LITMIR.BIZ

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come from suddenly? “My life is off.”

      Alison knew a dramatic tirade in the making when she heard one. She tried to head her off before Lily picked up another full head of steam. “Lily.”

      Standing beside her audio system, Lily flipped a switch. The song playing on the radio had memories attached to it. Bitter ones now. Lily flipped the switch off again. “I should have never thought that I could give love a try.”

      Alison tried again. “—Lily.”

      “Men are scum, anyway,” Lily declared like a scientist at the end of a long, carefully controlled experiment. And then she realized who she was talking to. “Your husband and our brothers excepted, of course. But in general, Aly, all men are.”

      “—Lily—”

      “And on the whole, I’m better off without any of them in my life. If I need any spice, I can find it waiting for me on the rack—”

      “Lily!”

      Her sister’s voice finally penetrating, Lily stopped in midstride. Alison’s voice echoed in her head. “What?”

      Finally. Blowing out a breath, Alison made her pitch while indicating that the patient who had just entered should take a seat. “Why don’t you come up for a vacation?”

      “Come up?” Taking a vacation was as rare for Lily as taking a bath was for a cat. She paused to let the idea sink in. It didn’t. It floundered. “Come up where?”

      “Here.” There was no response. “Where I live. Where Jimmy lives,” Alison added for good measure. “We haven’t seen you since forever.” Or, more precisely, since her wedding to Luc. Lily had been unable to attend their brother’s marriage to April Yearling last year. Now that Lily’s wedding was off, there was no telling when they would see her again. She knew Lily had a tendency to lose herself in her work. “Maybe you need to get away.”

      The idea of getting away was not completely without appeal for Lily. But people took vacations to exciting places, not places that brought to mind an abundance of ice. “To Alaska?”

      “To family,” Alison told her quietly but firmly.

      Lily caught her lower lip between her teeth, working it slowly as she thought. It was one of the unconscious habits she and her sister shared.

      “I have Kevin.” Kevin was the only one of the family who still lived in Seattle. It seemed that Hades, Alaska, population of five hundred or so, was slowly wooing the Quintanos away from their native Seattle. Or at least the younger ones.

      Alison saw no problem with that. “So bring him.”

      It was always wonderful to see Kevin. With ten years between them, Kevin was like a second father to Alison and she loved him dearly. Leaving Kevin behind when she moved here was the hardest thing she had ever done. Loving Luc was the easiest.

      Lily laughed shortly. She wasn’t the only workaholic in the family. Kevin’s devotion to work had begun out of necessity, to provide for her and the others. But once they were all out on their own, Kevin, who had made the decision years ago to turn his back on beginning a family of his own to provide for the one he already had, just kept on working, running his own taxi service.

      “Yeah, like I could get our older brother to go anywhere. Men just don’t—”

      Alison didn’t have time to listen to an encore. Mrs. Newhaven had just walked in, all eight months’ pregnant of her.

      “Lily, I have to get back to work.” She heard her sister sigh. She hated to leave her hanging like this. “I can be much more sympathetic in person, really. Take a couple of weeks off and come up here. You were going to take two weeks off for your honeymoon, right?”

      Lily closed her eyes, battling sorrow, regret and searching for a fresh wave of anger to hold on to. As long as she was angry she couldn’t cry. “You’re not exactly who I was planning to spend those two weeks with.”

      Alison was ready for her. “I’m nicer than a two-timing weasel, right?”

      Lily sighed, then laughed sadly. “Right.”

      “Then it’s settled.” For once, she was going to order her sister around, not vice versa. Lily’s problem, Alison knew, was that she was a commando in high heels. Allen had been the first man she hadn’t been able to boss around, but that was probably because he’d had his own agenda and hadn’t paid attention to anything she’d said. “Make arrangements. Jimmy or I will come to the airport to pick you up and bring you to Hades.”

      “Hades.” Lily repeated the improbable name of the small town that had lured two-thirds of her family. “The place sounds more like heaven after what I’ve been through.”

      Alison smiled, confident that Dr. Allen Ripley was undoubtedly worse for the encounter with her sister during her surprise visit. Lily’s wrath was legendary when unleashed. Not that he hadn’t deserve it.

      “My point exactly. C’mon, Lily. We miss your smiling face.”

      Even as she heard her sister say it, a smile began to form on Lily’s lips. She’d been incredibly busy, making Lily’s one of the trendiest places in Seattle. But even at the height of her success, there was an emptiness she tried to ignore. She had to admit she did miss her siblings. “Not to mention my cooking.”

      Alison laughed. There was no denying that. No one on earth could cook like Lily.

      “Not to mention your cooking,” she agreed. The door to the clinic opened again and two more patients walked in. Even though it was almost evening, it looked as if she and Jimmy were going to be here well past closing. Again. “Now, I really have to go. Promise me you’ll come.” Alison paused, waiting. “Promise.”

      Lily took a deep breath, then released it. Maybe she did need to get away for a while. Really get away. Not just from the memory of the man she’d thought she was going to spend her future with, but from everything. She’d been working almost nonstop ever since she’d opened Lily’s more than five years ago. The restaurant was doing great.

      The same, unfortunately, couldn’t be said for her. Maybe it was time to change that. “Okay, I’ll come.”

      Alison breathed a sigh of relief. “Wonderful. I’ll call you tonight, we’ll make arrangements and get you booked on a flight up here as soon as possible.”

      Her sister, as she remembered, never walked when she could run. A smile curved Lily’s mouth fondly. “Don’t waste time, do you?”

      “Nope.” There was genuine affection in Alison’s voice. “I learned from the best.” She rose as she saw Mrs. Newhaven’s hand go limp. She’d just been fanning herself. The woman’s eyes started to roll up toward her head. “Gotta go. ’Bye.”

      The line went dead.

      Lily felt at her waist where the telephone receiver was attached. She pressed the off button. Even as she did so, a fresh wave of sadness came sweeping in, threatening to undo her.

      It wasn’t that she loved Allen with her dying breath, she knew she didn’t. She’d thought they went well together and, on paper, he was all the things she’d thought she wanted in a man. Handsome, successful, intelligent. Somewhere along the line, though, she must have missed the part about being a lying cheat. So she’d cut him loose, her pride smarting somewhat.

      It was just that…just that she felt alone. Again. And every so often, being alone had sharp edges to it that hurt.

      Enough of this self-pity, Lily upbraided herself, annoyed. She had her restaurant, her reputation and her career. And a family who loved her. Not everyone was nearly so lucky.

      Squaring her shoulders, Lily marched over to the piano and the framed photograph of Allen. He’d given it to her on her last birthday with an inscription. The Best For The Best.

      Should have been a clue, Lily. Should have been a clue…

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