Sisters in Bloom (Love in Bloom: Snow Sisters #2), Contemporary Romance (11 page)

Danica followed Kaylie to her house to help her settle back in—and to make sure she stayed put this time. She sat on Kaylie’s couch with the sock pinched between her index finger and thumb. “It’s a sock, not a thong.”

Kaylie frowned and slumped on the couch next to her. “Did you know they make maternity thongs?”

“No way.”

“Way.” Kaylie stood up and showed Danica her pink thong.

“That can’t be comfortable.”
Show me your flashy thong, but you can’t sway the discussion that easily.
“Let’s focus on your relationship, Kaylie,” Danica said.

Kaylie lowered her dress and sat back down. “I’m an idiot. I’ve always been an idiot.”

“Better he finds out now than after you’re married.”

Kaylie punched Danica in the arm.

“What’s your plan?” Danica asked, knowing Kaylie didn’t have one.

She shrugged.

“Ugh, didn’t Mom ever teach you to use your words? Come on.” She took Kaylie’s hand and led her to Chaz’s office. “Get out some paper.”

Kaylie withdrew a pad of paper from the drawer.

“Okay, number one. Contact Chaz, no matter what it takes. Call him until he answers. Who’s he with?”

“I don’t know.”

Danica thought about it. “I know, call Max. Max will know how to reach him. That’s number two. If you can’t reach Chaz, then call Max. Number three, call Alex. Get going with the band again. It’s good for your self-esteem.” Danica paced. She’d been thinking about asking Kaylie to sing at the event for No Limitz, and now, seeing her sister taking steps to help herself, she knew it would be just the thing Kaylie needed to regain her confidence. “I have a great idea. You still play with your band, right?”

“Of course. I mean, you know they don’t go to every singing job with me, but we still do gigs together when we can actually get hired.”

“If your band agrees, you guys can play at our event.”

“You said you hired a band that one of the county guys recommended.”

“I did, but I can cancel. Trust me. Let me handle my business. Just make sure you’re good enough to play and that that band is okay with it.”

“Danica, look at me.”

Danica ran her eyes over Kaylie. Her hair fell full and pretty around her face, which was also a bit fuller. Her perfect, perky breasts had become full and matronly, lying over her belly like two soft grapefruits. She no longer looked like Barbie doll Kaylie. She looked better, more mature. She looked like mother-to-be Kaylie, and Danica hoped that, at some point in the next few weeks, before her baby came, Kaylie would see herself that way, too.

“You couldn’t look more beautiful.”

Kaylie put her hand on her belly. “What is happening to me? Why did all this stuff just hit me now? You know me, I’m not a crier. I’m not insecure about my looks, or my job, but lately” —she threw her hands up in the air— “I can’t control anything around me. Apparently, not even my fiancé.”

“Oh, stop, Kay. Chaz isn’t cheating. There’s an explanation. It’s not like he planned for some woman to spend the night and have a tawdry affair. It could even be Max’s stuff. You never know. And right now, sister dear, you are one big bundle of hormones. You’re trying to line up singing gigs for after the baby’s born, and you thought you’d slip right back into your life; and when you saw that it wasn’t going to be that easy, well, reality can do all sorts of crazy things to a person.”

“Do you think that’s it? I mean, I did expect to get the Reno gig, and I guess that did set me off, now that I think about it. That’s what we were talking about when Chaz said I should try writing…or doing nothing.” Kaylie drew little hearts on the paper. “I haven’t had a singing gig in weeks,” she admitted to Danica.

“That must be hard. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because when you decide to do something, you do it. Nothing holds you back. The year you started your own therapy practice, you made a goal and you met it—exceeded it. You wanted four new clients your first month and you got six, remember?”

Danica did remember. She’d been thrilled with her success.

“I had a goal, too. I wanted to sing until I was too big to sing, and I wasn’t too big to sing when they started turning me down. I just looked…plump. And it hurt. Every time I got turned down, it felt like I’d worked really hard for nothing, as if all of my experience didn’t matter.”

“I’m sure they didn’t turn you down because you looked bigger, Kaylie. It was probably an insurance thing. Pregnant women can be fragile, and let’s face it, you didn’t exactly sing in family-friendly venues.”

“True,” Kaylie admitted.

“Think about it. A bunch of drunk guys, you singing, they’ve jumped on the stage before, but now you’re pregnant. You’re a bar owner’s nightmare,” she teased.

The edge of Kaylie’s lips lifted. “That would happen, too, because I am hot.”

Now there’s my sister
. “Yes, you were hot.”

“Even if plump,” Kaylie added with confidence.

Danica agreed, knowing that Kaylie was talking herself into a happier place.

“And even now, with this big ol’ baby belly, I’m still hot. I’m just not bar-singing hot…because I could get hurt.”

“Okay, I’ve got it. You’re hot, hot, hot. Now can you work on your relationship?” Danica laughed.

“Just focus on the warm breeze and the tropical music,” Max said as she and Chaz sat at a bar by the water.

Chaz shook his head. He didn’t want to feel the breeze or people watch. He had to figure out what the hell was going on with the festival. He left a heated message for Jansen and one for his attorney, Cooper. If Lea could weasel her way into one-third of the festival’s ownership, then surely she intended to make his life hell. “Why wouldn’t Jansen have called me? How could I not know this?”

“Remember when I told you that you needed to have board meetings, and you said—”

“Why ruin a good thing?” Chaz lifted his eyes from the bar. “Dumbest thing I ever said.”

Max nodded with a feigned frown on her lips that reached all the way to her eyes.

Chaz looked her over as he sucked down his second drink. “You look great, but why are you all dolled up tonight?”

Max lowered her gaze. “I figured she’d be all dolled up and dressed to kill, and I knew she wasn’t expecting me to show up, and jeans wouldn’t quite cut it with someone like her.”

“So you thought dressing up might intimidate her?”

Max swirled the straw in her drink. “I’m not that naive. I just thought it might...give her pause.”

“Pause? You wanted to give Lea Carmichael pause?” Chaz shook his head. He saw her shoulders droop, and he reached out and touched her arm. “Hey, it was a great idea. Just one that’s hard to accomplish.”

“I just thought that if she thought we were together she might back off of wanting you.”

“Max. You did that for me?” Obviously, Lea hadn’t picked up on her vibe until the end, but Chaz hadn’t realized how far Max would go to protect him.

“For you and Kaylie,” she said.

“Oh, Max. You didn’t need to do that. Thank you.” Chaz tried not to let his expression reflect how stunned he was that Max would go to such lengths to protect his relationship with Kaylie. Her efforts touched him deeply. He wanted to take her in his arms and hug her, but adding a hug to a drinks date with any woman besides Kaylie felt wrong, and with everything going on, he didn’t have the strength to carry any more guilt.

“I could tell something was up with you and Kaylie,” Max said. “Don’t worry. She knows she’s got the best man in all of Colorado.”

“I doubt that.”

Max held his gaze. “Don’t fool yourself. No other man even comes close.”

They had a few more drinks, and Max pulled out her cell phone. “Do you wanna call Kaylie?” Her words carried the slow pace of one too many drinks.

“It’s only” —he squinted at his watch— “four in the morning there. Too early.” He stepped from his stool. “Let’s walk on the beach.”

“Now?” Max slid off her seat and wobbled.

Chaz put his hand around her waist. “You’ve had a lot to drink, and it’s been a long day, so we can head back.”

“No, I wanna walk,” Max said, and looped her arm into his, looking up at him with glassy eyes and a goofy, inebriated smile.

They slid off their shoes when they reached the sand and carried them along the beach. Soothing ocean sounds filled the air, and the sand was cool and soft beneath their bare feet. Chaz wished again that Kaylie were there with him. She’d love the white sand and the romantic moonlight stroll. And at that very moment, he needed Kaylie in his arms more than ever before. He ached for her.

Max was relaying how much trouble she’d had finding something that was
Lea appropriate
to wear and how she felt like a little girl playing dress up.

“Well, you look beautiful. I don’t understand why you don’t dress like this more often.”

“Beautiful?”

“Yeah, you’re a pretty girl, Max.”

She nodded a swaying, drunken nod, leaning against Chaz.

“You’re doing the right thing, you know. With Kaylie. I know you love her.”

“That I do. I hate being away from her. She’s so emotional right now.”

“She’s pregnant. All those hormones racing through her and all. She’ll come around.” Max stopped walking and looked up at Chaz. “Hey, where was she the night before we left?”

“Girls’ night out with Danica. She’s trying to figure out what to do once she has the baby.”

Max took a step and stumbled, landing against Chaz’s chest. She looked up at him with a doe-eyed gaze.

“You’ve had a lot to drink. We should go back,” he said.

Max sank to her butt in the sand. “Kaylie’s got you in a way that no other woman could. She’ll come around.”

Moonlight reflected off the water, and Chaz found himself staring out to sea, hoping Max was right.

Chaz sat down and they both lay back on the sand, looking up at the stars.

“Life is so…”

“What?” Chaz closed his eyes, feeling the effects of the alcohol sweeping his mind clean.

Max leaned her head on his arm, her eyes closed. “It’s complicated,” she said in a soft, breathy voice.

Chaz’s eyes opened. He was so drunk that the moon seemed to be moving forward and back. Maybe he would close his eyes, just for a second.

“I love working for you,” she said with a wave of her hand. “I don’t know much about what life is or isn’t, but I love you. My job. The festival.”

Chaz was already asleep.

The ringing of Max’s phone woke them up just as the sun began to make its slow crawl toward the sky. They sat up, disoriented and covered in sand. Max fumbled for her phone.

“Hello?”

Chaz brushed the sand from his clothing and hair.

“Sure. Yes, sir. Not a problem. He’ll be there.”

“What now?” Chaz asked when she hung up the phone.

“Cooper. He said he left you a message. Jansen is in the hospital in Seattle. It doesn’t look good.” Max checked her texts and gnawed on her fingernail.

“What?”

Max brushed the sand from her clothing as they headed back toward the hotel. “The tech team needs to meet…like, now.”

“How are we gonna do that?”

“Don’t worry. I’ve got it covered. We’ll Skype the tech team and head to Seattle. Looks like I have flight arrangements to make.” She handed Chaz the phone. “Call your fiancée,” she said.

Chaz sighed and called Kaylie’s cell. In an age when technology seemed to run people’s lives, it was doing nothing for him and Kaylie connecting. “Damn it.” He waited for her voicemail message tone. “Hey, it’s me. I’m heading straight to Seattle from here. Jansen’s in the hospital. I’m sorry. Call me, please. I miss you.” He lifted his eyes and saw that Max was watching him the way a mother might watch a teenage son to be sure he was doing the right thing. Max had a way of keeping him on track, and with all that was going on, he appreciated her efforts.

They Skyped the tech team later that afternoon, and Max handled it with her typical efficiency. The emergency change in meeting schedule required changes to vendors and approval of further expenses. Max had every budget memorized and was able to access the reports of their requirements and blueprints of the venue they had booked from her Dropbox as if she handled technical meetings via Skype all the time. Chaz wondered why they didn’t. Max cleverly manipulated other areas to cover the new expenses, and by the end of the meeting, they’d all agreed that Skype meetings would be the next big change to their operation.

The festival took place in Weston, Colorado each year and Max knew how many outlets each booth required, how much voltage the lighting staff needed, and whom to contact in case of a power outage. If the lights of the Superdome could go out when Beyoncé was performing, Max was taking no chances. She had backup generators and the staff to man them at the ready.

“I didn’t even need to be there,” Chaz said as they headed for the airport.

“Sure you did,” she said, wiping her brow with her arm. “I was your moral support with Lea, and you were mine with the tech team. Besides, it’s you they want to see.”

“You know, I really don’t appreciate how much you do for the festival.”

Max shook her head and threw her palm up. “Huh?”

“That didn’t come out right. I appreciate it. I just never really recognized the extent of what you take care of. I mean, you’re the sponsorship coordinator, so I always think of you coordinating the donations and sponsors and attributing funds to the right accounts, not doing all this other stuff.”

“Thanks, Chaz. I do whatever needs to be done: donations, fund distribution and attribution, and negotiating, but Scott handles the actual bookkeeping.” Scott Harden had been their bookkeeper since before Max joined the company.

“I know he does, but you knew what everyone needs down to the penny. You knew it all.”

Max smiled. “It’s my job.”

“Well, that’s what I’m wondering. It’s really not your job. So, why do you do it?” He watched her weigh her answer. “How did we get by before you?” Chaz thought of all the pieces that had fallen out of place before Max came on board and remembered the first six months of her employment, when she’d worked day and night to create an organizational system that actually worked.

Max shrugged. She opened her mouth to answer, then closed it and turned her eyes to the front of the cab. “I guess I do it so that it gets done right. So you don’t look bad.”

“Well, consider yourself appreciated, and if I ever act otherwise, kick me in the head.” Chaz checked his voicemail messages as they pulled up to the airport. The blood drained from his face.

“Lea?” Max asked.

“Kaylie. Did you leave something at the house?”

“Not that I know of, why?”

“She’s pissed. She thinks I had another woman over at the house. That’s crazy.”

Max’s jaw dropped. “Hey, dude. I am a woman,” she rebutted.

He shot her a look that said,
Not now
.

“I don’t think I left anything. I’ll call her. Once she hears it was me who was there, she’ll be fine.” She took out her cell phone, and Chaz reached over and lowered her hand. “Chaz?”

Chaz wasn’t sure what he felt at that moment, but he was caught somewhere between disbelief and hurt. His stomach turned, and he leaned his head on the back of the seat, almost unable to bring voice to his thoughts. “She doesn’t trust me.”

“Yes, she does.”

 “No, she doesn’t. She found something and immediately jumped to the conclusion that I was with someone else. After all these months.” Having an affair and lying about a tryst that took place before they even knew each other were completely different things in Chaz’s mind.

“Chaz, you said yourself that she’s emotional right now. Give her a break.” Max’s eyes grew wide. “Wait, Chaz. I think I did leave my hairbrush there. I forgot, because I used my comb this morning when I couldn’t find my brush. Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry.”

He closed his eyes. “Jesus. My life is just one big fuckup lately. First, I screw up with the board meetings that
you
warned me about, and now I’m gonna marry a woman I’m crazy about but who doesn’t trust me. I’m glad it was your brush, because I had no idea what she was talking about, but she should instinctively know I’d never cheat.”

Max’s cell phone rang, and Kaylie’s number showed on the display.

“Don’t answer that,” Chaz said firmly.

“Chaz, let me tell her.”

“Don’t answer it. I can’t think about this right now.” Every painful second that passed brought more heart-shattering reality to the forefront of his mind. He adored Kaylie, but lately she’d amped up the drama in ways that he had no idea how to handle. With the nightmare Lea turned out to be, he wondered if Kaylie could be the same way. Was he a magnet for psychotic women? Had he missed signs about Kaylie, or was she truly just hormonal? He hadn’t looked at another woman in that way since the night he met her, and after seeing Lea again and being put to the test, he not only had no intention of doing so in the future, but he knew he could refrain from ever disrespecting Kaylie in that way. Kaylie was the woman he loved and the only woman he wanted. There’s no way he made this big of a mistake a second time. Kaylie wasn’t crazy like Lea. She was just hormonal and insecure because of it.
Wasn’t she?

They pulled up in front of the airport. Fueled by adrenaline, he was determined to take charge of the situation with Jansen and Lea, and then he’d worry about Kaylie. One nightmare at a time.