First Time in Forever (Puffin Island 1)
What did she know about long-term, functioning relationships?
“Do you want to give up your business?”
“No. I love what I’m doing and it’s going well. A new store in Brooklyn has just agreed to stock my jewelry, and a gallery in London is hosting an exhibition for my new collection Ocean Blue, so I’m crazy busy getting ready for that.”
“You have an exhibition in London? Skylar, that’s wonderful!” Emily reached across and hugged her friend. “I’m so proud of you. Wow. Richard must be proud, too. And your parents? Surely now they can see this is right for you.”
Skylar took another gulp of wine. “My choice of career is something my parents don’t mention. And Richard doesn’t want me to go to London.”
“He doesn’t—” Emily was thrown. “But this is huge. Why wouldn’t he want you to go? He should be so proud of you.”
“The timing is bad. If he wins in November, he’ll want me by his side for all the Christmas functions.” Skylar put her glass down, her eyes miserable. “And I hate the way things are right now, Em. I bump into my parents and it’s as if we’re strangers. The only thing I’ve ever done right in their eyes is date Richard Everson. They want me to go home to Long Island for the holidays.”
“You said you weren’t putting yourself through that again.”
“I know what I said. They want me to bring Richard. And he wants to go, of course, because he needs my father’s support. So I’m facing a miserable Christmas with my parents, being held up as an example of a daughter who wasted her life. My younger brother passed the bar exam by the way, so I’m now officially the only non-lawyer in the family.” The smile stayed on her face, but her voice was thickened. “Whatever happened to the fairy-tale Christmas we used to dream about, Em? What happened to ice-skating, roasting chestnuts and family fun? Christmas in my house is about as much fun as a day in the Supreme Court.”
“You can’t give up your exhibition, Sky. They should be excited for you! They should— On second thought, don’t get me started on that one.” Emily flopped back against the sofa. “Can you believe this? On the outside you have the perfect family, but you’re no better off than I am.”
“I know. My friendship with you and Brit has been stronger than anything I’ve had with my family.” Sky stared down into her glass. “The other reason I don’t want to go home for the holidays is that I’m afraid Richard is going to make some dramatic gesture.”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know. He’s hinting at marriage again. He thinks it will help his image.”
Emily almost spilled her wine. “He wants to marry you because he thinks it will garner him public approval? What about what you want? And, more to the point, what about love?”
“I asked that exact same question.”
“And?”
Skylar took a mouthful of wine. “He told me not to be ridiculous. Said that of course he loves me. That goes without saying.”
“Love should never go without saying.” Emily felt a flicker of unease. “You did tell him how you feel about marriage?”
“Of course. I’ve always been honest about it. He knows it isn’t what I want. For me a relationship should be held together by strong emotions, not a piece of paper.” Some of the sparkle in her eyes dimmed. “Do you think I’m too romantic?”
“For believing in love? No, but that isn’t what matters. What matters is finding a man who understands and respects your views, whatever they are.” And she was fairly sure Richard wasn’t that person. Emily found his charm superficial and manipulative rather than genuine. She would never have put him with someone as creative and sensitive as Sky. It was like sending an armored tank to catch a butterfly. “Relationships are hard. Finding someone who wants the same things as you is rare. Finding someone who understands you, even rarer.”
“Are you about to tell me you had that with Neil? Because I won’t believe you.”
What had she had with Neil? She wasn’t sure she could put a name to it. “It was an easy relationship.”
“Is easy another word for boring?”
“Maybe. It was safe. I was with him for three years and not once did I ever feel confused about my feelings.” She’d known Ryan two days, and her feelings had been all over the place.
“It was your lucky day when he dumped you. The only thing I don’t understand is why you didn’t dump him first. You deserve so much better. All you need to do now is throw out everything black in your wardrobe.”
“I like black.”
“It makes you fade into the background.”
“That’s exactly where I want my body to be. In the background. You have no idea how many men have had conversations with my chest.”
“And I bet you managed to get them to look into your eyes two seconds after you opened your mouth. You’re bright and witty, Emily. Your body is your body. It’s the only one you have, and you shouldn’t feel you need to hide it.”
“You don’t understand. Even Neil agreed that my breasts, if not exactly my worst feature, were unfortunate.”