bladder was completely full and took several seconds to empty. While they waited, Ray leaned back against the door and closed his eyes.
The sounds of laughter, the occasional clinking of their mother’s fine china and the mellow sounds of the music of John Legend created a cacophony of sound drifting up to Noelle and Ray from the party below.
“You look tired.” Noelle noted the dark rings under her brother’s eyes and realized it was the first time she’d seen him in almost a week, which was unusual for her tight-knit family.
Ray smiled at his little sister. “Good to see you, too.”
“I don’t mean you look bad.” She playfully bumped up against him. “Just tired. Are you just now getting here? I didn’t see you earlier.”
He yawned sleepily. “Yeah, just finished a seventy-two-hour rotation at the hospital.” He reached down to help Lena, who was climbing down from the toilet seat.
“Look, Daddy!” Lena pulled up her Huggies diaper and pants before turning to point to the contents of the toilet.
Ray gave his sister a slight grimace before forcing himself to look into the toilet. “Wonderful, baby girl. You did wonderful.”
Not about to let her sister steal her thunder, Lea pushed her way between them. “Part of that me!” she declared, frowning up at her father.
“Well, you both did terrific. My little ladies are growing up.” He ran his large hand over the top of their matching curly afro puffs. Satisfied with the praise, the girls raced out of the bathroom.
“Hey, wait, Lena, you didn’t wash your hands!” Noelle made a grab for her, but they were already halfway down the stairs.
“Remind me not to eat anything Lena offers,” Ray chuckled as he reached forward to flush the toilet.
Noelle watched him silently. Every line in his body expressed sheer exhaustion. “The woes of being an ER doctor?”
Ray glanced up at her. “No.” He shook his head. “Trust me, little sis, the long hours—that’s the easy part of the job.”
Noelle understood at once. Unfortunately, she’d seen that sadness in her brother’s eyes before. Ray had lost a patient that day. “Wanna talk about it?”
He smiled softly. “No, but thanks for asking.” He crowded beside her at the sink to wash his hands. “So, what did you give Mom and Dad for their anniversary?”
“What do I always give them?”
“Not another gift certificate for dinner. For someone who makes her living creating romance, you sure stink at romantic milestone gifts.”
“By the time I finish making romance for my clients, I have no inspiration left for myself,” Noelle joked but instantly regretted it when her brother’s eyes sharpened on her face.
“You know, I’ve often thought that about you.”
Noelle could see where the conversation was going. Another one of her sibling’s infamous and indiscreet inquiries into her nonexistent social life.
In an attempt to steer it away from that direction, she folded her arms across her chest and glared at her brother. “Okay, Mr. Romance, what did you get them?”
“An all-expense-paid weekend at a romantic spa retreat in the Poconos.”
“Uh-huh.” Noelle frowned in disbelief. “That had to be Ann’s idea.”
“So what?” Ray didn’t even bother to deny that his wife was the brains behind it. “I still get credit for it.”
“Cheater.”
“Sticks and stones, Cupid, sticks and stones. So how’s the matchmaking business?”
Noelle hesitated sharing her good news for only a moment. “Great, actually. I picked up a very influential client today. If I find him a match, Love Unlimited will finally get some big play in the press. It’ll be in the big leagues!”
“Really? Who?”
“Derrick Brandt.”
“The architect?”
“One and the same.”
“Wow—way to go, kid. That’s definitely a name.”
Despite his words, something about Ray’s tone said he was less than enthused.
“What?”
Ray scratched his chin. “Isn’t that guy kinda known for being, well…something of a jackass to his girlfriends?”
Noelle winced. “Not just to his girlfriends. What about it?”
“I was just thinking that if you do find a match for him, great. But what if you don’t? I mean, someone in his position could make a lot of trouble for you, make it sound like the fault was with Love Unlimited—not him. Know what I mean?”
“Yeah, unfortunately I do. I hadn’t really thought about what would happen if I can’t make a match for him. Not to sound arrogant—but I always make the match. The idea of failing never occurred to me. But I admit, after meeting this guy, I am a little worried. He’s a total jerk. He spent the whole interview ogling me.”
Ray’s eyes widened. “Really?”
Noelle’s thin brows crinkled in indignation. “No need to sound so shocked, Ray. Men do hit on me from time to time, you know.”
“That’s not what I meant. He just looks so GQish. And you…you know.”
Noelle found the remarks surprisingly insulting, which was amazing considering some of the insults she and her siblings had exchanged over the years. Instead of letting him off the hook, she kept her silence and waited, watching to see how he would dig his way out of the remark.
“You know! You’re…so…Goody Two-shoes.”
“Are you kidding me? Goody Two-shoes? Me?”
“Oh, yeah.”
Just then, Ann peeked her head around the door. “Ray, when did you arrive? The girls just came downstairs and said Auntie and Daddy were in the bathroom. That sounded kind of strange, so I thought I better check it out. What are you guys doing up here? You’re missing the party.”
Ray crossed the room to his wife without delay. “Hi, honey. How was your day?” He mimicked his wife’s high-pitched voice.
Ann smirked. “Hi, honey.” She stepped up on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. “How was your day?”
Wrapping her in a tight embrace, he sighed into her hair. “Better, now that I’m with you.”
The sincerity in his voice melted Noelle’s heart, and she suddenly had the feeling of being an intruder. This is what it’s all about, Noelle thought. Ray and Ann, her parents—they were the couples that had inspired her to start Love
