Millie
“WE TOTALLY ROCKED THAT RECEPTION,” Dru said happily as she leaned her head back and closed her eyes, champagne flute in hand.
We’d had one of the rare events where all hands were needed on deck, so the three of us, along with all of our staff, had spent all day and all evening on Sunday pulling off our biggest wedding reception yet.
A lot of blood, sweat, and tears had gone into making it come off seamlessly. But it was all worth it.
Now that everything had been cleaned up and torn down, my sisters and I were back at our building, sitting in the quiet dining area out front. The shutters were drawn, so no one could see in, and it was blissfully peaceful.
“Yeah, we did,” Tasha replied, raising her glass and nudging Dru with her knee to get her to sit up and open her eyes. “To Three Sisters, us, and the business, for becoming more than I ever imagined. Great job tonight.”
My feet were throbbing and my lower back niggled, but I wore a huge smile as I clinked my glass to theirs.
“To Three Sisters.”
I sipped my champagne with a happy sigh, enjoying the feel of the bubbles sliding down my throat.
“It was a successful day,” I said as I moved my head back and forth to get the kinks out of my neck. “But, I sure am glad we’re off tomorrow.”
“Amen,” Dru replied, then narrowed her eyes at me and said, “We’ve been so busy, I haven’t had a chance to get the deets from Friday night.”
“Oh, yeah,” Tasha cooed as she scooted her chair closer and leaned over the table toward me, resting her chin in her hands and blinking slowly at me.
“Stop,” I said with a laugh as I gently pushed at her head.
Tasha slapped at my hand and ordered, “Spill. Now. You know we are living vicariously through you. Don’t leave anything out . . . Is he rough or gentle? Bottom or top? Does he talk dirty, or recite lines from one of his romance novels? C’mon, tell all.”
“Geez,” Dru said with a snort. “I don’t really want that much information about Millie’s sex life, I just want to know which base they hit. You need a night out, Tash.”
“I know,” Tasha sighed dramatically, and we all laughed. “But seriously, Mills, how did it go?”
“Dinner was delicious, and so was dessert,” I began coyly, then I remembered the incident at Prime Beef and decided it was time to turn the tables on them for once. “To answer your question, Dru, we got to second . . . and all I’ll say, Tasha, is yes, to everything you asked.”
“Oh,” Tasha said, her eyes wide and her mouth forming an O.
“Now, I have a question for you guys,” I said, sharpening my gaze on both my sisters as I looked to each of them to catch their reactions. “Jericho Smythe.”
I watched the blood drain from Tasha’s face. Bingo.
After a beat, Dru said, “Ah, that’s not a question, it’s a name . . . Who’s Jericho Smythe?”
“Ask Tasha,” I said, my eyes never leaving our younger sister’s face.
Dru turned her head toward Tasha and asked, “Who’s Jericho Smythe?”
When Tasha didn’t answer, I said, “The owner of Prime Beef. Apparently, there’s some history between our brooding neighbor and our little sis.”
“What?” Dru practically screeched. I could understand her shock, we had been working across from Jericho for well over a year, commenting on how grumpy he always seemed and wondering why he seemed to hate us, and all this time, Tasha had been the reason.
It was too bizarre.
“Apparently,” I started when it appeared Tasha was going to remain mute. “They were together and it ended badly. Like, together, together.”
“What?” Dru screeched again, obviously unable to form complete sentences.
“The question I had was, when, but after thinking about it, it became obvious,” I stated, watching as pain flitted across Tasha’s face. I gentled my voice and asked, “It was when you were at college, wasn’t it? Before Mom got sick.”
Tasha nodded slowly, and my heart hurt when a tear slid down her cheek.
“Oh my gosh, it was serious,” Dru said, finally finding her words and scooting over to put her arm around Tasha. “What happened?”
“We were in love,” Tasha said softly, her voice rough as if she’d been crying for hours.
I reached my hand out over the table to place it over hers and squeeze gently.
She took a deep breath and added, “When I met Jericho, it was like being hit by lightning. He was so . . . everything. Handsome, confident, sexy. He was in my accounting class, a few years ahead of me in school, and seemed to have it all together. I was young, it was my first time out on my own, and I felt like a total fish out of water. I kept wondering what I was doing there, and even had the urge to drop out and come home, then he asked me out for coffee.”
Tasha laughed, as if still unable to believe the handsome, older man wanted to ask her out, her face lighting briefly before it fell.
“It was a whirlwind; he became everything to me, so much so that it scared the crap out of me. He’s pretty intense, and always knew exactly what he wanted, whereas I was still trying to figure it all out. Not him, I mean, I was certain I was in love with him . . . head over heels. But, I was unsure of what I wanted to do with my life, and I craved my independence. You guys know that, that’s why I left, and I began to worry that I was losing my will to gain that independence, because I was so enamored with Jericho.”
When Tasha fell silent, Dru pushed, “And, then?”
“Then, Mom got sick. Millie had finished culinary school, and you were on your last semester. I knew I needed to be here with you guys, and with Mom, so I decided to come back home and transfer . . . finish school here.”
“And, Jericho?” I asked softly.
Tasha hung her head, and her voice was so low, I had to strain to hear her response.
“I just left. I was a complete coward, and took Mom’s sickness as a sign that I needed to break away from Jericho and figure out what I wanted out of life.” Tasha lifted her head, the tears flowing freely now. “He’s right to hate me. I’ve been waiting for him to confront me, to tell me off, or scream at me, but he hasn’t. He’s ignored me . . . all this time . . . as if I meant nothing. As if I didn’t break both of our hearts by walking away. And, I guess maybe I didn’t. Maybe he didn’t even notice I was gone.”
With that, Tasha stood up and walked out. Dru’s eyes sought mine, and I knew what she was thinking . . . We needed to kick Jericho Smythe’s ass.