Practice Makes Perfect (15 page)

“He’s a bully.” Paige said this with such frustration Nora had to bite back a smile.

“Sweetie, no timid simp could handle you.” She let out the smile and repeated, “He’d be good for you.”

“I don’t know.”

“Think about it.” Standing, Nora held out her hand. “Now, come on inside. I’ll make you some tea. It always soothed you.”

“It’s too warm for tea.”

“Then we’ll put ice in it.” Nora peered down at her. “Come on, let me baby you tonight.”

Paige stared at Nora’s hand, then placed hers in it. “All right. For a little while.”

o0o

THE ROOM WAS DIM, lit only by a small night-light Jade must have brought with her. In its shadows, Paige could see her sister and her niece, cuddled under the bed covers. Jewel was safely tucked in the middle of the bed and had turned to her side, her face nestled against her mother’s breast. Paige wondered if Jade had breast-fed her child. God, she’d missed so much of their lives.

Jade slept as she always did, as Paige always did, arms over her head. In the worst of times, when they had been terrified and shared the same bed, she and Jade had clasped hands across the top of the pillow and fallen asleep that way.

Paige missed her sister so much her whole body shook with it.

Oh hell, it was 3 a.m. Leaning over, she kissed Jewel’s head and brushed her lips over Jade’s hair.

She’d just started toward the door when she heard, “Paige?”

Pivoting, she saw that her sister had awakened. Bracing herself on her elbows, her hair a mass of curls around her face, she looked at Paige through heavy-lidded eyes. “I heard you go out. Is everything all right?”

“Yes.” Paige’s whisper sounded like a frog’s croak. “I’m sorry I woke you.” She gave Jade a weak smile. “Go back to sleep, kiddo.”

Jade smiled at the old nickname. “Come sit a minute.”

“We’ll wake Jewel.”

“No. She sleeps like Rip van Winkle.”

Unable to resist, Paige returned to the bed and sat down on the empty side. She soothed back a lock of hair that had escaped from Jewel’s braid. “It means she’s content. Untroubled.”

“That’s good.” Jade studied Paige’s face. “You’re troubled.”

What an understatement. Everything was changing so fast in Paige’s carefully ordered world. Working at the Center. Ian. And now these revelations from Jade. Paige didn’t know what to do with all the turmoil.

“I’m sorry if I upset you.” Jade lay back down and watched her.

“No, you were right to say what you did.” She scanned the professionally decorated room. The peach walls, white wicker bed and matching dressers seemed to come alive with her sister’s presence. Paige hadn’t realized how cold everything in her house was. “A lot’s been going on in my life lately.” The words were wrenched from her.

Propping her head on her elbow, Jade said, “I monopolized the conversation tonight. Tell me about you.”

Paige’s immediate response was to clam up. She never shared anything with other women, except Nora.

But this was her sister.

And Paige needed to talk.

So she spilled the whole story. How Ian Chandler had crashed into her world and tricked her into signing on at the Elsa Moore Center; what it was like working with girls as troubled as she and Jade had been; Ian’s dogged insistence on some kind of personal relationship. She told Jade about the uncannily humanlike Scalpel. She left nothing out, not even the mind-blowing kiss last night.

Jade giggled and rolled her eyes and gave dry comments. She made Paige feel less tense. She used to always do that, something Paige had forgotten.

As the sun started to come up, Paige looked at her sister’s face, then at her niece, and suddenly she had her own dawning. There was no way she could let Jade go away again.

“I gotta get some sleep before Jewel wakes up, sis.” Jade lay back on the pillows.

“Don’t go.”

Jade’s eyes opened. “What?”

“Don’t leave here. Please. Stay with me until the wedding. I promise, I won’t hurt Jewel. Or you. I’m so tired of missing you.”

A look of old wisdom crossed Jade’s face. “I think you miss yourself.”

“What do you mean?”

“I think Ian Chandler’s ferreting out the old Paige.”

“The old Paige is dead, Jade. I killed her. Intentionally.”

Sliding down into the bed, Jade said “I don’t think so.” She closed her eyes. “Paige?”

“Uh-huh?”

“Get under the covers.”

“What?”

“Sleep with us.”

And for the first time since...Paige couldn’t remember when, tears welled in her eyes. Standing, she shed her shorts, and leaving on panties and T-shirt, she crept under the covers. As she laid her head on the pillow, her arms automatically went over her head.

In a moment she felt Jade’s hand cover hers. Paige clasped it and, feeling safe, closed her eyes and slept.

SITTING ON THE DECK at Hyde Point Country Club on Sunday morning, Ian looked out over the panoramic view and scowled.

“It’s a lovely setting, Ian.” Lynne Chandler’s tone was dry. “You’re staring at it as if the twelfth plague of Egypt were marching down the green.”

“I’m not good company today,” he muttered, shooting a glare at his brother. “I told you I wanted to cancel.” In truth, Ian had been a bear for three days, snapping at everybody except Scalpel, who’d come home from the hospital and turned into the world’s worst patient. The dog whimpered and whined and limped around, begging for sympathy.

What a nightmare the whole incident had been. And Paige had been his anchor during it...

He’s more than a dog to you...Your parents gave him to you...It’s all right to feel bad...It’s not your fault...

Not that she’d cared enough to call or come over to see for herself how Scalpel had fared. Or how Ian was feeling.
Soon, Ian, I promise
. Well, she hadn’t kept her goddamned promise. And he was good and royally pissed off.

“Now he looks mad,” Derek said, sipping his coffee. “I’ll tromp him on the tees after we eat.” Ian had forgotten about the brunch date and golf game the three of them planned for today until Derek had shown up at his condo earlier.

“In your dreams,” Ian said.

“Okay, Tiger, we’ll see.”

Lynne studied Ian. “It’s a woman, isn’t it?”

“No. Yes.” The brothers spoke simultaneously, but only Derek spoke the truth.

“The one who babied him through Scalpel’s accident,” Derek teased.

Sometimes Ian wished he knew how to keep his mouth shut. He’d told Derek all about Paige’s support because Ian had thought the night he’d spent with her was the beginning of something. But she hadn’t called since Thursday, and she’d taken three days off work to be with Jade. He’d tried her at home and on her cell several times, but the answering machine kept picking up. The last time, he hadn’t been at all understanding.

“Where the hell are you, Paige? And why aren’t you returning my calls?”
Then he relented.
“Come on, baby, I’m dying here.”

“Do you want to talk about her, dear?” Lynne asked.

“No. Let’s talk about RTK.” He knew discussion of his birth mother’s pet project, the Right to Know, would distract her. She made her living at interior design, but helping people find their biological parents or children was her real love.

“We’re closing in on our one thousandth match,” Lynne said proudly.

“We should do something special to celebrate when we reach that number.” Derek took a pad out of his pocket and began to make notes. “When is the
Herald’s
article on us coming out?” he asked.

“Anytime now,” Lynne told them. “I didn’t check today’s paper. It might be in there.” Her eyes, the same gay as Ian’s, and set off by the slate-blue dress she wore, smiled at the thought.

She reached out and clasped Derek’s arm. “Too bad Abby couldn’t be interviewed for it.”

“They don’t have phones in Timbuktu,” Derek put in easily. Derek’s birth mother was a photojournalist who traveled all over the world.

“The article will be great PR for the Center,” Lynne added. “Don’t you think, Ian?”

“Yeah, I...” Ian’s voice trailed off. His heart started to pound when he spotted a group stepping onto the deck. “Well, what do you know.”

First out was Paige, dressed in a sapphire-blue sundress that left her shoulders bare and had ruffles down the front. She wore low strappy sandals and her hair was pulled back in some kind of fancy braid. It showcased her long slender neck and throat. Which right about now Ian felt like wringing.

Next was a goddess. Wearing some kind of green-flowered sarong wrapped around a body with dynamite curves, the woman pranced proudly out from behind Paige on towering white sandals. This must be Jade.

With them was a child, about three, who looked just like Paige; the little girl even wore the same-color outfit and her hair in a braid down her back. For a minute the air backstopped in Ian’s lungs. Was she Paige’s child? No, of course not. Ian had had contact with Paige for four years. He’d have known if she’d had a baby. The whole idea was ludicrous, but man, they looked alike!

Paige didn’t see him. They were seated a few tables away. Jade and the child had their backs to Ian, but he was directly in Paige’s line of vision.

“That’s her, isn’t it, big brother?”

“Yeah,” Ian said disgustedly. “That’s her.”

“Who’s the fox with her?”

“My guess is it’s her long-lost sister. I don’t know anything about the kid.” His temper spiked. “I’m beginning to think I don’t know anything about her.”

You can trust me, Paige. I just want to get to know you better. No ulterior motive. No demands. No pressure.

Lynne reached over and squeezed his ann. “Sending daggers her way isn’t going to help anything, Ian.”

“It’s better than stalking over there and dragging her out by that pretty braid, which is exactly what I
want
to do.”

He saw Lynne and Derek exchange surprised glances. Damn, this wasn’t Ian’s usual style. He was angry that he’d let himself react so strongly to her neglect. What was between them hadn’t gone far enough for him to feel this...bereft.

Still simmering, he sat back, crossed his legs at the ankles, sipped his coffee. And waited for her to catch sight of him. He glanced down, trying to remember what he’d put on that morning. A new striped golf shirt that some woman had complimented him on and dark shorts that fitted him well. At least he looked good.

He’d just bide his time until Paige noticed him. Despite his pique, he appreciated how the sun kissed her hair, highlighting its golden strands.

Paige had just been served coffee when she spotted him.

He glared back at her.

Her face was so expressive, when she didn’t deliberately shut down. Myriad emotions flickered across it. Joy at seeing him. A little embarrassment. And then, a flash of fear.

I’m wary...

Of?

You. Of trusting you...

She leaned over and whispered something to Jade, who turned to look over her shoulder at him and his family. Then Paige pushed back her chair and stood. Jade and the child did the same. She was wise to bring reinforcements. The three of them crossed to Ian’s table. When they reached it, Ian and Derek got to their feet.

“Hello, Ian,” Paige said, her voice hesitant.

“Paige.” His tone was cut-glass cold.

“This is my sister, Jade. And her daughter, Jewel.”

Jade held out her hand, which Ian shook. “Nice to meet you, Ian. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Jewel mimicked her mother’s gesture. Ian knelt down in front of the little girl and took hers in his. “Hi, Jewel. You look just like your Aunt Paige.”

“She’s nice.” Jewel sidled over to Paige, grasping her dress.

“Sometimes.” Ian stood. “Paige, you’ve met Lynne. Jade, Jewel, this is Lynne Chandler.” No flicker of surprise. Paige must have told Jade everything about him. Nice of her, since she couldn’t be bothered to return his calls. His anger resurfaced, and with it his chagrin at feeling so strongly about Paige’s actions.

“And you are?” Jade asked Derek.

“Derek Shane.” Ian’s conservative brother was studying Jade as if she were some rare artifact he’d just unearthed. Beautiful, but totally foreign. “I’m Ian’s brother.”

Jade smiled at him

Paige said, “Well, we don’t want to interrupt your breakfast. And Jewel’s hungry. We just got out of church and we’re going to the lake, so...” She was babbling. Good. At least she was nervous. She drew herself up. “Nice to see you again, Lynne. Derek, it was a pleasure to meet you.” Warily she turned her sky-blue eyes on Ian. “I’ll, um, call you, Ian.”

“Yeah? I’ve heard that before.”

She gave a start. In his peripheral vision, he saw Lynne roll her eyes and Derek smirk. Jade bit back a grin.

And Paige was clearly horrified at his candor.

Well, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet, baby
.

Collecting herself, she started to turn away. He grabbed her arm. “Not so fast.”

She looked up at him “Ian, please.”

Ian, please. I have to get up. I have to go to work
. She’d been under him at the time. The memory charged him

“You’ll excuse us for a minute, won’t you, Jade?” He gave his family an unapologetic glance. “I’ll be right back.”

“Ian, we’re ready to order.” This from Paige.

“No, that’s okay.” Jade picked up her daughter’s hand. “Jewel and I will go to the pond to see the ducks. Take your time, Ian,” she told him mischievously, and said her goodbyes to his family.

Ian speared Paige with a forceful look. “Let’s go down by the pro shop.”

“I...”

He started to bark at her, then caught sight of the vulnerability in her eyes. Gently he drew her to the side, away from his family “Please come with me.”

She wanted to refuse, he could tell. “All right.”

Stretching out his arm, he never unlocked his gaze from hers. After an interminable moment, she placed her hand in his. They took the stairs to the lower deck, walked out behind the pro shop and over to a bench under a tree. She sat down. He put one foot on the wooden slats, braced his arms on his thigh and stared at her.

She raised her chin. “All right, Ian, what’s this all about?”