Page 87 of Heart on Ice

“Yes.” Covering my face, I hang my head in shame.

“Hey, this is good,” Kimberly says, wrapping her arm around me.

“Don’t you think this is all too soon? It’s only been a couple of months since he left Kitty.”

“She was screwing that old guy, and by the sounds of it they were over way before the wedding,” Harper advises.

“What do I do, guys?” I ask them.

“Drink more champagne,” Harper says.

Sounds like a good idea.

“Hey,did you want to catch up with Eve and me for lunch today?” Violetta asks.

My sister never invites me to lunch. “Sure,” I answer.

“Great, meet you at The Antipodean at 1:30 p.m.,” she tells me before hanging up.

I head down to the local Australian bar around the corner from my office and see my sisters sitting in a booth, but the closer I get to it, I see that someone else is with them.

“Collette?” I ask, arriving at the table.

“Surprise.” She smiles and gets out of her seat to hug me.

“What are you doing here?” I ask her.

“I just had an interview with The Mavericks for a job in their marketing and PR department.” She grins.

“No way. How did it go?”

“I got it.” She squeals.

“We are here to celebrate,” Vi says.

“This is fantastic. Congratulations! I can’t believe you will be living in New York. Have you found somewhere to stay?” I ask her.

“I’m moving in with my brothers which should be interesting. I haven’t lived with them since I was a kid because they were both gone as teens.” She chuckles.

“Vi is going to be so excited having you close by.” Violetta and Collette are the same age and became close once Felix moved in, they have maintained that friendship ever since.

“I’m so glad she is back in a real city. We need a shopping day,” Vi says.

“Issy said I could give her a makeover so we’re in,” Eve adds.

“Is this true?” Vi asks, sounding hurt.

“Yes.”

“But I’ve been wanting to give you a makeover for ages,” Vi whines.

“She got in first,” I tell her.

“You can give me one, Vi,” Collette says. This makes my sister smile widely.

We catch up on what Collette and her family have been doing since the wedding, and how she and her mom spent the past month traveling through Italy. She’s been back home finishing up her contract at the South Dakota Devils while packing up her life. She had resigned anyway, but she didn’t want to leave her colleagues in the lurch because the owner was a dick. When the news broke about Bill and Kitty’s affair, she said the teamwas very upset, and it made everything clear why Pierre left. She told us how most of the players asked for transfers, and the only way the players wouldn’t start leaving was if Bill resigned as CEO of the team, which he did when the board unanimously voted against him and voted for Michelle to be the new CEO. Apparently, they are in court over it, but it looks like Michelle is going to be the new CEO of the South Dakota Devils. Which is wild.Hope Kitty was worth it, Bill.

Now I find myself being pulled from shop to shop by my sisters, begging me to try on things like I’m their little dress-up doll. Not everything is hideous that they put me in but most of the clothes aren’t me. I bought some things they each love me in, even if I don’t, to make them happy and so they will never put me through this again.

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