A Love Like Ours

Chapter 34

It was an unusually rainy day in Los Angeles, and I was staring out the window, wondering how they still weren't home.

"Jeez," came an amused voice from behind me. I turned to find Gemma coming into the kitchen having changed into sweatpants and a t-shirt after our lunch together. "Little eager, are we?"

I couldn't help my smile, only slightly embarrassed at having been caught. "Bugger off."

She opened the fridge as I sat at the counter, glancing out the window herself now. "I'm sure they'll be home any minute. No need to keep your face plastered to the glass."

Gemma closed the fridge without pulling anything from it and smiled, completely amused with herself as she headed for the stove.

"My face was not plastered to the glass," I said, smirking myself.

"Might as well have been," she said, turning the kettle on before facing me again. "And it's not going to make them get back here any faster. You're stuck with me for a few minutes more."

I rolled my eyes for effect, but really, the day spent with Gem hadn't been so bad. After last night, I'd wanted to talk to her anyway—get a feel for what she was thinking regarding what Madelyn and I had said. And it had worked out a little too perfectly because Glenne was over early this morning to take Mads shopping for a dress, and when I'd grabbed my car keys and wallet, fully intending to go with them, Glenne had stopped me in my tracks.

"Where are you going?" she had asked.

I'd stopped, surprised and confused. "With you. I thought I'd drive."

Glenne smiled, holding an arm up between me and Mads, as if she were protecting Madelyn from me. "Oh, no you're not," she said, shaking her head at me. "This is a girls' trip. And don't you want to be surprised by her dress?"

I hadn't really given it much thought, but I didn't want to go the whole day without Mads either. We only had so much time together before she had to head back home. "I don't care one way or the other," I'd said, "but I'd planned to come with you, so—"

Glenne had stepped before me as I moved closer to the door, blocking my path. I'd started chuckling. "Really?"

"We don't need your help," she said, "And you're more than likely just going to be a distraction and/or a hindrance, so it'll be best if you stay here."

I'd looked to Mads then, surprised by the firm stance Glenne seemed to be taking, but she just stared at me with wide eyes and shrugged.

"Maybe you and Gemma can spend some time together," Mads had said, innocent as can be.

And that's when I'd understood. She'd planned it. All of it. Mads had even gone as far as to get Glenne in on it. And while I was mildly annoyed, and more than disappointed to have to stay behind—to be forced into spending time apart from her while she was here—there was a large part of me that was also grateful to her. For understanding so well what I really needed, what my sister really needed, and what she needed to do to accommodate that.

I smiled now remembering the way a mischievous grin had slithered onto Madelyn's lips—when she knew that I knew what she'd done. And she'd kissed me before leaving, as Glenne went out the door, whispering a quiet, "Have fun," to me before leaving herself.

"What are you smiling at?" Gem asked, leaning over the counter with her elbows planted on the granite.

"Nothing," I said, still smiling, knowing full well that if I told Gemma what Madelyn had done for our benefit, she would just roll her eyes and choose not to believe me.