LITMIR.BIZ

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she still didn’t drink, he leaned closer and whispered in her ear, “Of course you don’t have to have wine, but it might help you loosen up.”

      With Jack’s friends openly and unabashedly watching the exchange, she really had no choice. Frankly, she could use a little false courage right about now. Glancing around the table, Sienna lifted her glass. “Cheers.”

      With her first sip the other guests seemed to relax and conversation resumed. Everyone talked at once, reminding Sienna of those movies she loved about big happy gatherings of family and friends at Christmas or Thanksgiving. A bowl of rice and fragrant chicken curry was passed down the table to her. Condiments and water, cutlery, a linen napkin all came her way in a haphazard fashion.

      With the attention moved away from her and Jack, Sienna was able to study her fellow dinner guests. There was Sharon, short, blonde and vivacious, and her husband, Glenn, easygoing and athletic-looking with close-cropped red hair. Ron was stocky with a shaved head that effectively disguised a balding pate. Diane had spiky hennaed hair and a husky voice. That left Jack, Lexie and Renita. Lexie looked to be older and was very pretty. Renita had a warmth about her that was instantly engaging. Both seemed to have an intimate claim on Jack, frequently sending him glances and exchanging teasing comments with him.

      Which was his girlfriend?

      Not that it mattered one iota to her. She was just curious.

      She spooned some of the light coconut broth swimming with chicken. She looked at Jack in amazement. “This is delicious. Better than any meal I’ve had in a Thai restaurant.”

      “As good as yours would have been?” he inquired.

      “I don’t know about that,” she demurred, then decided to slip in a mention of Oliver just to get it out of the way. “My son will be forever grateful he didn’t have to eat something ‘weird.’”

      “Your son?”

      “Oliver. He’s fourteen.” She saw the unspoken question in Jack’s eyes and steeled herself. “I’m divorced.” She glanced away. Every time she spoke those words it felt like an admission of failure.

      “I’m a widower.”

      His low voice touched something inside her and her gaze found his again. “I’m sorry.” A flash of something—empathy over life’s disappointments, the cruelty of tragedy—connected them for a moment.

      Then Jack shrugged, a tiny gesture that carried him from the unalterable past back to the present. He looked around at his guests enjoying themselves and took a sip of wine. “Life goes on.”

      Sienna breathed out. He was right. She was in a new place, starting afresh. “Yes, it does. Life goes on.”

      He smiled. She smiled back. Comrades.

      Finally she broke the silence with the first thing that came to mind. “So, Jack, what do you do for a living?”

      “Nothing much.”

      Sienna laughed, as no doubt she was supposed to. “No, really, what do you do?”

      Before he could answer, Renita interrupted, swiveling on her chair to attract Sienna’s attention. “I love your pearls. They’re real, aren’t they?”

      “Yes, they belonged to my grandmother.” Sienna ran her fingertips over the long strand self-consciously. “I can see I’m overdressed for the occasion.”

      “You look amazing,” Renita insisted. “Doesn’t she, Jack?”

      “Please…” Sienna began, feeling heat climb her cheeks.

      Jack’s eyes rested on her. “You should see her with her hair down.”

      “Ooh, yes! I’d like to see that,” Lexie said from across the table. Her chin rested in one palm as she imperiously waved a wineglass with her other hand. “Pull out those pins.”

      Sienna laughed uncertainly and focused on her curry. “The Kaffir lime leaves really make a difference.” She had no idea what she was talking about, of course. She could still feel Jack’s gaze on her.

      “Stop it, you guys, you’re making her uncomfortable.” Sharon came to her rescue. “Sienna, don’t mind these three. They tend to pounce on people and gobble them up. It means they like you.”

      “These three?” For one wild moment she wondered if they were a ménage à trois. Had she stumbled into a hotbed of swinging in the suburbs? Then it dawned on her. The family resemblance. It was in the shape of their eyes and the fullness of the bottom lip. “You’re related?”

      “Brother and sisters,” Ron told her. “They’re the evil threesome.”

      Of course. Sienna glanced from Jack to Lexie to Renita. All three returned her smile. Brother and sisters.

      To an only child the bond they shared represented the family love that had always been out of her reach. Her mother was a leader in cancer research and her father was a distinguished heart surgeon, both now working in America at the Mayo Clinic. When she was a child they’d rarely had time for her, while still expecting her to be an overachiever. Sienna had always wanted a sister or a brother. Or both.

      She felt something loosen inside her that she didn’t understand but also didn’t want to examine too closely. Instead, she laughed. Beneath the table she kicked off her shoes.

      “WHAT DO YOU DO, SIENNA?” Diane asked.

      They’d gone around the table, filling Sienna in on themselves. She’d learned that Glenn and Sharon were both primary schoolteachers, Ron was a computer analyst, Diane was a planner for the municipality, Renita worked at the bank and Lexie was a portrait painter.

      Lexie chimed in before Sienna could answer. “She could be an artist’s model. Look at that oval face and ivory skin. If she let her hair down she’d be Botticelli’s Venus. Pure pre-Raphaelite.”

      “Botticelli’s Venus was blonde.” Sienna saw Renita topping up her wineglass and started to protest. Then she shrugged. She could always get a taxi.

      “Sienna’s a pianist,” Jack asserted.

      She jerked back with a surprised laugh. “I’m not! I can’t even play a kazoo.”

      “A brain surgeon?” Jack’s alternative had the whole table in an uproar.

      “Warmer,” Sienna said coyly. They all stopped laughing. Curious eyes were again trained on her, but now she was comfortable with it. “I’m a doctor. A GP.”

      “Ahh.” Jack’s eyes lit with interest.

      “I’ve got a pain in my stomach,” Ron called from across the table. “What would cause that, do you think?”

      “Overeating, you oaf!” Diane nudged him with her elbow. “What about a pain in the butt? Oh, wait a minute, that’s my husband.”

      Jack cleared his throat and swallowed experimentally, “I think I’m coming down with something. Could it be strep throat?”

      Sienna eyed Jack’s healthy skin and clear, twinkling eyes skeptically. “I don’t do on-the-spot diagnoses. Come into the clinic and I’ll give you a thorough examination.”

      A chorus of oohs from around the table greeted that remark. Sienna felt her blush rise from her neck all the way to the roots of her hair. “You know what I mean!”

      “Seriously, are you taking new patients?” Jack asked. “My father’s doctor at the clinic retired and Steve needs a checkup.”

      “Your father must have been seeing my predecessor. I’m taking on most of Dr. Klein’s patients. Tell your dad to call the clinic and make an appointment.”

      “Thanks, I’ll pass that on.”

      Ron got up to clear the empty dishes. Diane rose to help him, waving Sienna down when she started to get up, too. “Relax.

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