Page 151 of The Vacation Mix-Up
“I don’t think anyone likes sadness, Riles.”
“I know, but Mom despised it. She insisted we have the power to destroy it because, with everything in life, there is balance.” She playfully rolls her eyes. “She was a true Libra. Always just. Always harmonious. If we’re sad, we can be happy. If we’re angry, we can find peace. If it rains, there’ll be sunshine. That was how she lived, day in and day out. I, on the other hand, am an Aries. So Mom was my stabilizer.”
“Aries, huh?”
She grins up at me, her steel-gray eyes presumptuous. “You seem shocked, Riley.”
Chuckling, because she’s getting good at tossing my words back at me, I say, “Not one bit.”
“What’s your sign?”
“You tell me.”
“What sign is the most annoying?”
We stop in the atrium, and I rest against a pillar before reaching out and drawing her to my chest. “The goat one.”
“Capricorn?” She giggles, her delicate fingers finding the hair at my nape. “Why are they annoying?”
I shrug; I don’t really care for the zodiac. “Because goats are pests.”
“So, you’re a Capricorn?”
“No. I’m not a pest.”
Her chin wrinkles, her eyes mischievously disagreeing with me.
I pinch her hip. “Are you calling me a pest?”
“If the sign fits….”
“If you must know, I’m a Cancer.”
Riles stiffens in my arms. “A crab?”
“Yes.”
“I once loved a crab.” Her cheeks flush with color, before she quickly blurts, “A hermit crab… when I was nine.”
Grinning, I’m about to probe for more information about her love of crabs, when she leans back and takes in our surroundings. “Anyway, enough about star signs. Why are we here?”
My insides squirm. “Irish dance lessons.”
“What?” She bursts into laughter and pushes out of my embrace. “Are you serious?”
“Unfortunately, yes.”
“Do you know how to Irish dance?”
I shake my head. “God, no.”
“Oh.” The sparkle in her eyes dims a little. “So you want to learn?”
“God, no.”
She narrows her gaze. “Then why are you here?”
I roll my neck and mumble, “Because I was coaxed into it. And I can’t dance for shit. And after seeing your efforts while you sang karaoke, I figured you can’t dance either, so it will make me feel better about doing this if you’re with me.”
