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“Good. The hot doc was back.”
Avril asked, “Yeah?”
Abby’s gaze darted between us. “He’s smart, and you know I generally don’t think that about doctors. What’s going on?”
I slipped out as I said, “I’ll leave you two alone.”
I listened to them whispering in the room. I hoped I’d be able to figure out how to prove my love. The next day, she would be at work, so I had all day to set up a perfect night.
My phone rang. On the second ring I answered. “Michael, I need my apartment decorated as Bora Bora by tomorrow night.”
“Seriously?”
I would prove I’d listened to her and that we could make the whole place feel exotic. I closed my eyes. “I know you’re moonlighting as a butler, so I’m hoping you’ll help, as no one suspects who you really are.”
“I’ll help because you and your brothers are my friends, but Bora Bora?”
I straightened my tie. “I want to impress Avril.”
“I won’t say anything if you promise to ensure that Britney has no idea who I am.”
Avril’s friend wasn’t my confidante. I simply nodded. “I have never breathed a word.”
And then we discussed details, such as black pearls, coconuts, and a heart-shaped coral reef that I wanted recreated with rose petals. I needed everything to be perfect because I’d never failed in my life, and Avril was more important than anything else.
Chapter Nineteen
Avril
* * *
Kir stood outside the hospital room. The last time I was alone with my sister, it was when she was resigned to dying. Now her cheeks had a little color. Her treatments were making her better, and it was all because of Kir. And he’d said he loved me.
No one who mattered romantically had ever said that to me, and I wasn’t sure what to do. I refused to be the girl in the song who collected hearts for fun. I wasn’t a horrible person.
I checked that the door was closed fully as Abby said, “I got a call about you when you were gone.”
I retook my seat. “Yeah?”
Her eyes were glassy, as if she was tired. “Some woman wanted to interview me and asked me how long I’d known Kir.”
My eyes widened. I hadn’t realized the press might ever contact her too. “What did you say?”
She blinked and then seemed to see right through me. “Nothing. I don’t talk about family to anyone, but are you okay?”
“Of course.”
She moved the angle of her bed so she could sit, though I could tell she was sleepy. “Are you sure? Because your lips are thinning.”
I scooted the chair closer. She had no idea how torn I felt. “I’m good. I’m just not in a good space mentally right now.”
She glanced at the door. “Trouble in paradise?”
This weekend had been like living in heaven and being surrounded by good people who accepted me. However, that wasn’t real life. I was usually sitting alone or with my friends, drinking wine and numbing my pain. I hadn’t breathed in a year without the fear that I might jeopardize my sister’s health.
“You grew up too fast to take care of me.”
She didn’t even blink. “I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”
