Page 130 of Protecting You

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A few minutes later,Alyssa stared at her image in her sister’s full-length mirror.

“You’re so pretty.” Peri sounded awed.

“She’s all right, I guess.” Brooklynn added, “I’m only a little annoyed that you look better in my clothes than I do.

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Brooklynn’s curves would fill out the dress better than Alyssa’s stick-straight body.

As she’d feared, her sister didn’t own a single little black dress. Nope. They were all colorful, many multicolored. Stripes and polka dots and weird geometric designs. There was even a bright yellow one covered with daisies.

Alyssa was not wearing a daisy dress.

Brooklynn had given her a choice of two solid-color options that would work with an outdoor afternoon event. One was royal blue—with sequins, an old bridesmaid gown nobody would wear in public on purpose unless they had no choice—meaning they’d made the mistake of becoming friends with a woman who had rotten taste.

The other choice was…this.

A sleek, one-shoulder number in pale lavender. It was meant to hit mid-calf, but Alyssa was taller than her sister, so it ended just below her knees. It might be considered modest if not for the slit that rose to mid-thigh.

“It’s just a little… Maybe I should try the daisy one.” How desperate was she? But this dress made her look like she was trying to stand out. To attract attention. To attract a man.

That was the very last thing she wanted anyone to think. Especially Callan.

“The purple one is way better than the daisies!” Peri said.

“I agree.” Brooklynn propped her chin on her hand and tapped her lips as if seriously considering the problem. She walked around Alyssa, giving her assessing looks. “I don’t think you’ll look good in daisies. Now, if I had an orange dress with birds-of-paradise…”

Alyssa gave her a squinty-eyedshut-itlook, which made Brooklynn laugh.

“I think you’re right, Peri. This is as good as it gets. Ooh, and I have a little purse that matches it perfectly!”

Of course she did.

Before Alyssa could come up with a reason to change into something less…well, something else, Brooklynn and Peri practically shoved her into the bathroom.

“I’m going to grab a chair.” Brooklynn focused on Peri. “You look through my top drawer and pick out a pretty eye shadow.”

“Wait! I don’t need…”

But Brooklynn wasn’t listening to her.

Her punishment for not telling her sister she had a boyfriend was to be painted like a plastic doll.

Thirty minutes later, she was plastered with so much makeup she was afraid to smile.

Brooklynn had curled her blond hair and pinned it up at the back of her head, leaving pretty curled tendrils to float around her face.

And then, with Callan’s permission, Brooklynn had curled Peri’s hair while both sisters exclaimed about how lovely it was.

It was, too. Thick and luxurious, just like Megan’s had been.

Peri wore a white dress with pink and purple flowers that she’d gotten from her grandmother for Easter. Brooklynn pulled the front of her hair back and tied it with a purple ribbon—of course she had a purple ribbon—on top of her head.

“You are gorgeous!” Alyssa said.

Peri’s smile was as wide as Alyssa had ever seen it. “We match!”

Alyssa looked at their reflections in the mirror. Sure enough, their dresses were color-coordinated, as if they’d planned it.

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