being paged.”

“I’ve got to get back to work. Want to come over and watch a movie tonight?”

“Can’t. Nell and Riley are coming over for wedding planning stuff. Want to stop by? She’s bringing pizza.”

“Tempting, but I’ll pass.”

“Come on. You’re the best man.”

“When it’s time to pick out the strippers for the bachelor party, give me a call.”

I shamelessly used my little girl pleading voice. “Please.”

He sighed. “I’ll think about it.”

In Pete speak, that was as good as a yes.

“Gotta go, Grace. Later.”

I hung up feeling a lot better about the situation. I opened my spreadsheet again but instead of inputting the studio’s expenses, I created floral bouquets in my head.

Except I kept having doubts about Nell marrying Riley. So I called Celeste at work.

Celeste and I have been best friends since the beginning of high school. I was sitting on a bench at lunchtime, staring off into space when she came bounding across the quad right at me. Only it was in slow motion, like in a movie or something. For some reason I’ve yet to determine, she sat next to me and started talking. We’ve been inseparable since.