The Dating Game

Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Ivy pulled her strappy high-heeled sandals from her swollen feet. They had looked great in the window of the shoe shop in Buffalo, but after two hours, her feet had had enough. After nine, she was ready to crawl as she walked like an old woman over to the round table where her sisters were sitting, laughing. Waiters were clearing away dishes and food, packing up everything else.

Brandyne was laughing, perched on Blake’s lap, her arm around him, looking happier than Ivy had ever seen her.

“My God, I don’t think I can walk another step,” she said as she took the end chair between Naomi and Mason. Brandyne’s eldest daughter, sixteen-year-old Rita, was also there, looking pretty in a deep blue off-the-shoulder cocktail dress.

“Here, have a beer. It’ll take the edge off,” Naomi said as she slid a bottle over.

“Did they get away okay?” Ivy asked. She lifted the beer, which was lukewarm, and took a swallow, fighting the urge to make a face. She hated warm beer.

“They just left along with the last of the guests. Limo was taking them into Buffalo,” Blake said, one hand possessively on Brandyne’s ass, the other holding a beer. He was such a handsome man, rough looking, a scar at the edge of his strong square jaw. She realized he had that badass look, kind of like the stranger she’d bumped into earlier and hadn’t seen since. Who was he?

“So anyone know where Jerry is taking our sister for her honeymoon?” Naomi asked.

Ivy took in the dark blue label on her beer bottle, still thinking of the stranger’s wide chest. Again, who the hell was he?

Brandyne tipped back her beer and glanced to her husband. “Blake knows but hasn’t told me, just said he couldn’t, so stop asking.”

“Hey, I told you already that Jerry asked me to keep it quiet. He didn’t want Taz to know, and he seemed to think one of you would spill it.”

She wasn’t sure who said what to Blake, but Mason, Naomi, and Scarlett all protested, and one tossed a napkin his way. Brandyne was shaking her head, still leaning against him.

“Suppose it’s safe to say now since they’re gone, though,” he said. Yup, he had a killer smile, too, just like that mystery guy. What was it with these badass types? They were so far from the clean-cut guy she should have been looking for.

“So is it a beach or Alaska?” Naomi asked.

Ivy pushed the beer away. It was tasteless, and she was beginning to feel a headache kicking in. Water, she needed water.

“Neither,” he said.

What? They all looked at one another, trying to figure out what was left.

“Blake, I heard you say a train,” Rita said as she leaned around her mom.

“You only heard part of it.” Blake gestured sternly to Rita with his finger. “But good on you for not saying anything until now,” he added with a smile.

“So spill, Blake. Where is Jerry taking our sister?” Scarlett tapped the table.

“To the UK for a train trip on the Royal Scotsman, then off to Italy, France, and Greece for three weeks.” He rested his beer on the table, and the look on his face seemed distant for a second. Ivy wasn’t sure what to make of it. “That would be a once-in-a-lifetime trip for some, way out of my price range.” He was looking at Brandyne, and she got it then: regret or something.

Brandyne put her beer down and flattened her hand over his chest, rubbing intimately. “Yeah, well, who wants Europe, anyway? I have everything I want right here.”

Everyone was quiet, and for a moment she felt as if she were intruding on a private moment between her sister and Blake. They were so in love, and he was so devoted to her and to her kids. A good man. She swallowed the longing.

“Well, I want Europe,” Scarlett said. “Lucky Taz. One day I swear I’m going to travel the world, see it all, visit castles and queens and…”

“Scarlett, you still have school to finish. Get a job and get back to reality,” Naomi said.

“And it’s your turn to wash the floor tomorrow,” Mason said, jabbing the plastic drink sword she was playing with at her sister. Then she reached for Ivy’s beer and snuck a drink. Everyone looked, but no one said anything.

“Oh, pooh on all of you. I’ll have it all just like Taz. Even more. She just happened to luck out, finding a rich guy, but mine, when I meet him, he’ll be even more. He’ll own the world,” she added with her signature dramatic flair.

Even Blake frowned, his eyes narrowed as if he was deciding which category of trouble to stick Scarlett into.

When Mason lifted her beer to take another swallow, Ivy reached over and took it from her. “Don’t think I don’t know you’ve been sneaking all night, but cool it. Mama and Daddy will find out, and it’s not just us here.” She lowered her voice, knowing Blake was watching, listening.

“Your sister’s right, Mason. You’re too young,” Blake said, glancing over to Rita as well. Then chairs scraped at the other end, and Brandyne, Rita, and Blake stood up. “It’s getting late. We’re going to turn in and find our other hooligans.”

Everyone said goodnight. Scarlett left next, and then Naomi, leaving just Mason and Ivy in the tent with the waiters and staff, who would likely be cleaning up until the wee hours.

“So everyone’s gone now. How about you and me raid the bar before they finish packing it up?” Mason whispered as Ivy’s headache really kicked up.

“No, not tonight. I need water and then sleep, and…” As she started to get up, she cursed her swollen feet and dangled her ridiculously high uncomfortable shoes in one hand, leaning heavily on the table with the other. “A hot bath to soak my feet. Come on, get up. You can help me to my cabin.”

She gestured to Mason, who sulked but was a good sport, as she let Ivy loop her arm over her shoulder and lean on her as they crept out of the tent. Pain shot up her legs. “Ow, ow, ow, not so fast,” Ivy said.

Her sister laughed at her but led her across the property in the dirt. The area around the tent was lit up, but darkness loomed around the house and the three cottages built just fifty feet from it. Right now, as they made their way, giggling and stumbling, those few feet seemed to be a mile.