Page 118 of The Moment They Can't Forget

“Mrs. C?”

“She just had her nails done and wouldn’t leave. I told her to behave,” Nina said.

“I always behave, dear, and that’s the problem. I need more fun in my life, and that boy of mine and Petticoat are curtailing my efforts.”

Zoe heard the thud of her boot hitting the floor and then the scrape of a chair.

“Can I get dressed?”

“Nope. You can wrap something around you, but you’re not leaving until we’ve talked to you,” Nina said.

Zoe looked through the small hole her face was in and down to the candles floating in a bowl of water with flowers. It was meant to be soothing. Right then, they were anything but.

She was coping… just, and she was keeping a smile on her face. Her relationship with her brothers, especially Sawyer, was good now, but she missed JD more and more each day. She hated that she’d avoided telling him how she felt. Not that she’d really known until he left.

“You can get up now and sit right there, because we’ve got stuff to discuss,” Nina said.

Zoe thought about just lying there. Sure, she was no longer relaxed, but she didn’t have to talk to them. She could just close her eyes and pretend to be asleep.

“Zoe Duke, you sit up now.”

“Yes, Mom.” Sighing, she turned under the sheet draped over her and rose. Getting to her feet, she wrapped it sarong style around her body.

“Let’s take our drinks to Nina’s room. It has sofas and smells nice, and she may want to practice something on us,” her mother said. “Come on, baby,” she added, picking up Zoe’s bag.

“Mom,” Zoe said in a whiney voice.

“Move it,” her mother ordered.

She followed in her sheet and found Mrs. C, Nina, and the others.

“Any chance I can have my clothes now?”

“No. Now sit,” Cill said.

She was handed a tall glass filled with liquid and ice, then waved to a chair.

“So, JD,” Mrs. C said. She had her foot raised on another chair and looked like she was two glasses ahead of Zoe on her margaritas. There was a sparkle in her eyes.

“He’s a really good guy, Zoe,” Cill said from her position perched on the edge of a handbasin. Zoe thought that could be a health violation but kept it to herself.

“I know he’s a good guy.”

“But could you love him when your brothers let you spend time with JD out in the daylight and in front of people?” Mrs. C asked.

“Yes, when you can actually go on dates,” Cill added.

“I sometimes think I would have liked a brother, and then I remember what yours are like with you,” Nina said. “Mind you, they also sometimes come with hot friends.”

“Amen.” Cill raised her glass.

“So, about the love question?” Birdie said. She was sipping her drink, but Zoe would keep an eye on her. She was a lightweight and would fall over if she had too many. There was no way she was delivering her home in that state to Sawyer.

“I really don’t want to discuss this.”

“Zoe, and this is coming from a place of love, but you’re all mopey and unhappy. Your face is making people walk the other way. The look is not a good one on you,” Nina said, waving at Zoe. “No one likes to see you unhappy.”

“I’m not unhappy!” Zoe protested.

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