She is My Sister (4 page)

“
Noooooo
!
 
Oh, no, Holly!
 
I am
so
proud of you!
 
Look how you started
a business and turned it into a success!
 
Look at how you started eating healthier and lost all that weight!
 
I felt as though you hated me because I
don’t have to struggle with people.
 
Everything seems to come to me so easily… But, you are my sister, and
I could never be embarrassed by you
.
 
I love you.”

“I love you, too, Stacy.
 
I love that you created Morgan to see to
it that I was safe online; and to give me so much confidence in
myself and my creativity
.
 
You are my sister, and I love you.”
 
Holly got to her feet and gave her
sister a big hug.

Edmund had tears in his eyes as the two women hugged and
made things right between them.
 
He
was proud of them both, and he knew that the spanking he gave Stacy that
evening would be accompanied with a scolding about talking things out instead
of allowing them to fester.

Chapter Three:
 
Holly

“Hello.”

OMG,
the man was handsome!
 
Holly couldn’t help staring into his blue
eyes fringed with black eyelashes.
 
She’d never seen a man who could hold a candle to this one who was
looking at her quizzically.
 
“I’m so
sorry.
 
I was woolgathering.
 
What can I do to help you?”

“My name is Quince Andrews, and I am desperate.
 
I am in charge of a dinner auction my
workplace is sponsoring for charity, and I’ve been working so hard on getting
items to auction off that I forgot to order centerpieces for the tables.
 
Our guests have paid an outrageous
amount for their dinner, knowing the profits will go to charity, but this event
is supposed to be classy.
 
I’ve
ordered a fancy dinner that will be served, but I forgot to order flowers to
make the tables look spectacular.
 
Is there any way you can possibly help me?” he asked, his blue eyes
imploring her to come to his aide.

“When is the banquet?” Holly asked.

“Tonight,” he admitted, his face red as could be.
 
“I know it is a great imposition, but I
would be eternally grateful.”

Holly looked at him, feeling dazed.
 
“How many table arrangements do you
need?”

“There are thirty tables for the guests to sit at and eat
their dinner, and the auction will take place after the meal.
 
Some of the items will be located on the
stage so they can be seen, and the smaller things, like gift certificates and
store shopping cards, will be listed on a handout.
 
I think we’ll need flowers in front of
the podium on the stage, and maybe a few others throughout the room for
decorating purposes.”

“As long as I can use the stock I have on hand, I can do
it.
 
If you want certain flowers, I
wouldn’t be able to pull it off with such short notice.”

“You can use whatever flowers you want to use.
 
Believe me, I appreciate this more than
you can possibly know.
 
You are
literally saving my job.
 
My boss
expects the company to put a best foot forward, and forgetting even one detail
could mean my job.
 
This dinner and
auction are for charity, but he warned me to make sure these people get their
money’s worth… that the dinner better be worth the outrageous sum we’re asking.
 
You are a lifesaver…?
 
I don’t know your name?” he asked with a
big smile for the flustered Holly.

“Holly Hart,” she answered.

“I think I love you, Holly Hart.”
 
Her eyes grew huge, and he smiled
again.
 
“You aren’t wearing a
ring…?
 
Is it safe to assume you are
single and unattached?”

“I’m single,” she whispered.

“Good.
 
I’ll see
you later, and I would love it if you would be my guest tonight…?”

“
Noooo
.
 
You don’t have to do that!” She quickly
refused the offer.

“Please, Holly.
 
Say you will join me?
 
I
reserved a seat right beside me, but I haven’t wanted to invite anyone until
now.
 
You are so beautiful.”
 
If it wasn’t for the fact his voice was
sincere, and the expression in his eyes seemed to verify what his words were
saying, she would have thought he was spoofing her.
 
“Please?”

“I’ll think about it this afternoon while I am making your
arrangements,” she said.

“That’s better than an outright no.
 
I promise I have good table manners,
thanks to my Grandma Andrews.
 
She
raised me,” he said.
 
“I have a
million things I need to oversee, Holly.
 
Could I have your telephone number so I can call you panicking later
on?”

Holly giggled, and handed him a business card.
 
It only had the shop’s number and the
cell phone she used for business.
 
Holly wasn’t about to give out her private numbers until she knew a
person very well.
 
Once Quince left
her shop, Holly got on the telephone and called Sara.
 
“I know it is your day off, but this
really gorgeous man came into the shop and he was desperate.
 
I promised to do thirty arrangements for
table centerpieces, a larger arrangement for in front of a podium, and several
other arrangements for around the room wherever they need to go.”

“He must have been drop-dead gorgeous,” Sara answered,
grinning.
 
She wasn’t used to
hearing Holly getting that flustered over a guy.

“He asked me to join him at the dinner tonight,” she
admitted to her older sister.

“I have the perfect dress you can wear.
 
It’s brand new, and so are the shoes I
bought to go with it.
 
You should
go, Holly.”

“I told him I would think about it.
 
He’s gorgeous, Sara!” Holly insisted.

“You called to ask me to come in and wait on customers so
you could focus on the arrangements.”

“Yes, I did.”
 
She paused and waited on Sara to reply, but she didn’t.
 
“Well?” she asked.

“You haven’t asked yet,”
Sara
said,
positive she was annoying Holly, which was fun to do at times.

“Sara, please, will you come in and help me?” Holly didn’t
waste time arguing with her.
 
“Please?”

“I’m on my way, sis.
 
And I’m bringing the dress and shoes.”
 
By the time she arrived at the flower
shop, Sara was carrying a garment bag, along with a tote bag.
 
“I added sexy underwear, just in case
you get lucky, and jewelry, and some wonderfully expensive perfume.
 
This gorgeous guy won’t know what hit
him.”
 
She didn’t admit that every
bit of the items
were
gifts from their older sisters
who could afford such things.

“I don’t know, Sara.”

“You have to stop seeing the old you in the mirror,” Sara
insisted.
 
“Haven’t you heard Jenna
and Stacy tell you how beautiful you are?
 
You really
are
beautiful, and
it is time you behaved like it.
 
Make us proud, Holly.
 
Of us
unattached sisters, you are the only one with a date for Saturday night!”

Holly laughed, and then immersed herself in making
arrangements to be proud of.
 
She
had extra flowers on hand because a wedding scheduled for this weekend had to
be canceled at the last minute due to the fact the bride was in a car accident
a couple days earlier.
 
She was
going to survive, but she would be on crutches for quite a while, and she swore
she was not going to walk down the aisle on crutches. It wasn’t the first time
that something like this had happened, and Holly was pleased that the flowers
could be used for something charitable.
 
As she worked, she thought of Quince Andrews, and tried to imagine what
it would be like to have a man like him interested in her.
 
She couldn’t believe he’d actually asked
her to attend the function as his guest; she knew it was because he was
grateful to her for agreeing to do the flower arrangements, but it would be fun
to pretend for just one evening that she was like her two older sisters, and
pretty enough to attract a really handsome man.

She heard the telephone, and a few seconds later Sara stuck
her head through the door separating the front from the workroom and said, “It’s
for you, Holly.
 
It’s gorgeous man!”

Holly prayed that Quince didn’t hear Sara; she grabbed the
telephone and said, “Hello.”

“Hi, Holly.
 
How
are you coming with the table decorations?”
 
Even his voice was sexy!

“I’ll have them finished in plenty of time to get them there
before anyone arrives, Quince.”

“Good.
 
How are
you
holding up?
 
I haven’t given you too much stress,
have I?”
 
He sounded as though he
really cared.

“I’m doing fine.
 
My sister Sara came in to cover the front for me, and the arrangements
will be beautiful, I promise.”

“I’m sure they will.
 
Are you going to make me a happy man and be my date for the evening?” he
asked hopefully.

“Are you truly sure you want me to come as a guest?” she
asked in disbelief.

“I wouldn’t have invited you if I didn’t want you to come,
Holly.
 
Please say you will.”

“Okay, I will.
 
It sounds like fun,” she admitted.
 

And it
was.
 
What was especially fun was running into
her sister Stacy, who was covering the charity event for the television
station.
 
Stacy was thrilled to see
Holly there, and she managed to whisper that Quince was gorgeous after Holly
introduced him.
 
Quince’s boss
complimented him on a job well done, and he was cordial to Holly, especially
when Quince informed him that Holly made all of the floral centerpieces for the
event.
 
Holly enjoyed being with
Quince, too, but when the evening came to an end, Holly was sure she would
never hear from Quince again.
 
He
would see to it that she was paid for the arrangements, and that would be that,
but it was a fun evening.

The last thing she expected was for Quince to call her
Monday morning as soon as the flower shop opened.
 
“I tried to call you yesterday, but your
home number wasn’t on your card, and I have no idea where you live.”

“Oh, well… Did you need something?” she asked.

“I enjoyed our evening together and I wanted to make sure
you did, too…?” he said.
 

“Yes, it was nice.”

“Will you go out with me tonight?” He stunned her by asking
her out again!

“What for?” she asked.

“Because I like you and I had a lot of fun spending time
with you Saturday evening.
 
I
thought you had fun, too?”

“I did,” she agreed, still surprised that he would ask her
out again!

“So, what is the problem?
 
Do you have another date?”
 
She heard the disappointment in his
voice, but could hardly believe it was because he actually wanted to spend time
with her.
 
“Holly, if there is
someone else in your life then you need to speak up and tell me so.
 
This is a time for honesty,” Quince
insisted.
 
“I care about you, and I
don’t want to get hurt.”

“Okay.
 
I
honestly can’t believe that a guy like you is interested in
me
.
 
I’m not used to someone wanting to be with me, other than my sisters, of
course.”

“What kind of nonsense is this?
 
Don’t you realize how beautiful and
smart you are?
 
That
you have a wonderful personality?
 
Holly, I had the best time of my life with you Saturday evening.
 
You are the one who made me feel
special.
 
I saw the looks of envy
that my male coworkers gave me.
 
And, the single ladies were jealous of you.”

“Jealous of
me
?
 
Are you trying to make me laugh?”
 
Holly was perfectly serious.
 
“Quince, you could have any woman you
want; why would you pick
me
?
 
I’m nobody special.”