I stood up straight. This situation can still be salvaged. Thank goodness I hadn’t given myself to him completely. Things were fine. I was fine. So we’d shared a few personal moments. Now we’d go back to the original plan, which was a much better idea anyway. How I’d let myself veer so far off track, I had no idea.
There was a sudden knock at the door and I startled, stepping away from it and turning around. I pulled it open to find Vanessa standing before me. “May I come in?” she asked on a shy smile.
I swallowed but returned her smile and gestured for her to enter. “I’m just showering in here,” I lied. “The shower in the master bath is broken.”
Vanessa sighed. “God, what isn’t? It looks so different around here…” She trailed off, the look on her face saying it all—she didn’t mean “different” in a positive way.
Sugar Pie came over and sniffed at Vanessa’s feet. Vanessa stepped away, beginning to bend down to offer Sugar Pie her hand, but then withdrawing it quickly when she got a good look at the dog’s face. “Oh, she’s…is she—？”
“Her name is Sugar Pie,” I said, scooping her up and depositing her on the chair to the right of the bed and giving her a few pets before walking back to Vanessa.
She took a seat on the vanity bench and crossed her shapely legs. I sat down on the storage trunk at the foot of the large bed. Vanessa was wearing a short, flirty pink skirt and a pale gray, silky tank top that showed off her summer tan. There were several strands of beads knotted between her breasts. She slid her fingers down them in a nervous gesture as she studied me. I was tempted to make a funny face but held myself back.
“I love your outfit,” I said. And I did. It was classy but fun and fashionable too.
She smiled broadly. “Thanks. It’s one from my own collection. I have a little boutique in San Diego. I’m considering opening one here too, actually. That’s part of the goal of this trip—to find a space. My family didn’t have a lot of money growing up and dressing fashionably on a small budget became my creative outlet and my passion. That’s the focus of my shop—fashion chic for less.” She blushed prettily and lowered her eyes. “I’m sorry, I’m babbling.” She cleared her throat before raising her eyes to mine and continuing. “Shane and I were so filled with happiness when we heard Gray had gotten married,” she said, changing the subject. And she looked sincere.
I wrung my hands in my lap. “Thank you,” I finally said. “I mean, I…don’t know exactly what happened between Grayson and Shane, but I hope they can find a way to work things out.” God, this was so awkward. Was I supposed to be pretending Grayson’s and my marriage was real? I wished Grayson had taken a moment to talk to me before I had to have a one-on-one with Vanessa Hawthorn. Maybe he’d already told them we were fake, and here I was, stammering along. Vanessa looked like she was struggling too, and I had to wonder how much she still felt for Grayson. Or was she really in love with his brother, her husband? Why had she done what she’d done? I wanted desperately to ask her, but it didn’t feel right, and I wasn’t even sure I should act as if I knew anything at all.
“I hope we can all work things out too,” she said. “Shane and Grayson are in the study talking. Anyway, I really just wanted to take a few more minutes to say hi to you and let you know how happy I am to have a sister.”
“Thank you, I appreciate that. And me too.” I smiled. “I’m happy to have a sister as well.” Even though I’ll be a temporary one. I twisted the ring on my finger in nervousness as Vanessa stood. Her outfit was perfect and unwrinkled. How had she managed that if they’d been traveling? I really wanted to hate her for many reasons, but she was making it difficult with her kindness and sincerity. I could see why Grayson had loved her.
Her eyes moved down to my ring finger. “May I?” she asked, her brow creasing slightly. I glanced down at my hand and then lifted it as she grasped it in hers and studied the ring Grayson had given me.
She drew in a breath. “An opal. Look!” And she lifted her engagement ring to show me her center stone was an opal as well. “It’s my very favorite stone,” she explained. “It signifies love and passion.” She grinned, her teeth straight and perfectly white. “Well, this proves it, we both love opals. We were meant to be sisters.” She moved forward and hugged me quickly, the scent of some light, expensive perfume that was just as lovely as her hitting my nose before she stepped away. “We’ll talk more later?”
“Sure.” I smiled weakly.
When she left, I sat down on the bed, my eyes narrowed on the ring on my finger. I recalled Diane Fernsby saying she knew Grayson had bought a ring for Vanessa, though he’d never had a chance to propose. I hadn’t imagined this ring was an engagement ring because of the unique center stone, but I’d been wrong. “He gave me the ring he’d intended to use to ask her to marry him,” I whispered disbelievingly. Anger and hurt lanced down my spine and I twisted the ring until it came off.
“Scaly beast,” I murmured halfheartedly under my breath. But somehow, calling him a name didn’t diminish the hurt. Calling him a name didn’t repair the tiny fissure in my heart, the one his blindingly beautiful scales had created. But I’d done this. He wasn’t the only one to blame.
* * *
After taking a shower and letting the conversation with Vanessa roll off my shoulders as much as possible, I went downstairs in search of Grayson. We were going to have a sit-down and talk about exactly what I was supposed to be doing in this strange, uncomfortable situation.
I called hello, but when I didn’t receive an answer, I walked outside to find Shane tinkering with the fountain. He had a small toolbox on the ground next to him and was leaning all the way over the apparatus in the middle of the empty well. “Hey,” I said.
He sat up. “Hey there,” he said on a smile.
“I was hoping someone would be interested in getting this thing fixed at some point,” I told him.
He smiled more broadly. “It seems it just needs a new part. I’ll run into town tomorrow and pick it up.”
I nodded and there was an awkward silence before we both started laughing softly. I saw so much of Grayson in his smile. He really was a very handsome man—more boyish looking, whereas Grayson was striking, but just as tall and masculine. “Do you know where Grayson is?” I asked.
His smile faded. “He went into town for dinner.”
My heart plummeted. Grayson leaving without a word—leaving me to fend for myself in this awkward situation—only confirmed that I mattered very little to him. I noticed that Vanessa was nowhere in sight either. “Did he, um, go to dinner with Vanessa?” I asked. She had said he and Shane were talking. Maybe now they were too.
Shane shook his head. “No. Vanessa drove out to see her parents.”
I let out a breath. “Oh. Right.” I hadn’t even thought about Vanessa growing up here too. My stomach clenched when I thought about all the history these three had together. And that realization made it starkly clear that I didn’t fit in at all. And I never would because I was temporary. But it made me feel like an outcast, and God, I’d felt that so often in my life. I just wanted once to belong somewhere.