of Lake Champlain danced, reflecting the colors, and the ducks near the shore looked as if they were dipping their heads into liquid gold.
There was a light breeze blowing across the lake and making the burning torches that reached all the way up to the spacious porch in front of the house flicker. Lauren shivered and rubbed her arms. The thin satin of her sapphire-green shirt did not keep her warm, and she was glad that she had chosen to wear a pair of jeans instead of a short skirt. It was late September already, but the summery breeze that they’d had these last few days could easily make you forget that fact.
‘Go get yourself a jacket,’ Lauren’s mother Celeste suggested, wiping one of the garden chairs clean with a wet cloth.
‘It’s all right, Mom. Once the party’s started I’m sure I’ll warm up.’ Lauren hadn’t dressed like this just for fun – she wanted to impress Tim. After all, she’d plucked up the courage to invite him. But despite all of her efforts to look pretty, next to Rachel she still felt like a wilting flower. Rachel was wearing a dark-red cat-suit with black knee-high boots, and looked absolutely stunning. She was, after all, trying to attract a fancy dentist!
Lauren’s dad Peter stepped outside through the big folding doors and handed Lauren and Rachel a martini each.
‘Here’s to you, girls! May all your wishes come true!’ He raised his glass and pilfered the olive from his daughter’s drink.
Lauren smirked, because she never liked the olives.
‘Thanks, Dad. But if all our wishes are coming true this year, then what the heck are we going to do with the rest of our boring lives?’
‘You’ll see – I’m sure you can come up with a few more wishes for the next year. Once you get to my ripe old age . . . you’ll have so many wishes piled up that you know for a fact you won’t have time for them all. So, girls, start early if you want your dreams to come true.’
Rachel nodded.
‘Wise words, Peter. And from the corner of my eye I can see the man who might just give me sweet dreams in the future.’ She raised her hand and walked toward Mason, who was approaching from the gravel path leading around the house.
‘And what about you, honey? What will make you happy this year?’ Peter asked, putting his arm around her shoulders. Lauren leaned her head against her father’s strong chest like she used to, and hugged him back. Peter didn’t look fifty, even if he had piled on a few pounds thanks to his many years of working in an office. His gray hair still showed a few coppery strands, and his laugh was as fresh and bright as always. Only the tiny wrinkles around his eyes had become deeper over the past few years, but that only made him all the more likeable. His carrot-colored hair, his struggles with his weight, plus a love for all things sweet was something Lauren had inherited from him, while her delicate features came from her mom.
Lauren wondered how her dad would react if she started seeing one of his lawyers. Trying to get a feel for his stance, she asked: ‘Do you know Tim Parker? He’s . . .’
‘A brilliant lawyer. I keep asking myself if he isn’t wasting his talent up here in Vermont. I think he’d be a suitable candidate for the New York office. On the other hand, I would bypass several of his older and more experienced colleagues if I were to transfer him. Which I don’t really want to do. Why do you ask? Do you know him?’
Lauren emptied her martini glass and strolled with her dad through the yard and down to the water. She didn’t like the idea of Tim getting transferred to New York. Not now that she was falling for him.
‘I invited him here tonight. He seems nice.’
Peter looked at her for a while, as if trying to read her mind. He was probably thinking about how best to protect her, but after a brief pause he nodded.
‘If you say so, honey, I’m sure you’re right.’ He buried his hands deep in the pockets of his suit pants. Only the argyle sweater vest he was wearing over his shirt hinted at the fact that it was the weekend. The rest of his outfit tonight would be perfectly suitable for a court hearing.
‘You’ve always known what was best for you.’
They strolled alongside the banks of the lake. The first leaves were already dipped in fall colors, glowing brilliantly in the warm evening light, and Lauren could not imagine a more beautiful place than this, her home. Her family’s estate included not only the main house, which they all lived in, but also a smaller lake house, which she always hoped to one day decorate and make her own. Now that she was letting her eyes wander over the whitewashed, wood panelled outer walls and the large latticed windows, she could easily imagine moving in right away. But first she would need to finish art school and figure out how she was going to make a living after college. Whatever she ended up doing, she hoped it wouldn’t tear her away from her family.
‘We should go back, your guests are arriving. And I’m going to take your mom out to dinner, otherwise she’ll be here all night cleaning up after you.’
‘She shouldn’t worry. It’s only a little party.’
‘You know how she is.’
Yes, Lauren did know what her mother was like. Celeste Latham enjoyed her job as a homemaker and mother, and she liked things spotlessly clean. Ever since Lauren’s older brother by three years, Benjamin, had left home to pursue a career in professional baseball, Celeste didn’t need to wash his sports clothes anymore and the casual observer might think that Celeste was a little bored without that to occupy her time.
With a last glance back to the little house, Lauren followed her dad back to the porch. Rachel had already poured the champagne, and welcomed her brother Chris along with his latest conquest Blake, plus a co-worker from the physical therapy center. Mostly, though, she was busying herself with giving her attractive dentist long, languishing looks.
Lauren was happy that Rachel’s brave physicality was paying off. A worried glance at her watch showed her that her own date Tim was now an hour late – and she wondered if he was going to show up at all. Why would she ever have assumed he would? She was not as sexy as blonde bombshell Caroline.
‘Hey, Lorelei!’ Chris chirped, giving Lauren a boisterous hug from behind. Nobody except Rachel’s older brother by two years called her that, but he could not be dissuaded from it. He could also not be discouraged from pressing wet, unwelcome kisses into the nape of her neck whenever he saw an opportunity. What a childish, tattooed baby!
‘Hey, Chris!’ Lauren wrenched free of his embrace and motioned toward his date, who was shooting her jealous glances. ‘Don’t forget that you didn’t come here alone!’ Lauren leaned closer to his ear so that his dark, shoulder-length hair touched her cleavage. ‘I think she wants to kill me, so keep an eye on her, would you?’
Chris gave his cheekiest grin and slammed his fist against the flat of his palm. ‘Don’t worry, Lorelei, anyone who wants to pick a fight with you will need to get past me first! I shall protect you. Always! But first I’m going to get my date a drink.’
Lauren laughed and nudged him in the side. She could see a brand-new tattoo peeking out from under his T-shirt. He must have dozens of those things all over his body by now.
‘I know, I know! You’re my hero. Which is why I’m going to get you that martini. And now go and have fun with . . . your biker chick whose name has already slipped my mind.’
Chris winked at her, and whispered, ‘Same
