“I’ll think about it. Now let me change.”
Emily stepped back and let Anna close the curtain. Before Anna took off the dress, she did one last three-sixty. It really was cute, in a boho-sexy sort of way.
“Do you really think Jake has some good prospects in mind for you?”
“Who knows? We just talked about this a couple of days ago.”
She slipped off the dress and put it with a cute red dress with a bow that tied in front. As she pulled on her jeans and plain white T-shirt, Emily said, “You don’t sound very enthusiastic. Are you sure you want to do this?”
“The ball is already rolling. It’s just until the wedding. I’ll be surprised if it’s even five dates. We’ll see what happens.”
When Anna opened the curtain, she noticed a certain look on her sister’s face.
“What?” Anna asked and gathered the clothes, keeping the red and blue dresses separate from the things she didn’t want.
“I have to be honest,” Emily said. “I always thought you and Jake would end up together.”
Her stomach clenched in a way that bothered her more than her sister’s words.
“Emily, why would you say that? Jake and I are friends. Good friends. Nothing more.”
“Because for better or worse, you two have always stuck together. I mean, I grew up with him, too, but you don’t see him hanging out with me. The two of you have always had a really strong bond. Think about it. You and Jake outlasted your marriage. Why the heck are you fixing him up with someone else?”
“Emily, don’t. That’s not fair.”
Anna walked away from her sister.
“Yes, it is. Why is it not fair?”
Anna set the two dresses she wanted to buy on the counter and handed the hanging clothing she didn’t want to the sales clerk. After she paid for her purchases and they were outside the Three Sisters shop, Emily resumed the conversation.
“What’s not fair about it?”
“You know I can’t date Jake. He’s my friend. He’s always been my friend and that’s all we will ever be.”
Anna felt heat begin to rise up her neck and bloom on her cheeks.
“Then why are you blushing?” Emily asked.
Anna turned and walked to the next storefront, the hardware store, and studied the display as if she’d find the perfect pair of sandals to go with her first-date dress hidden somewhere among the tool kits, ladders and leaf blowers showcased in the window.
Of course, Emily was right behind her. Anna could see her sister’s reflection in the glass. She couldn’t look at her own as she tried to figure out exactly what was making her so emotional. It wasn’t the fact that she was fixing Jake up with someone who could potentially change his mind about marriage being the equivalent of emotional Siberia. Good grief, she was the one who came up with a plan in the first place.
Now Emily’s arm was on Anna’s shoulder.
“Hey, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. I’m just a little puzzled by your reaction. I was half teasing, but you’re upset. You want to talk about it?”
Anna ran her hand through her hair, feeling a bit perplexed herself.
“I guess it’s just the thought of the dating again. You know, starting over. I’m thirty-three years old. This is not where I thought I would be at this age. Em, I want a family. I want a husband who loves me and kids. I never thought I’d be one of those women who felt her biological clock ticking, but mine feels like a time bomb waiting to explode.”
The two sisters stood shoulder to shoulder, staring into the hardware store window.
“Well, I guess that eliminates Jake, since we know his thoughts on marriage. Even if he is the hottest guy in town, you don’t need to waste your time there.”
Anna drew in a deep breath, hoping it would be the antidote to the prickles of irritation that were beginning to feel as if they would turn into full-blown hives.
“Even if he was the marrying kind, he’s my best friend, Emily. There are some things you just don’t mess with and that’s one of them. Hal used to go on and on about how Jake and I secretly wanted each other. Once he even swore there was something going on between Jake and me. But Hal was my husband. I loved him. I loved our marriage and I never cheated. He couldn’t get it through his head that a man and a woman could be friends—that there was nothing sexual about it.”
“That’s probably because in his eyes he couldn’t look at a woman without thinking about sex,” Emily said. “You know what they say, people usually yell the loudest about the things they’re guilty of themselves.”
“So, could you just help me out please and not talk about Jake and me in those terms? He’s my friend. End of story. Okay?”
* * *
Jake had heard a lot of excuses for getting out of a date, and tonight’s ranked up there with the best. Cheryl Woodly had called him thirty minutes before he was supposed to pick her up at her place in Dallas for dinner. Her reason for begging off? Her cat, Foxy, had undergone emergency surgery that day and she wasn’t comfortable leaving it alone.
He could understand that. He knew people were as crazy about their animals as they were about their children. In some cases, people’s animals were their children.
As he turned his 1969 Mustang GTO around and headed back toward Celebration, he realized he wasn’t a bit disappointed that Cheryl Woodly had canceled. In fact, from this vantage point, getting out of the blind date seemed like a blessing in disguise. Cheryl had halfheartedly mentioned that maybe they could have a rain check, and he’d made all the right noises and said he’d call her next week to see if they could get something on the books. He wasn’t sure if she was preoccupied with her animal or if she was only being polite in suggesting they reschedule. Either way, she didn’t seem very enthusiastic. So he wished Foxy the cat well and breathed a sigh of relief.
Still, there was the matter of what to do with the two tickets he’d bought to the Celebration Summer Jazz Festival. He didn’t want them to go to waste. Five minutes later, he found himself parking his car in the street in front of Anna’s house.
She lived in a Key West–style bungalow two blocks away from downtown Celebration’s Main Street. Jake had helped Anna pick out the house after she’d moved to Celebration and her divorce was final.
The place had been a fixer-upper in need of some TLC. Anna had said it was exactly what she wanted—a project to sink her heart and soul into while she was getting used to her new life. She’d done a great job. Now the house was neat and a little quirky with its fresh island-blue and sea-green paint job. Its style reflected Anna’s unique cheerful personality and it always made Jake smile. The lawn was neatly manicured. She must’ve recently planted some impatiens in the terracotta pots that flanked the porch steps. The flowers’ vibrant pinks, fuchsias and reds added another well-planned accent to the already colorful house.
That was the thing about Anna; she put her heart and soul into her home and the place radiated the care she’d invested.
Her Beetle was in the driveway. He could see the inviting faint glow of a light through the living room window.
Good. She was home.
He was going to razz her about her matchmaking skills being a little rusty, since the first date she’d arranged had essentially stood him up. Technically, Cheryl hadn’t left him hanging. But Jake was realizing he could get some mileage out of the canceled date and he intended to use it as leverage to get Anna to go to the jazz festival with him tonight.
He’d