Switched, Bothered and Bewildered (32 page)

Carly loved her arts high school and planned to stay in the city for college after she graduated.

It was pretty sweet that their first official social event as a married couple had been the remarriage

of Jackson's parents. It was strange, but Jana Lee felt like Carly had contributed to that reuniting somehow.

Jillian noticed her sister off in the clouds. "What are you thinking about?" she asked. Knowing her sister, it was something business related. "Don't forget what I taught you. Set it all aside when you take vacations. And these vacations are mandatory from now on."

"Sister Jilly I am the ultimate balanced woman. I have a yoga class every evening to work the kinks out. I swear I wasn't thinking about work."

"Oh, so now that you're the thin one, you can rub it in?"

"I told you that extra twenty-five pounds would be murder to take off."

"It's all Dean's fault. He cooks too well and too often."

"Plus he got you pregnant. I was thinking about you with the baby stroller, and the giant pile of diapers, and having a hard time keeping a straight face, really. Who would have figured."

"Oh, just because you've got your big design job and wear real clothes now doesn't make you such a hot shot. I've been there."

"I invented casual Fridays at Pitman, you know. Even Ollie has been known to put on a well-

tailored retro forties shirt. Why didn't you listen to him long ago? That man knows his stuff." Jana Lee put her finger where Ben could grab it.

"I was an idiot, or so my therapist tells me," Jillian said.

"Dean made you see a therapist?"

"Dean
is
my therapist. He's cheap, and his best advice is to work in the garden, play music and sleep as much as possible. Particularly when baby Benny is napping. He spoils me."

"Jackson too, he never lets me go to work on weekends, and we're out of there
by five,
can you believe it? He says life is too short. The town house looks so good now you wouldn't believe it. Oliver helped me pick out furniture and fabrics, and his mother helped me turn it into less of a bachelor pad. She's a good woman."

"It's so cool for Carly to have a family like that." Jillian got all choked up. "We wasted too many years, Jana."

"Eh, we were just lost, and now we're found. Now if Dean could just teach Jackson to cook, we'd be all set," Jana Lee said.

"You may get your wish!" Jillian pointed, and they giggled together watching Dean instruct Jackson on the fine art of corn on the cob.

"I guess we're happy little princesses now," Jillian said.

"I guess we are," Jana Lee agreed, and she

leaned over to give her sister a kiss on the cheek. Benjamin grabbed a handful of her hair and held on for dear life. Their laughter filled the salt sea air of Seabridge Bay with happiness.