“I talked with him. In fact, we talked about you.”
Lord. The ice cream must have numbed her brain, because she couldn’t think of a single thing to say. Left eye twitching, she stared at Ember instead.
“I have a plan.”
After pushing back her chair in haste, Autumn put space between herself and whatever nonsense her sister contrived. With a definitive “No,” she headed for the sink. Whatever it is, ten times no. After rinsing her bowl, she stuck it in the dishwasher and tried to make a strategic retreat to the shower. “Later.”
Ember jumped into her path. Wearing an expression of extreme disappointment, she shook her head. “Just look at you, Autumn.”
“That’s a little hard to do.”
“You know what I mean. You’ve given up and just don’t care anymore. The good news is that I can fix it.”
It? They’d had this conversation too many times. Truthfully, she’d never cared that much about the things Ember obsessed over, like makeup, hairstyles and the trendiest clothes.
Crossing her arms under her boobs, Autumn said, “You mean me. You want to fix me.”
Damn it, she was the it.
Rather than deny it, Ember pinched the air. “Just a tiny bit. Like...” She looked at Autumn with obvious disapproval, and lamented dramatically, “Your hair. I’m not sure if that started out as a ponytail or what, but now it’s just a mess.”
“I loaded and unloaded pigs.” She pointed at Ember. “By myself, if you’ll recall, since you refused to answer the phone.”
“I’m very glad you saved them from Ralph. That’s one thing we don’t need to work on—your compassion.”
Hallelujah. She had an asset.
“But those clothes? I’m the builder, you’re the designer, but you dress like you work—”
“On a farm? With pigs?”
“That was later and you know it. This afternoon, you met with clients.”
Autumn shrugged.
“You should wear pretty dresses that flatter your figure, not pants that look like they came from the back of Grandma’s closet.”
A slow inhale didn’t help. True, she was something of a visual mess. Inside, she mostly had it together. And, damn it, she liked herself. So she dressed for her own comfort? Big deal. Everyone else could bite it. “How about you don’t dissect me, and I won’t dissect you?”
Ember gave a small flinch. “I don’t mean to be insulting—”
God save her if she ever did mean it. Every time Ember or their mother got started, her stomach hurt. She hated that she didn’t measure up, and biting back sarcasm only made it worse.
“Autumn, stop that.” Ember started to draw her in for a hug, then sniffed the air and changed to giving her a small shake instead. “It’s just that you’re pretty and you practically hide it. It wouldn’t take much to really make you stand out—and as an incentive I already...” She drew a breath as if to gird herself.
For Autumn’s ire. Meaning it had to be bad.
“What?” Alarm chased circles in her gut. “Ember, what did you do?”
“You have an appointment with Tash tomorrow.”
Good thing she had a wall beside her, because Autumn collapsed against it. “You didn’t.”
“Did.” In a rush now, Ember explained, “He needs a designer, Autumn, and you know you’re the best around!”
She had compassion and design skill. Hey, the compliments were piling up.
“Forget that crazy crush you had on him—”
“It was eons ago!” Heat bloomed in Autumn’s face. She hated to be reminded of her most awkward years. “Of course I’ve forgotten it. Maybe you’ve forgotten that I was even engaged after that.”
It was the wrong thing to bring up. Ember’s expression softened. “I know. Neither of us will ever forget that.”
Autumn threw up her hands. “No one died, so stop looking so grim.”
“You haven’t dated since then.”
“Choice,” she emphasized. “There’s no one here who interests me, that’s all.” Liar, liar, pants on fire. Sure, some guys asked, but everyone here remembered her engagement and certain assumptions came with that, making everything superawkward. “Let’s forget all my past failures, okay? I’m over them, I swear.”
“Great.” Satisfied, Ember beamed at her. “Then it’s no problem to meet with Tash, right?”
It was a massive problem, but how could she explain that after swearing it wasn’t? She could only think of one excuse. “The thing is, you don’t set my schedule. I already had my day booked.”
Dismissing that, Ember waved a hand. “I looked at our joint calendar and, um, rearranged a few things.”
Of all the intrusive, pushy, over-the-top... Straightening, Autumn squared her shoulders. “Rearrange them back.”
“Can’t.” Turning, Ember headed for the shared door. “Tash is expecting you at six.”
“I finish work at five!”
“Yeah, see, that’s how I rearranged. Added another hour for ya. If you come straight home, I’ll have a tiny bit of time to work on your appearance before you have to head to his place on the other side of the lake.” She gave an airy wave. “Tomorrow, if any emergencies come up, I promise to answer the phone to leave you free and clear.”
“That must mean you don’t have a date.”
Ember shared a slow smile. “No, but you do.” And with that, she closed the door.
Feeling militant and more than a little irate, Autumn walked over and flipped the lock, then yelled through the door, “I can get myself ready, by the way! I don’t need help.”
A loud “Ha!” came right back to her.
They needed more insulation in the walls, and thicker doors, obviously.
Frustration amplified the discomfort of her sweaty clothes and clammy skin. Honestly, she could put up with the idiocy of the Ralphs of the world every day for the rest of her life, and it’d be easier than dealing with her family.
She really, like very badly, wanted to reopen the door and somehow intrude into Ember’s life. But Ember would probably just laugh and go about her business.
Few things ever got to her. In almost every scenario, she was the life of the party, the fun girl, the one in demand.
Only one time had she ever seen her sister truly leveled, and she never wanted to go through that again.