Chapter Five
Sabrina followed her friends into the upscale Aurora boutique in wealthy Greenport for their second weekend in a row shopping for Mad’s wedding. Last Saturday they’d spent at the bridal shop for the bridal gown and bridesmaids’ dresses. Today they were shopping for shoes. Mad’s wedding was in June, and she wanted to get all the wedding stuff out of the way during her winter break from college. Mad had gone to college later in life and would be graduating in May at twenty-seven years old. Sabrina had graduated college young after skipping a grade in elementary school, so she’d had the exact opposite experience as Mad. She was thrilled for her all the same.
The boutique was elegant and filled with designer dresses, shoes, and purses. The air was scented with jasmine, and soft jazz piped through speakers in the ceiling. If you had money to burn, this was the place to spend it. Designer purses lined one wall, with designer shoes on the opposite wall. Hailey’s mom, Brandy, worked here, and they were all getting in on her employee discount.
“Welcome, ladies!” a woman who could only be Hailey’s mom exclaimed, rushing over to them. She looked like a model, tall and elegant in a royal blue close-fitting dress with an open front white bolero jacket. Her long strawberry blond hair and pale blue eyes matched Hailey’s, with smooth flawless skin. “So nice to meet you all! I’m Brandy. What an exciting occasion! Congratulations again, Madison!”
Brandy hugged Mad, who hugged her back. They must’ve met before, since Hailey and Mad were close. Then Brandy gave Hailey a light hug and kissed the air near her cheek.
“Thanks for having us, Mom,” Hailey said. She turned to the group. “Ladies, this is my mom. Mom, this is everyone.” She rattled off their names, pointing at them.
“Hello!” Brandy said warmly, giving them all a wave.
“We’ll just be browsing for a bit,” Hailey told her mom. “I’ll call you over when we’re ready.”
Brandy’s smile stayed firmly in place, but her enthusiastic expression closed. She was probably disappointed not to be included in their group shoe shopping. “Of course,” she murmured. “I’ll be here.”
Everyone followed Hailey over to the wall of shoes. Sabrina stopped to thank Brandy for letting them use her discount.
“Always happy to help with my daughter’s wedding planning,” Brandy said with a tight smile. “Enjoy yourself.”
Sabrina joined her friends and glanced over her shoulder, where Hailey’s mom was standing near the cushioned white settee in the center of the store watching them. Sabrina caught her eye and smiled. Brandy quickly looked away.
Hailey was busy pointing out the shoes she thought would best coordinate with their light blue bridesmaids dresses, basically white. Mad didn’t care if the styles were matching as long as everyone was happy. That was Mad for you, a total tomboy, the only girl raised in a house full of older brothers and a single cop dad. She was probably Hailey’s easiest bridal client ever. Mad was all yeah, sure, whatever to everything Hailey suggested.
Once they had shoes in hand to try on in their size, Sabrina sat on the long bench seat next to Hailey. “You look just like your mom.”
Hailey huffed and looked around for her mom, who was standing a distance away. “It’s so embarrassing. She tries to look like me. Her hair is naturally blond and white.” She lowered her voice. “She colors it to match mine. She gets regular botox too. She used to be a model. That was like the golden time in her life. I don’t think she ever got over it.”
Interesting. Hailey was a former beauty queen. Her mom must’ve put a lot of emphasis on looks. Brandy looked young and vibrant, but she had to be at least in her forties since Hailey was twenty-seven. “How old is she?” Sabrina whispered.
“Forty-nine,” Hailey whispered back. “Act your age, right?” A whimper from Hailey’s pink doggie purse had Hailey leaning down to the floor and opening the top of the purse. Rose’s white furry head popped up, her pink bow on top of her tiny scruff of wiry fur vibrating as she looked all around, sniffing the air, and then lay back down for a nap.
Sabrina kept her voice low. “I suppose there’s no harm in looking young if it makes her feel good.”
Hailey pursed her lips, but refrained from commenting further.
Someone cleared their throat loudly behind them. “Hello,” a masculine voice said.
Mad popped up from the other end of the long bench, teetering in white heels. “Dad! What’re you doing here?”
They all turned to look. Mr. Campbell, a retired cop, stood in the middle of racks of dresses, looking comically out of place in his faded red flannel shirt, worn jeans, and sneakers. He was tall and fit, probably in his fifties, with short brown hair that had some gray near the sides. He smiled, making his brown eyes crinkle at the corners. “I wanted to be a part of things. I couldn’t make it last weekend, but Hailey said it wasn’t too late for me to join in. Shoes, right?”
Mad’s head whipped toward Hailey, her brown eyes wide. Hailey pasted on her beauty-queen smile. It popped up in high-stress situations.
Mr. Campbell shoved his hands in his pockets. “You don’t want me here?”
Mad jerked her chin. “It’s okay. I was just surprised because it’s such a girl thing.”
“Go back to whatever you were doing,” he said, taking them all in. “Pretend I’m not here.”
The women all stared, not going back to what they were doing.
He kept standing there, looking manly and uncomfortable. Sabrina thought it spoke to his love for his daughter that he would brave such a feminine outing. Finally, Hailey’s mom, Brandy, walked over and greeted Mr. Campbell warmly, shaking his hand, and they had a short conversation. She must’ve made him feel more comfortable because he headed toward them, smiling. First he hugged Mad; then he kissed his two daughters-in-law on the cheek and raised a hand with a warm greeting for the rest of them. Finally he stopped in front of Hailey.
Hailey smiled up at him from where she sat on the bench next to Sabrina. “I wasn’t sure if you’d actually show up, so I didn’t mention it to Mad.”
“Course I’d show.” He leaned down to say in a low voice, “She’s my baby. My only girl. Tell me what the mother of the bride would do. I want to fill in as best I can.”
Sabrina’s chest ached. What a great dad, doing his best to take the place of an absentee mom.
Hailey gave him a soft smile. “Something needs doing, Mr. Campbell, I’ll let you know.”
Mr. Campbell straightened. “Please call me Joe. You ladies are like sisters to Mad. I’ve never been involved in planning a wedding. What can I do to help?”
Hailey gave his forearm a squeeze. “I appreciate the offer, Joe, but, honestly, almost everything is taken care of at this point.”
Joe pulled a folded check out of his front shirt pocket and handed it to Hailey. “I know it’s not much, but I want to help. I had this saved for her college tuition, but Mad insisted it was covered. Put this to whatever she needs.”
Hailey unfolded the check. Five thousand dollars. Not enough to cover four years of college tuition, but a nice contribution toward the wedding. “Thank you.”
Joe spoke in a conspiratorial tone. “At first I thought Jake helped her out with tuition, but then I found out it was Josh.”
Hailey stiffened. “Josh?” Her nemesis had done something good. Would this make Hailey soften toward him?
Joe nodded. “Put off his own dream of owning a bar to do it.”
“I had no idea,” Hailey whispered, glancing down the row of women to Mad and back to Joe. “Mad never said anything.”
Joe touched his index finger to his temple. “My kids think I don’t see, but I do. I know what’s up with every one of them. That’s what made me a good cop. I’m observant.”
“Hey, Dad!” Mad called. “What do you think of these?” She wore shiny white high-heeled boots that went up to her knees. Kind of a weird choice to go with a wedding gown, but Mad had an unusual take on women’s fashion, which was to say no clue at all.
Hailey frowned, but didn’t immediately reject the choice. She was a very diplomatic wedding planner.
“If you like them, I like them,” Joe said.
“I like them,” Mad said, looking down at them and smiling.
Hailey rushed over to talk to Mad and then gestured to Brandy to join them. Next thing you knew, Mad was seated on the bench with a whole row of bride-appropriate shoes to try on.
The rest of them had a great time trying on shoes, stopping frequently to give Mad a thumbs-up or thumbs-down for whatever she tried on. Her dad wasn’t much help. He just wanted her to be happy, so he agreed with whatever she liked. The rest of them wanted her to be happy and look good.
Once Sabrina had chosen her bridesmaid shoes, a practical white pump with a small embroidered daisy on the side, she browsed the gorgeously impractical shoes just for fun. She fondled a silver metallic leather stiletto. It was breathtaking. Open-toed with four sets of metallic silver wings running up the front, two ankle straps. Wearing something like this said I’m ready to soar. If she was going to face down all those cameras and lights, she’d be doing it with wings on her feet.
She held them up to her friends. “What do you think for my talk-show interviews in LA?” She’d texted her friends about her big LA moment as soon as she’d heard.
“Yes!” Hailey exclaimed. “How much are they?”
Sabrina checked the price and winced. “Too much.”
“I’ll chip in,” Hailey said.
“We’ll all chip in,” Lexi said, gesturing for the others to join in.
The ladies insisted.
Sabrina shook her head. “I appreciate it. Really. But I got it.” She was doing well in her practice and hoped to have even more clients after all the publicity. Fingers crossed the rest of her interviews went as smoothly as her Sunshine America interview. Besides, she lived modestly in a one-bedroom apartment. She stayed there mostly because her close friends lived in the same building. Though now only Lexi was left since her other two close friends, Missy and Ally, had moved in with their fiancés. A pang of pure envy hit. When she’d first joined the Happy Endings Book Club, it had been designed as a singles book club. No men had ever stuck around, though, and they’d become a tight sisterhood of single women united in their love of romance novels.
But now things were very different. Nearly everyone had found their special someone. It was just her, Hailey, and Lexi left in the singles department. Totally unfair, now that she thought about it. She could understand Lexi being single, the woman was so jaded about men, but Sabrina and Hailey had dedicated their lives to relationships. How was it that neither of them had one? Were they just too close to all of the issues that could pop up to take a chance? Too caught up in helping other couples to invest time in their own love lives? She should have a heart-to-heart with Hailey and get to the bottom of this. It had never seemed such a glaring problem before, but with all the attention on Sabrina’s supposed relationship expertise, it was a real issue.
Hailey sighed. “We just feel bad we can’t go out to LA with you. It’s such a shame you and Claire are just missing each other.” Sabrina was heading out to California two days after Claire moved to Connecticut permanently. Claire and her husband, Jake, were arriving tonight at their new house.
Sabrina ran a finger over one of her new shoes’ wings. “I’ll see her tomorrow at Jake and Josh’s birthday party. I’m going over a little early to raid her closet and get some coaching. She knows all the talk-show hosts.”
Lexi stood, looking right at Sabrina, her brown eyes gleaming with mischief. “You did great on Sunshine America with Logan there.”
Sabrina shot her a dark look. Ha-ha, keep it up. Next guy you talk to will be fair game for harassing the hell out of you.
Lexi winked. “And things got pretty heated on the sidewalk between you two.”
“I explained that,” Sabrina said through her teeth. Though the story her friends had heard was that Logan was mad she’d pretended he was her boyfriend. She was especially careful what she shared around Mad, who’d surely pass along any juicy tidbits to Logan. Only Lexi knew the truth. Sabrina had spilled her guts on the drive over here with Lexi, confessing she really liked Logan so much more than a friend, despite every practical reason she shouldn’t, including the pertinent fact that he had a girlfriend and was moving to San Francisco. Lexi had informed Sabrina that they’d all been hopeful for her to get together with Logan, but had believed her when she said they were just friends. Only Mad hadn’t been hopeful, convinced Logan was stuck on his ex. Too bad Mad was the one who was right. Sabrina still swore Lexi to secrecy because she didn’t want her one-sided longing for Logan to get back to him. Also Logan hadn’t yet told his friends and family about his move. Everything hinged on his investor meetings.
Lexi blew her a kiss.
Sabrina scowled. Sometimes Lexi’s sensitivity level was on par with a guy’s. Not that all men were like that, but the vast majority Sabrina encountered in her practice were oblivious to sensitive issues. Just like her clueless ex. Not only had Kevin sent her a wedding invitation—her! His jilted bride! He’d followed up with an enthusiastic email, telling her how wonderful his fiancée was and how he really wanted Sabrina to meet her. The man had no clue about boundaries or her emotional state. It suddenly occurred to her that it was a blessing she hadn’t married Kevin. Clearly his cluelessness hadn’t improved over the years. It would’ve worn at her, small slights and bigger wounds that he wouldn’t have noticed.
Joe cocked his head. “Logan was on TV?”
Logan. He wasn’t clueless at all. He’d been there for her during her TV appearance, reading between the lines to the fear under her bravado. Her heart cracked open, feeling so much more than lust for him. Her brain knew better; her heart didn’t care.
Sabrina turned to Joe. “He was backstage.” Her cheeks heated, and she willed herself to stop blushing. Joe studied her intently, showing his wily cop ways, and she cracked under the pressure. “He showed up to cheer me on.”
One corner of his mouth lifted, reminding her of Logan’s amused smile. “Is that right?”
Lexi added fuel to the fire, informing Joe, “He drove all the way to the city at an ungodly hour on a Monday.” She thumped her chest. “Above and beyond, A for effort.”
Joe’s brows went up, staring at Lexi, but he said nothing. What was there to say? Lexi made it sound like Logan had a thing for her. Joe’s attention returned to Sabrina, and she felt the telltale blush spread to her neck.
“We’re good friends,” she assured him.
Mad piped up. “Yeah. Logan’s still stuck on whatshername from college.”
“Olivia,” Sabrina supplied.
“Since when?” Joe asked.
Mad stood, back to wearing her usual black work boots. “Since forever, Dad. Everyone knows.”
Joe’s brows scrunched together.
“I only recently heard about her,” Sabrina offered, trying to make Joe feel better for being out of the loop. “I think he likes to keep his private life private.”
“Then how’d I know?” Mad asked.
Hailey distracted Mad, taking Rose out of her doggie purse and handing her over for cuddles. Mad had taken care of Rose right before they all gave Hailey the little dog as a present, so they had a special bond. Rose was part of an intervention Sabrina had orchestrated for Hailey on New Year’s Eve, trying to help her slow down from the hyper speed she’d latched onto after she’d ended her long-term friends-with-benefits arrangement. The real stressor for Hailey, in Sabrina’s professional opinion, was losing her sparring partner in Josh when he’d become involved with the beautiful bohemian Clarissa just as Hailey became single. Swing and a miss for Hailey, though she’d never admit it.
Joe looked to Sabrina, his brow crinkled. “Logan was with her eight years ago. How could he be hung up that long?”
“They reconnected recently,” Sabrina said. She looked away, her eyes hot. She’d been lucky to have Logan in her life for the short time that she had, and now he was leaving. Her throat tightened, eyes stinging, heart aching. She gave herself a moment to acknowledge her loss. It was time for her to let go of Logan.
She had to look to the future, to her career, to her upcoming book and helping so many women. That was where she should focus all of her energy. She stood, holding up her shoes, and forced some cheer into her voice. “Brandy, I’ll take these.”
Brandy smiled and gestured for her to follow her to the counter.
Once they’d all paid for the shoes, with an employee discount courtesy of Brandy, they headed for their next stop—lunch. Hailey had made reservations in a private room of an Italian restaurant nearby.
“Joe, you’re welcome to join us for lunch,” Hailey said. “I’m sure the restaurant could add one more to the reservation.”
Joe smiled. “Thanks, but I have to go. You ladies enjoy yourselves.”
Mad gave him a hug. “Thanks for coming. Not every day your daughter is a bride, huh?”
Joe’s eyes misted and he ruffled Mad’s hair. She scowled and smoothed it out. “You’re a beautiful bride, Mad. Couldn’t be more proud.”
Mad’s lips twisted to the side, her own eyes misting. “See ya.”
They all headed out the door, except Joe, who turned and went back to the counter. Sabrina stopped in front of the door and peeked over her shoulder. Joe was talking to Brandy, the pair of them showing all the classic flirtation signals. Joe standing tall, shoulders thrown back. Brandy smiling, looking away and back. Whoa.
Sabrina went out the door and stopped her friends on the sidewalk outside. “You guys, look.”
They peered through the large picture window as Brandy handed Joe her business card.
“Omigod,” Hailey whispered. “What just happened?”
“Bah,” Mad said. “He’s probably going to surprise me with a wedding present. Your mom’s probably going to pick out a purse or something for him.”
“I think he asked her out,” Sabrina said.
Joe turned, heading their way, a big smile on his face.
They all quickly turned from the window, acting casual, though none of them could think of a single thing to say.
Joe stepped outside, whistling, turned and walked down the sidewalk away from them. He hadn’t even noticed them gawking.
“What just happened!” Hailey exclaimed, staring at Joe’s retreating back.
“Maybe we’ll end up sisters,” Mad said, a hint of longing in her voice.
Sabrina suppressed a laugh. That would make Josh—Hailey’s nemesis—her brother. Ever since their paid-wedding-date fiasco, Hailey had been demanding her money back while Josh kept telling her to go back to his place and get it. Which, of course, they all knew was code for some private time. Their sexual chemistry was off the charts. So was their hostility. Brother and sister! Hysterical!
“Omigod!” Hailey exclaimed at the top of her lungs, staring at her mom. Rose’s head popped out of Hailey’s dog purse, ears perked for trouble.
Sabrina gently nudged Hailey away from the window and down the sidewalk. Whatever was about to happen between Joe and Brandy, they didn’t need Hailey for it.