“I know that’s all on me,” Emily admitted. “And the worst part is that I honestly don’t remember when it started. If I was going to feel this competitive nonsense, it should have been with you. We’re the driven, ambitious ones. Or at least you were until you turned all mellow and had this beautiful baby. She’s the one and only thing good to come out of your relationship with Paul the slimebag. Now you’ve fallen madly in love with Wade, and as much as it pains me to see, now you’re just plain sappy.”
“Hey, I have a thriving art gallery with a dozen temperamental artists working on-site. I’m trying to turn that into a tourist destination,” Gabi protested. “I haven’t exactly slacked off. I just redirected my goals.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Emily said. “You’re missing my point. I can’t figure out why I’ve always had this thing with Samantha, but I honestly do want to put it behind us. It’s past time. I don’t want any of those old lingering feelings to spoil what should be the happiest time of my life.”
“Amen to that, and asking her to be your maid of honor was a really sweet gesture,” Gabi said. “I know how much she appreciated it.”
“It doesn’t exactly make up for the way I’ve treated her over the years, as if her sole role in life was to annoy me.” She tickled Daniella, then grinned as the baby squirmed. “Lordy, but she’s cute. I think I want one.”
Gabi laughed. “I have a hunch Boone will be more than willing to cooperate, but you might want to get this wedding behind you first.”
“First, Boone and I have to be in the same place at the same time if we’re going to make a baby,” Emily grumbled. “He’s checking in on all his restaurants on his way here from Los Angeles.”
“So you’ll be apart how long? A whole twenty-four hours?” Gabi teased.
“Two days actually,” Emily replied with a dramatic sigh.
Gabi laughed. “You are pathetic. You were apart for years before you reconciled. Even after you got back together, your work kept you in different cities for quite a while.”
“And now I’m spoiled,” Emily conceded. “With Boone in Los Angeles with me while I work on those safe houses for abused women and families, I’ve discovered just how amazing living together can be. I had no idea I’d adapt so quickly to having someone in my life 24/7. Add in B.J. and instant motherhood, and it’s been the most incredible few months ever.”
“It really is wonderful to see you so ecstatically happy,” Gabi told her. “It’s great that you and B.J. formed this immediate bond. Not every stepmother is so lucky.”
“Believe me, I’ve heard the stories,” Emily said. “How about you? I can see what a contented mom you are, but what’s the scoop with you and Wade? Why hasn’t he moved in here?”
“As broad-minded as Cora Jane may be, I don’t think I want to test her limits by suggesting that my boyfriend and I live together under her roof. Wade and I are committed to working things out. That’s enough for now.”
“You’re really happy?” Emily asked, studying her worriedly. “Staying here in Sand Castle Bay is what you want? And the gallery’s enough for you?”
“I have more than a job here, Em. I have family and a wonderful man and that little munchkin you’re holding. My life is full. I don’t need a ring on my finger just yet. I certainly don’t need to go back to the stressful, demanding life I was leading in Raleigh. Besides, I think Dad would stroke out if I hit him with another wedding bill right now. You haven’t been here when Grandmother’s handed over the invoices for yours. Poor Dad’s just grasping the reality that weddings don’t come cheap, especially with a daughter who has very expensive taste.”
“Hey, I’m not the one who insisted on inviting half the state of North Carolina. You can thank Dad and Grandmother for that. Boone and I would have been content with family and a few friends.”
“So you say now,” Gabi said, “but I never heard you putting up much of a fuss as the guest list grew and grew and started to include half of Los Angeles.”
“Well, it is what it is now,” Emily said blithely. “Let’s get back to Samantha. Any idea what’s going on with her? She didn’t sound all that happy when we spoke just now. Is her career faltering again?”
Gabi winced. “I’m ashamed to say I haven’t given it much thought. I’ve been a little distracted lately.”
“Understandable,” Emily said. “She hasn’t asked for your PR help, has she?”
“No, but she wouldn’t. I had to badger her into letting me help a few months ago. It seemed to be effective, so I guess I just assumed that things kept on snowballing. In a good way, that is. That’s how it is sometimes, one job leads to another, but I shouldn’t have taken that for granted. I should have asked,” she said, feeling guilty.
“Why? Not everything is up to you to fix,” Emily said, an oddly defensive note in her voice. “If Samantha wanted help, she could have said something. That’s her way, though. She just suffers in silence, then resents it when nobody jumps in to save the day.”
Gabi regarded her younger sister with dismay. “That’s not true, Emily. Samantha’s not like that. Why would you even say something so cruel?”
Emily looked taken aback by Gabi’s vehemence, then buried her face in her hands. “Because I’m mean and spiteful,” she said in a small voice, then lifted her gaze to meet Gabi’s. “What is the matter with me? I always see the worst in her, even when she’s done nothing wrong.”
“It’s times like this when I really wish Mom were still around,” Gabi said softly.
Emily blinked back instant tears at the unexpected reference to their mother, who’d died several years ago. “What does Mom have to do with this?”
“Maybe she would understand why you have this attitude toward our big sister. Dad certainly wouldn’t have any idea. He was oblivious to everything going on at home when we were growing up. I doubt Grandmother was with us enough in the early years before Mom died to know the root of the problems between the two of you.”
Emily sighed. “And it’s increasingly obvious that it isn’t something I can just wish away. These careless, hurtful words just pop out of my mouth sometimes, and I have no idea why.”
“Then dig deeper and figure it out,” Gabi advised. “You and Samantha both mean the world to me, and I don’t want to be caught in the middle. I want us to be sisters, in every positive, loving sense of the word, okay? In fact, in my dream scenario, you and Boone eventually settle back here and Samantha marries a local, too, and we all live blocks apart so our kids can grow up together.”
Emily nodded, her eyes still misty. “I want that, too,” she insisted. “Well, maybe not moving back here full-time, but the rest. I will work this out, Gabi. I promise. Maybe once she’s here, Samantha and I can sit down and hash this out. Who knows? Maybe she stole my favorite doll when I was two and I’ve blocked it from my memory.”
Gabi smiled at the idea of something so innocuous causing a rivalry that had lasted for years. And Emily’s earlier accusations about her sister harboring simmering resentments seemed to speak of something much more complicated.
“Just work it out, sweetie. Whatever it takes.”
Emily settled Daniella back in Gabi’s arms and gave her niece a last pat, then pressed a kiss to Gabi’s cheek. “Done,” she promised.
Gabi watched her sister leave and wondered if it could be that simple.
* * *
Ethan Cole had just seen his final patient of the day, a tourist who’d managed to slice open her foot on a rusty nail on one of the stray boards still