with him. By then, they all knew that he would never quit. If you took on Quinn Bravo, it was going to be long and ugly and there would be way too much blood.”
“But look how he turned out,” Tracy piped up. “Rich and successful, with a beautiful daughter, about to marry the one and only Chloe Winchester.” Tracy raised her glass and everyone followed suit. “To Chloe. You go, girl.”
Chloe blushed a little. “Aww.”
Nell shook her gorgeous head of auburn hair. “Chloe. Seriously. You and Quinn? Never woulda seen that coming.”
Chloe beamed at her future sister-in-law, her heart full of fondness, her brain pleasantly hazy with the champagne and the good family feelings. She really was starting to feel seriously bondy with Nell. Was it only five days ago that they’d squared off in the trailer at Bravo Construction?
“Heads up, my sisters,” Elise whispered out of the side of her mouth. “Don’t look now, but here comes trouble.”
Trouble in the tall, thin form of Monique Hightower. Wearing jeans, a silk top and giant sunglasses, Monique had just breezed in the door. She said something to the hostess and then spotted the Bravo women at the round table in the center of the dining room. Slowly, she eased the big sunglasses up to rest on her head. And then she smiled.
And then she came striding on over. “Hey, Clara, Elise, everyone. Looks like a party...”
Nell said, “It is. We are celebrating.”
About then, Monique zeroed in on Chloe. “Chloe. Well. How’s every little thing?”
Chloe raised her champagne glass—with her left hand, so that her engagement diamond caught the light and sparkled. “Remember how I told you if I played my cards right, I might have a chance with Quinn?”
Somebody snickered. Chloe thought it was Elise, but it could have been Tracy.
Monique’s eyes got wider. “Wow. That’s, uh...” For once, she actually seemed at a loss for words. Chloe savored the moment.
Then Nell instructed, “Pull yourself together, Monique. Quinn and Chloe are getting married. You need to wish my future sister-in-law a life of love and happiness.”
Monique sent Nell a quelling glance that had zero effect on Quinn’s baby sister. Nell just rolled her eyes and drank more champagne as Monique trotted out another big, fake smile and a too-perky “Best wishes, Chloe. Quinn’s a lucky man.”
“Thank you, Monique.”
Clara, ever the peacemaker, offered, “Monique, why don’t you join us for a glass of champagne?”
Everyone went dead quiet then. They’d been having such a great time and Monique would have them trying to remember to watch what they said, because anything Monique heard was fair game for her gossip mill.
Then Monique sighed. “Wish I could. But I got called in early. I need to change and get to work.”
“That’s too bad.” Somehow Nell kept a straight face when she said it.
By then, Monique had recovered her equilibrium. “Chloe. That ring is spectacular. And truly, I’m so happy for you.”
“Monique. What can I say? Thank you again. That’s so nice to hear.” And strangely enough, it kind of was. Chloe had the definite warm fuzzies at the moment. She was crazy about the Bravo women, crazy about Quinn. Crazy about everyone. She was even crazy about Monique, who couldn’t keep a confidence if her life depended on it.
Champagne at lunchtime? She should try it more often.
Nobody said a word until Monique disappeared into the kitchen. And then Nell tapped her water glass with her spoon. “So. Engagement party. We need to throw one.”
Chloe started to protest that they didn’t have to.
But then again, that could be fun, right?
How much fun had she had in her life, really?
Not enough. She’d always been mama’s good girl, a busy little bee, working so hard to do everything right, to get straight As and get into a great college and find the perfect husband to make a perfect life.
There’d been no time for fun, not when she was so laser-focused on chasing the life her mother wanted for her.
And after her marriage to Ted? Well, it only went downhill from there. Hard to have fun when your life that looked so perfect on the outside was empty at the core, when you lived with a man you couldn’t trust not to hurt you.
But now she had Quinn and anything seemed possible. All the good things: passion and tenderness and lots of laughter. And sisters to call her own.
And, for the first time, champagne at lunch.
Chloe let Quinn’s sisters plan the party. She smiled and nodded and giggled a lot.
Nell leaned close to her. “Better cut back on the bubbly, baby.”
And Chloe giggled some more. But she took Nell’s advice and started drinking ice water. By three-thirty, when they left the restaurant, she was almost sober.
They filed out to the parking lot. There were hugs and cheek kisses. Chloe thanked them all profusely.
Nell tapped her shoulder. “You still look a little high. Ride with me. You can get your car later.”
So just to be on the safe side, she let Nell take her back to the showroom. When Nell pulled in at the curb, Chloe leaned across the seats and hugged her good and hard. “I’m so glad you’re going to be my sister. I never had a sister before.”
Nell hugged her back. “Well, now you’ve got four—five, including Tracy, who always gets insulted if we don’t include her.”
* * *
That evening, Manny went to Boulder to visit his girlfriend. Quinn and Annabelle picked Chloe up at the showroom and took her back to the restaurant to get her car.
Then she joined them at the log house. They had pizza. And after Annabelle was all ready for bed, they watched Frozen, which Annabelle seemed to know by heart.
She kept popping in with “Look out!” or “Watch this!” just before something surprising would happen.
Quinn finally had to pause the movie and remind her that it was no fun to watch a movie when little girls were shouting.
Annabelle was sweetly contrite. She turned to Chloe. “I’m sorry, Chloe. I’m not s’posed to do that. But I get so ’cited!”
Chloe said, “Well, maybe if you don’t do it again, your dad will let us watch the rest.”
Annabelle turned those big brown eyes on Quinn. “Daddy, I promise I will be quiet.”
She managed to get through the rest of the movie without a single exclamation. And by the end, she had edged up close to Chloe on the sofa and rested her head against Chloe’s arm. Chloe treasured that small, perfect moment: the first
