Ember In The Heart

I’m glad he saw that in Jade. It was the truth. She had patience and an unending well of forgiveness and compassion. I continually told myself to be more like my big sister. Unfortunately, I didn’t always succeed.

I glowered at Foster as he chatted with Jade.

Feeling eyes on me, I yanked my gaze from the rude man and found Colt smirking at me. Georgie was now at his side, holding his hand, quietly watching the moving team in the background.

My suspicious gaze on my soon-to-be brother-in-law, I wondered what he was playing at not telling us about Foster buying the house next door? He’d been witness to the engagement party incident so it was just common courtesy to give me a heads up!

Bristling, I crossed my arms over my chest and intensified my displeased glare. Colt just grinned, flashing that boyish smile Jade fell for. To be fair, I couldn’t imagine Colt’s intention was to be cruel or devious. He’d proven himself to be kind and generous. In fact, he was the perfect match for my sister.

I wondered how he and Foster became business partners and best friends.

Never mind the age difference—Foster was only twenty-five—they seemed to have completely different personalities. Where Colt was inclined to smile and laugh, Foster grunted and glared.

My cheeks flushed as I remembered the engagement party and our first meeting.

* * *

“Are you nervous?” I asked Jade.

“A little. Colt invited business people I haven’t met before.”

“Well at least you don’t have to worry about impressing the in-laws,” I cracked, taking a sip of champagne.

Jade’s lips parted in shock. “Not funny.”

I winced. Colt’s parents died in a car crash when he was nineteen years old. It was one of the things he and Jade bonded over considering our parents had died on a hiking trip when Jade was twenty-three and I was twenty-one. “I’m sorry. I should know better. Maybe I’m nervous. I’m sorry.”

My sister patted my arm. “It’s fine. And why are you nervous?”

I gestured to the decorated function suite Colt had hired at a five-star hotel. The guests were scheduled to arrive in five minutes. “Look how fancy.”

“You don’t like it?”

“It’s beautiful,” I assured her.

While our parents left us a big old house, our inheritance was really just enough to pay the cost of keeping it. My dad inherited the house from his father and folks thought we had more money than we did. My parents were never the fancy types. Five-star hotels and material “stuff” wasn’t their thing. Colt, however, was determined to give Jade the best of everything and he could afford to considering he ran an extremely lucrative real estate company with Foster Darwin called Baron & Darwin

The engagement party, much like the upcoming rehearsal dinner and wedding, was organized by a professional planner. She’d taken Jade’s favorite colors (pale metallics like champagne, silver, and rose golds) and incorporated those into her design. The overall effect was understated elegance. It suited Jade. I told her so.

My sister relaxed. A little. I wrapped my arm around her slender waist. “Hey, you have nothing to be nervous about. You are sweet, smart and beautiful inside and out. Pure class from top to toe.” It was true. Her blond hair was styled up off her neck, diamond earrings Colt bought her for her thirty-eighth birthday sparkled in her ears, and she wore a pleated silver evening dress that contoured her slim figure. It was sleeveless with a fairly modest v -neck and a slightly less modest slit in the skirt. The dress shimmered under the chandeliers making my sister look like a human star.

“Thank you.” She studied my face with those earnest blue eyes of hers. Honestly, it wasn’t any wonder folks asked us if we were really sisters. Except for the shape of our noses and mouths, we didn’t look a thing alike. “Now why are you so nervous?”

“I was kidding. I’m not nervous,” I assured her. I was comfortable enough in my own skin to not care what people thought of me but I wasn’t sure what kind of crowd Colt’s social circle was. Serious business types didn’t really have a lot in common with a thirty-six-year old single massage therapist who ran a spa and a new age store out of the same building.

Watching Colt chat with our younger sisters, Moon (a thirty-three year-old lawyer who lived with her wife, Linzi, and their adopted daughter, Jilly, in the city), Celeste (thirty years old, twice divorced, lived at home with me and Jade, and was a nail technician at my spa) and Luna (twenty-eight, divorced, re-married and now a stay at home mom) across the room, part of me hoped they behaved themselves. Moon would behave herself because secretly she and Linzi would be dying for the party to end so they could go home to Jilly. But Celeste and Luna were wildcards. Get enough champagne in them and there was no telling what they’d get up to.