Page 60 of Sweet Escape at Bayside
“That depends. Do you mean thatloud? Thatpresumptive? That—”
“Fun.” He shrugged and said, “It was loud, and yeah, they seem to be all up in each other’s business, but you have to admit they’re entertaining.”
“That’s one way to put it.”
“Are we going to dance around the wholeAndre’s leavingthing?” Justin leaned his hip against the table as she inspected the sculpture.
She kept her eyes trained on the butterfly. “Do I look like I’m dancing?”
“Vi,” he said softly. “Look at me. What’s going on? Are you leaving with him?”
She huffed out a breath and crossed her arms. “I want to.”
“But…?”
“I don’t know. I need to talk to Des. She’s back, but I’ve been at the hospital all afternoon.”
“And now you’re here, which means you’re procrastinating.”
Yup…
He frowned. “Okay, look. Maybe you just need a swift kick in the butt. You ran once. Don’t jerk the guy around again.”
“Way to have faith in me,” she snapped. “I won’t jerk him around. I love him, Justin. Iwantto be with him. It’s just that Des has been gone for weeks, and my leaving will crush her.”
“She’s always been your soft spot.” His eyes warmed. “What can I do to help? Anything?”
She shook her head. “I could never repay you for all that you’ve already done for me over the years.”
“Hey, you saved me from getting into drugs and stuff when I was younger. We saved each other.”
“Thanks, Jus.”
“You know you never needed my help to figure things out, right? You wanted me there, and I’m glad for that. You’re one of my best friends. But don’t fool yourself into thinking you can’t handle your own problems. You’ve always had a pretty clear picture of what you needed to do to survive.” He put a hand on her back and said, “Want to talk it out?”
“No. I’ll figure it out.”
He winked and said, “You always do. I’ve got to go. Hit me up if you need anything.”
She chewed on what he’d said long after she finished inspecting the sculpture. Maybe Justin was right and she’d always known what she needed to do to survive. But Andre had made her see her life much more clearly than she ever had before, and she no longer wanted to justsurvive, living every aspect of her life in a separate bubble. She was being offered a second chance at love, and she couldn’t be the partner Andre deserved if she couldn’t even be honest about who she was to her own sister.
She locked up the studio and headed back to the inn, determined to make things right.
She found Desiree in her bedroom folding clothes. Cosmos was asleep at her feet.
“Welcome home.”
Desiree squealed and threw her arms around her, sending Cosmos into a flurry of barks. “Oh my gosh, I missed you! I have so much to tell you about our trip, and pictures to show you, and everything!”
How could her sister’s happiness get her all choked up? “I missed you, too. Where’s your new husband?”
Desiree sighed. Her skin was bronze, and her eyes twinkled with happiness. “Myhusband. Does that sound as nice as it feels?”
“It does.”
“He’s probably with Drake and Dean at the resort. It feels like we’ve been gone forever, but, Vi, we had the mostamazingtrip!”
“I want to hear all about it.”
