Page 83 of Love and Other Trials
Ariel’s throat closed as Tiffany’s teary eyes found hers in the mirror. “You what?”
Her face crumpled. “I blackmail my own sister.” Tiffany turned and flung her arms around her. “Ariel, I’m so sorry! I never should have listened to Mother. You can have Grandma’s house. Of course you can. I’ll give it to you right after the wedding. She always wanted you to have it.”
She clutched Tiffany back, shock making her mouth part. A seasoned part of her was waiting for the other shoe to drop. This wasn’t the first time one of her sisters had capitulated before changing her mind. The Deverell women were mercurial by nature—but she wanted to believe Tiffany meant to sign the deed over to her. Keeping positive, Ariel hugged her back. “Grandma did, and I want it very much. Tiffany, I told you I’d help. You didn’t have to go to such extremes.”
Her frantic head nodding shook Ariel’s frame. “I was scared you might not do your thing.”
That hurt.
Pulling back, Tiffany cupped her face, soothing the hurt with the sweetest gesture ever between them. Ariel’s heart fluttered at the sisterly warmth. “You always ride in and make sure everything turns out for us. You have since you were a little girl. I still remember how you reset the table after Tricia knocked it over on Terry’s birthday. You cleaned up the broken dishes with a dustpan and then went to find more of Grandma’s china to use. You managed to keep Grandma from getting upset over the broken dishes. And you got Grandma’s promise that she wouldn’t tell Mom. Ariel, you were five years old!”
It was one of her first memories. She’d tucked her hands behind her back when she’d talked to her grandma so she wouldn’t see them shaking. She’d been so nervous. “I sometimes wish I wasn’t that girl. That I didn’t have to come in and clean things up. Make things perfect. Honestly, I’m not doing very well on the perfect front though, am I?”
Tiffany hugged her again. “Yeah, but we all knew about the Deverell wedding curse. We expected things would go wrong. You’re the only one I could trust to make things right. I mean, look at the sprinkler system nightmare. The resort was going to pat us on the back and try and cram us into the lodge. You insisted they fix it. You came up with a plan. Because that’s what you do. Oh Ariel! I’m so grateful for you.”
Ariel thought she had a tough skin after all the years of being on the outs with her sisters, but she could feel a few of the walls she’d erected start to crumble. “Thanks, Tiff. Now…how about we step out there and let that poor seamstress see what your beautiful dress looks like on you? Once we do that, we’ll pack it up and take it in for steaming and pressing, okay?”
Her sister gave her another squeeze. “Okay. Let’s go.”
She arranged the short train as her sister left the fitting room. Paula was looking out the window, drinking a cup of tea.
The older woman turned and smiled. “Oh, it looks really beautiful on you, Tiffany.”
Ariel nodded as their eyes met in the mirror. “See, I told you.”
“That’s why you’re always right.” Tiffany reached back and grabbed her hand. “Ariel, I’m glad you’re my sister.”
So was she.
TWENTY
The beer Robhanded him was refreshingly cold for his hot, dry throat.
But it was the solid whack on his back that had a part of him relaxing despite the muscle ache and fatigue. They’d gotten it done, and under one helluva deadline. Their buddies were sweaty and dirty like they were, but they were all smiling as they looked at the newly sodded area, not a trace of mud anywhere. Dax let himself feel the satisfaction of getting the job done, focusing on Ariel getting her house and his buddy being happy, despite the reality that Rob would soon be marrying a natural catastrophe.
“You sons of bitches!” Rob lifted his beer to their group. “The best group of friends a guy could ever imagine having.”
They all took another drink, although no one had known Rob was going to toast. Dude was getting sentimental.
“Manual labor definitely wasn’t in the plan.” Carson put his hand to his back and arched with a wince. “I haven’t been this sore since basic training days.”
“You’re a bunch of wimps.” Perry stomped one of the pieces of sod in further with his shoes. “I used to mow lawns for extra money in high school. Made me miss the old days.”
Dax snagged him with an arm around his neck as Gunner and Frank hooted. “You’ve plumb lost your mind. I’d mow any lawn over digging out mud. Slides on you like a bitch.”
“Yeah, but we’re done.” Rob tucked his beer in the crook of his arm and pulled out his phone. “Let me text my bride and let her know.”
Dax eyed the time on the phone. It was 5:15. The rehearsal started at six in the lodge. “We’d better get our butts to the showers and change.”
“In a sec.” Rob was grinning as he closed his text. “Tiff’s going to be so happy when she sees this. Jesus, I never thought it would happen.”
“Me either.” Dax spotted Ariel amidst a group of dressed-up women coming their way and smiled. “We have Ariel to thank for pushing the resort. I think they were going to default.”
Carson slapped him on the back. “Your girl knows how to get shit done. If you screw things up with her, I’m going to jump in. She’s not only cute as hell, but she’s a sweetheart. And then there’s her dog.”
“Sherlock rocks.” Frank’s deep voice carried. “Makes me want a dog.”
“Me too,” Dax admitted. “One of my first tasks when I get my full discharge.”
