How to Knit a Wild Bikini (25 page)

Three weeks later

Nikki sat shoulder-to-shoulder with Cassandra at Malibu & Ewe, in expectation of another blowout crowd. After the public resolution of her romance with Jay during Knitters’ Night, Tuesday evenings in the shop were more popular than ever. It didn’t seem possible that they’d find a way to top that spectacle, though.

She frowned down at the yarn and needles in her lap. “Are you sure about this? Do you really think I’m ready?”

Cassandra nudged her good knee with her own. “More important, do
you
think you’re ready?”

“Well, it’s not a boyfriend sweater. And for a fiancé, everyone says the curse doesn’t apply.”

“You should probably take off your ring anyway, in case it gets caught in the yarn. I’ll sacrifice and wear the big rock for you to night.”

“Um, no.” Nikki laughed and looked down at her left finger. It
was
kind of a big rock, but Jay had picked it because he said he wanted to weigh her down in case she tried running from him again.

That so wasn’t going to happen.

She’d started a new trend and given him an engagement ring, too. No sense in putting off reinforcing that “taken” status, was there? Without hesitation, he’d agreed that what was good for the goose was good for the gander.

God, she loved the man.

“You’re going all teary again,” Cassandra warned. “Do I have to break out the Kleenex box?”

“No—”

But she was already pressing something into her hand. It was white and soft, and threaded with a thin, pink satin ribbon. “A garter!” Nikki said, recognizing the lacy band. “You knit a garter.”

“It’s never too early to start on the traditions.”

Delighted with the pretty thing, Nikki impulsively leaned over and kissed the other woman’s cheek. The tears were in Cassandra’s eyes now.

The bells on the door rang out. They both quickly looked over, maybe equally eager to keep these new emotions in check. The long-legged stranger walking into the shop provided quite the distraction.

She wore expensive clothes. Nikki didn’t recognize designers, but she did recognize wealth, and this woman was dressed like authentic big bucks. Her pants outfit wasn’t the usual eclectic, casual Malibu chic, but something more classic. The woman herself was a classic. It was hard to determine her age, not with her caramel-colored hair sleekly pulled back at her nape to reveal a pair of diamond earrings that were tasteful but glittered as expensively as the rest of her.

She hesitated a few feet into the shop, then came a bit closer to Nikki and Cassandra. Close enough to reveal the color of her eyes. Blue and green.

Beside her, Cassandra stiffened. Then she popped from the couch cushions like a jack-in-the-box. “Hello, hello,” she said. “Welcome. I’m Cassandra Riley, the owner of Malibu & Ewe.”

“Hello.” The blue and green–eyed woman gave a small smile and then her gaze shifted past Cassandra to Nikki.

Cassandra noticed the direction of her gaze. She half-turned. “And this is Nikki, Nikki Carmichael, my—” Her voice broke, and her face flushed.

“Her sister,” Nikki finished for Cassandra. She smiled for both the women, but her gaze was fixed on the blue and green eyes that she usually only saw in her mirror. “We’re sisters.”