"Yes, I thought so," Summer answered complacently. She shoved herself reluctantly out of the chair. "I suppose I really should shower before changing for dinner. You did say you were taking us out tonight, didn't you, darling?"
"Yes, I think I did say that," Derek replied, splashing ice-cold orange juice into a glass. "Choose someplace cheap, will you? There are still ten full shopping days left of your sister's vacation."
Spring smiled, watching as Summer kissed her husband lovingly. It was quite obvious that Summer could buy out all of Marin County and Derek wouldn't care in the least. It was also perfectly evident that Summer would never do anything that would truly upset Derek. Not for the first time, Spring had to fight down a surge of envy at her sister's good fortune.
"How was your racquetball game?" Summer asked her husband, watching as he thirstily downed the orange juice and reached for a refill.
"Strenuous," Derek answered with a grimace. "But I managed to make a decent showing."
Summer laughed. "Not bad, considering your propensity to pit yourself against twenty-five-year-old jocks." She kissed him again before she left the room, her limp more pronounced than usual, testimony to the strenuous shopping spree.
"She's tired," Derek commented, taking a seat close to Spring and stretching out to rest as he finished his juice.
She, too, had watched Summer limp away. "Yes, I know. I was just feeling guilty."
"Don't. It would take a bigger person than you to stop her once she decides she wants to go shopping. And she's delighted to have you here. She misses seeing her family."
Hardly aware of speaking aloud, Spring murmured, "She's changed."
"In what way?"
Spring absently pushed her glasses up on her nose and shrugged slightly. "I don't know, exactly. Grown up, I guess. I still can't help looking at her from a big sister's viewpoint."
"How do you like the way she's turned out?"
"I like it very much," Spring replied decisively. "She's happy, she has a direction to her life now that she's returned to school and she's learned to share her feelings more."
"And yet she still knows how to play," Derek added. "That's a special part of her. One that I needed very much."
Spring cocked her head back against her chair and eyed her brother-in-law. "Summer thinks you and I are a lot alike."
Derek nodded. "Yes, I know. I suppose she's right, in some ways. We're both organized and ambitious and rather serious, on the whole."
"Not necessarily admirable qualities from Summer's point of view."
"Ah, but she loves us both," Derek reminded her.
"True. You're exactly what she needed in a husband. She probably thinks I need someone exactly like her."
"Someone like Clay McEntire?" Derek murmured with a half smile. When Spring's eyes narrowed, he explained, "She seemed to find the idea rather intriguing after you went to bed last night."
"It's ridiculous, of course."
"Of course." Derek's voice was just a bit too innocuous.
Spring shot him a suspicious look. "You wouldn't happen to agree with her, would you, Derek?"
"I make it a practice never to play matchmaker," Derek informed her solemnly, "despite what Summer and Connie refer to as my compulsive habit of offering advice. A hazard of being a business consultant, I suppose."
"Whatever, I have absolutely no interest in Clay McEntire," Spring stated categorically, even as she wondered whether she was trying to convince Derek or herself.
"I'm very sorry to hear that," said an already familiar voice from behind her. "Clay McEntire is most definitely interested in you."
Chapter Three
Spring started and jerked her head toward the doorway, finding the very person she'd just named lounging there with a look of amusement on his much-too-handsome face. She realized that her sister must have let him in. She could think of absolutely nothing to say.
Taking pity on her, Derek spoke. "What's up, Clay? Heard anything about Thelma?"