She’d turned the ringer on her cell phone off around lunchtime and stuck the device in her desk drawer. While she understood her family and friends’ curiosity, the constant calls and text messages made getting anything done impossible.
“It would have been nice if you’d told me you were engaged. Instead, I had to read about it like everyone else.”
“I called you.”
After her meeting with her mom, she’d called both her brother and sister. When Juliette didn’t answer, she’d left a message. It wasn’t Courtney’s fault her sister never called back.
“I got home late yesterday.” Juliette moved to the edge of the chair and crossed her arms on the desk. “So you’ve been with Josh since the summer? When those pictures showed up in December, I should have known there was something going on between the two of you. A two-week fling with him never quite seemed right. It was too much like something I’d do.”
If her sister, who knew her better than anyone, was buying the story they’d concocted, everyone else, including Josh’s ex, should be too.
“Why didn’t you tell me? You know it would have stayed between us,” Juliette asked.
She heard and understood the reason for the disappointment in her sister’s voice. While they were as different as two sisters could possibly be, they were close. Before this, Courtney couldn’t recall ever keeping anything important from Juliette.
“I made Josh promise not to tell anyone until I was ready. It didn’t seem right for me to tell even you if he couldn’t tell his family.”
“Still, I can’t believe you’ve been with him since July and you managed to keep it a secret. How did you do it?”
Unlike Courtney, Juliette was no stranger to the media. While Courtney and Scott resembled their dad, Juliette inherited her looks from their mom, and there was no mistaking that she was a member of the Sherbrooke family. Actually, she and their cousin Sara looked more like sisters than cousins. Thanks to Juliette’s appearance and the fact she liked to have fun, she often appeared on the cover of various tabloids and her modeling kept her picture just about everywhere else.
Good question. One she should’ve anticipated and already come up with a plausible answer to.
“We spent most of our time at either my apartment in Boston or whatever hotel he was staying in. When we went to someplace public, we never arrived or left together. We did the same thing coming and going from my apartment and his hotels. Plus, I think we just got a bit lucky.”
“A bit? Talk about an understatement.”
Juliette reached for Courtney’s left hand and examined the ring masquerading as her engagement ring. Even if her sister had seen it on her before, she didn’t think Juliette would remember it. Still, Courtney held her breath.
“Well, he knows what you like.” Juliette placed her hands on the desk. “Have you set a date?”
“February first. I’m going to ask Callie if we can use Cliff House.” She’d left a message for Callie earlier today. “And before you say anything, I mean next month, not February of next year.”
“After all these years, I’m finally rubbing off on you,” Juliette said with a smile. If a rushed wedding was anyone’s style, it was Juliette’s. “Did you tell Mom yet?”
Courtney nodded. “She wasn’t pleased, especially since she hasn’t met Josh. Saturday night we’re going to Mom and Dad’s for dinner. Scott and Paige will be there too. Mom said she would call and invite you so everyone can meet him before the wedding.”
“She left me a voice mail earlier. I haven’t had a chance to call her back. But I met Josh last year at one of Seth Vallencourt’s parties. If Selena Cruise hadn’t been draped all over him, I would have tried to get to know him better.”
Courtney knew exactly what Juliette meant by “get to know him better.” Her sister was the female version of a playboy and went through more boyfriends in a year than she’d had in her lifetime.
A sharp jab of jealousy struck her in the chest at the thought of either Selena or her sister with Josh.
“We didn’t talk for a long time, but he seemed like a nice guy.” Juliette continued while Courtney struggled with the image of Selena Cruise, an actress well-known for her mile-long legs and size D breasts, hanging all over Josh.
“I’ll call Mom later and let her know I’ll be there on Saturday.”
You don’t have to come, she thought as Juliette replaced Selena in the image tormenting her. She didn’t consider herself the jealous type. This afternoon, the ugly emotion was messing with her head.
“Next month. That doesn’t give us a lot of time to find you a dress.”
If she was about to marry someone she expected to spend the rest of her life with, she’d want every aspect of the day to be perfect, including her gown. This marriage had an undetermined expiration date, and while she wanted to look nice, she wasn’t concerned about finding the dress. For the sake of their charade, she’d play along.
“Unless you already have someone working on it, I don’t think there is enough time to have something custom designed. You’ll have to buy something off the rack.”
“You make it sound like the worst thing in the world.”
Her sister shrugged. “I guess it’s not, but do you really want a gown hundreds of other women have worn? I’d rather have something unique.”