Page 40
Author: Jill Shalvis
“Well, fuck the doctor!” Nolan bellowed. “He’s a twelve-year-old, skinny-ass punk kid. ”
“Dr. Scott is my age,” Sawyer said, keeping his voice quiet and controlled with great effort. “Josh and I went to school together. ” In fact, the two of them had spent many, many Saturdays in detention together, driving the high school teachers insane.
“You mean you were good-for-nothing thugs together,” Nolan snapped.
“Whatever he was, Josh is a doctor now. And a good one,” Sawyer said. “Jesus, Dad! You can’t hold his past against him. ” But then he let out a short, mirthless laugh. “What am I saying? Of course you can hold his past against him. You do mine. ”
Nolan jabbed a meaty finger to the door. “Get out. ”
“Gladly. ” Sawyer strode to the door. “Tell your perfect little gofer boy that the porch light’s out. ”
Exhausted as she was, Chloe did the happy dance around the sunroom. No, she corrected. Not the sunroom—the Lucky Harbor Day Spa.
Well, it was almost a spa anyway. It was at least finished enough to have provided a short menu of services for the family of sisters, who as of two hours ago had checked out after a long weekend stay.
The week before, Jax had thrown together a changing room, hooked up the plumbing, and painted the last of the trim an hour before the two massage chairs for pedicures had been delivered, along with the shipment of towels and robes. Chloe already had a portable massage table, so that hadn’t been an issue.
Granted, there was still more to do to make it a full-service spa, but she had made it work for now.
Grinning, she spun in a circle and collapsed onto a cushy chair. The important thing was that the weekend had been a huge success. And fun. It’d been a sister-team effort, with Tara making No-Guilt-Here foods and Maddie introducing “chick night” events complete with knitting sessions and tissues-required classic movies. Chloe had given facials, mud skin treatments, and massages, along with yoga classes.
Every single one of the guests had not only rebooked for other treatments but had bought gift certificates for friends and family.
Chloe was extremely aware of how much she’d enjoyed the weekend, and exactly what she was giving up to have, hopefully, many more. She knew offers like the one she’d had from the San Diego spa didn’t grow on trees, but she felt committed to Lucky Harbor, to being here. To her sisters as well.
Her heart wanted to add Sawyer to that list, but her brain reminded her that Sawyer was fun and heat and magic—but that he’d not exactly shown any signs of wanting more.
Neither have you…
She leaned back in the chair and sighed. It was nine o’clock at night, and for the first time in days, she was all alone. Blissful, she put up her tired feet and closed her eyes.
“Aw, look at her, all plum tuckered out. I guess taking people’s money is hard work. ”
At Tara’s soft, teasing Southern drawl, Chloe opened her eyes and found her sisters standing in the doorway. “Hey. I thought you’d both left. ”
“Not yet, sugar. ” Tara was carrying a bottle of wine in one hand, three glasses in her other. She set them down on the lowlying counter that Chloe had just cleaned, then plopped onto the spa chair and stretched out her long legs. As always, she was in heels. She kicked them off and wriggled her toes. “Lord Almighty, I should have done that about four hours ago. ” Thoughtfully, she studied the rack of nail colors.
Maddie sat, too. “Long weekend. ” She smiled at Chloe. “I had a very lovely time just now adding up all the receipts. You’ve made our bank account very happy. ”
Chloe wanted to ask And how about you two, are you happy? But she didn’t. She was afraid of the answer. “I took a booking for six girlfriends for next weekend. Seems we’re going to be known for the girls’ weekend out sort of thing. ”
“There’s worse things to be known for,” Maddie said, covering Chloe’s hand in hers. “Heads-up—mushy alert warning. ”
“What? No, I—”
But before Chloe had finished sputtering, Maddie reeled her in and hugged her.
“Tell her you love her, Mad,” Tara said, still prone on her chair. “It’ll make her as wild as a peach orchard hog. ”
Chloe, laughing now, tried to escape, but Maddie squeezed her tighter. “I lurve you,” Maddie said with as much sap as she could.
Chloe stuck her finger into her mouth and then stuck the wet digit in Maddie’s ear.
Maddie collapsed in laughter while screaming “ewwww” and dropped to the floor.
“A wet willy,” Tara said calmly, nodding. “Nice tactic. ”
Chloe brushed her hands together and smirked down at Maddie. “Round two?”
Maddie rolled to her belly and cushioned her head on her arms. “Hell, no. I’m too tired. ” She crawled to the spa chair where Tara was still sprawled and pulled herself up, curling to share the space. She eyed the nail colors too, then picked out a baby blue. And then a siren red. She looked at Chloe speculatively, then grabbed a metallic silver, and then also a solid black. “Can you open the windows, Chloe? It’s not so cold out, and you’ll need fresh air for this. ”
Chloe dutifully opened the windows.
“Now sit,” Maddie said.
Which Chloe did gladly since she was exhausted.
Maddie pulled Chloe’s feet into her lap. “Nice toes. You got them from Mom. Mine are short and stumpy from my dad, of course. ” She painted Chloe’s big toe the metallic silver, then painted every other toe before filling in the opposite ones with the black.
“Silver and black?” Tara asked, amused. “Different. Suits her. ”
“Yeah, I thought so, too. You’re getting red, by the way,” Maddie said, and proceeded to switch to Tara’s feet. “And you have pretty feet too, you bitch. Pour the wine, Tara. ”
Tara arched a brow in Chloe’s direction, like look at our little mouse now. But she obeyed and poured three glasses of wine, handing one to Chloe and another to Maddie. Finally she took her own and lifted it. “To a hell of a day and a very pretty bottom line. ”
Tara and Maddie drank deeply to that. Chloe watched them, an unexpected warmth spreading inside her chest. So much had changed so quickly. Tara and Maddie, Ford and Jax, the spa, and of course, Sawyer, who’d made an indelible mark on her life, more than anyone else ever had. She still didn’t know what would become of them, and imagining that someday he’d tire of her hurt like hell, so she let her thoughts spin back to her sisters. They would always be here for her. She knew that now. It wasn’t just a concept anymore. It was a fact. They were her anchor in a lifetime spent free-floating.
Chloe set aside her untouched wine. She wanted a clear head for this. But more than that, she also wanted to be able to drive herself to Sawyer’s later tonight. Thanks to their very busy schedule, it’d been six nights since she’d last been in his bed, naked in his arms, panting his name, letting him take away everything but what they gave each other. Funny, because she’d gone a whole year without sex, and now six days was too long. Or was it simply Sawyer himself that she missed?
“I can’t believe it, really,” Maddie said.
Chloe started guiltily. “What?”
Maddie began to paint her own toes with the baby-blue polish. “How far we’ve come. I can’t believe it. ”
Okay, good. They weren’t talking about Chloe’s sex life.
Tara nodded. “Do you realize that we’ve each managed to bring a vital part of ourselves to the inn?”
Chloe stared down at her sparkling toes. “Is that it?” she wondered. “Or is it that this place has given each of us something we needed?” When nobody spoke, she looked up. Both her sisters were staring at her, eyes moist.
“Oh, Christ. ” Chloe sighed and grabbed some napkins, shoving one at each of them. “I swear, if either of you cries, I’m giving out more wet willies, followed by wedgies. I mean it. ”
“I have a better idea. ” Maddie stood up. “Our first night here together we stayed up all night decorating our poor Charlie Brown Christmas tree. Do you remember?”
“Hard to forget,” Tara said. “Chloe turned our faces and hair green with her facial and conditioner masks, remember?”
“Hey,” Chloe said in her defense. “It improved your skin, didn’t it?”
“Excuse me. ” Maddie tapped a fingernail against the wineglass to get their attention, then cleared her throat dramatically. “I’m trying to recount our adventures here, so pay attention. And I do have a point. ”
“You going to get to it anytime soon?” Chloe asked.
“Do you or do you not remember when we decided to make this place a B&B?” Maddie asked. “We—”
“We?” Tara interrupted, laughing. “If we’re remembering, then let’s remember how it really happened, shall we? We didn’t decide anything, Maddie. You two corralled me into the B&B thing, specifically the chef part. And you did it by dangling Ford in front of me. ”
“Oh, and that turned out so awful, right?” Chloe responded dryly. “And let me guess—you hate being your own boss. You hate ordering us around in the mornings to do your bidding. Is that what you’re saying?”
Tara smiled. “No, I really like that part. A lot. ”
“Hello,” Maddie said sternly. “I’m talking here!” She paused for dramatic effect, but when Chloe and Tara just rolled their eyes, she sighed. “Don’t you get it? We need to do something. We need a ceremony for this milestone!”
“It’s too early for a Christmas tree,” Chloe said.
Maddie tossed up her hands. “Something new! Something unique. To celebrate you,” she said. “To celebrate the spa thing. ” She scrunched up her face to think, then grinned wide, and then slumped. “I had something. But I forgot. ”