Robison’s eyes met her younger sister, Zoe’s, in the full-length mirror as the former fussed over her wedding veil, adjusting it for the umpteenth time in order to best play up her delicate features.
She was talking to Zoe in the church’s bridal room. The latter had popped in a few minutes ago to see how she was coming along. Celia always loved having her sister around—and never more than today—because she knew she always looked even hotter and sexier than usual in comparison. The sweetly attractive Zoe looked like the typical shrinking violet that she was.
Right now, Celia was approximately ten minutes away from leaving her single status permanently behind and marrying Sam Colton, a rather stoic detective on the Granite Gulch police force—and a man that Zoe had secretly been in love with since forever.
Not even Sam knew how she felt, and the librarian—a rather stereotypical career choice that suited the shy, blond-haired Zoe rather well—intended to keep it that way. She doubted Celia knew how she felt about Sam when her sister had asked her to be one of her bridesmaids—and Zoe knew she couldn’t turn her sister down without arousing suspicion. Besides, with both of their parents gone now, Celia was the only family that she had. So, much as it made her heart ache, she’d said yes.
The charade—pretending to be happy for Sam and Celia—was really killing her despite the brave front she was putting up. But this mysterious, cat-ate-the-canary look on Celia’s face had caused her to forget her own bruised heart and piqued her curiosity.
To be honest, it made her uneasy.
Celia had always been the devious one, but given her looks, she had always been able to get away with things others in her position wouldn’t have been able to.
“Watch and learn what?” Zoe finally asked when Celia said nothing further. Her sister just continued smirking at her reflection, as if some huge secret existed between her and the mirrored image.
“Why, how to trap a man of your choice, of course, little sister.”
Zoe hated that condescending tone. Celia used it often with her. “What are you talking about, Celia?” Zoe asked impatiently.
Celia turned away from the mirror to look at her. “Why, Sam, of course. I’m talking about Sam. My future beloved.” She laughed then, clearly delighted with herself.
Zoe moved in closer, discreetly sniffing the air between them. “Have you been drinking, Celia?”
“Not yet, but I will be soon,” Celia assured her with a wink. “That’s what got him, you know. Drinking. And now I’m going to be wrapping him around my little finger—him and that lovely Colton money of his.”
Zoe was beginning to get a very uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. Something was very off. “English, Celia, speak English.”
Celia blew out a breath, and shook her head. “You know, you really are no fun, Zoe. Lucky for you I’m in such a good mood.”
As if to underscore what she’d just said, Celia began softly humming the bridal march under her breath.
This one time, Zoe didn’t allow her sister to put her off. She intended to get to the bottom of this. Celia seemed too pleased with herself for it to be some inconsequential trivial thing.
“What did you do, Celia?” she asked in a firm, quiet voice, her eyes never leaving Celia’s.
Of the two of them, Celia was the vivacious one, the one who had always turned heads. The one who could have any boyfriend she wanted and who could talk her way out of anything. Celia was just that stunning.
As for her, Zoe knew she had to content herself to live in Celia’s shadow. But for the most part, she was okay with that. She loved her sister, even though at times that wasn’t nearly as easy as it should have been.
But what Celia was alluding to was sending an icy cold shiver down her spine and Zoe intended to find out just what her sister was talking about.
Now.
“You seem very pleased with yourself, Celia.” Flattery had always been the way to go with her sister. “Why don’t you tell me why?”
Celia looked as if she was just bursting with her accomplishment and utterly enthralled with what she’d managed to do. “Sam’s marrying me to give his baby a name.”
Zoe’s eyes opened so wide, they almost hurt. “What baby?”
“Exactly,” Celia countered smugly, her eyes dancing.
Zoe caught hold of her sister’s shoulder to keep her from turning back to the mirror. “Celia, stop speaking in riddles. You’re going to be marching down the aisle in a few minutes. Tell me what you’re talking about.”
Had she thought it would do any good, she would have issued an ultimatum to her sister—that she couldn’t leave the small room until she came clean. But Zoe knew Celia would only laugh at her and then it would get ugly from there. All she could hope for at this point was to wear Celia down.
“You do take the fun out of things, you know that, right?” Celia accused, annoyed. And then she laughed. She was far too pleased with herself to let the occasion be ruined by her annoying younger sister—who did, after all, have her uses. “Sam and I never even slept together.”
Zoe’s mouth dropped open. “I don’t understand. If you didn’t sleep together, then why would he think you’re carrying his baby?” Something was really, really wrong here.
Celia sighed. Spelling it out took a little of the drama, not to mention fun, out of it.
“Because one night, after he’d killed that awful criminal he’d been chasing, he came to my place just to unwind and talk. Seems killing doesn’t sit well with Sam,” she added with offhanded sarcasm. “Anyway, he was upset and I just kept plying him with whiskey until he totally passed out on my sofa. Then I messed up my place to make it look like we made wild, passionate love all over the living room. When he woke up, I shyly told him I’d never done ‘anything like that before.’”
That in itself was a lie, Zoe thought. Celia had slept with several men who she knew of in the past couple of years. There’d probably been more.
“Two months later, I came to his place and tearfully told him that I was pregnant with his baby.” Her grin all but split her face. “That’s when he offered to ‘do the right thing,’ just like I knew he would,” Celia said, absolutely pleased with herself. And then she spread her arms wide and declared, “And here we are.”
Stunned, Zoe didn’t even know where to begin to unravel all this. “Then you’re not—”
“Nope,” Celia responded. Zoe didn’t think it was humanly possible to be more pleased with herself than Celia was at this minute.
Didn’t Celia realize the dangerous game she was playing? We both know Sam wouldn’t put up with being lied to, Zoe thought.
She asked the first logical question that occurred to her. “What happens when the full nine months go by and there’s no baby?”
Celia waved away the very idea she was suggesting. “Oh, I’m not going to wait the full nine months. Sometime in the next month or so, I’ll tearfully
