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“Easy,” Juliet echoed.
“For someone so good at taking directions and following rules,” Nikki said, plopping onto the cushions with so much energy they both bounced.
It still sounded like faint praise to Juliet.
But she still couldn’t dwell on it, not when she needed to focus on her knitted piece as well as the conversation flowing between the Tuesday Night Knitters. The dozen or so women who seated themselves in Cassandra’s shop were at various stages of projects that ranged from simple to difficult. Nikki dispensed with any concern over introductions—Juliet wasn’t sure how the Happy Widow or surprise sister would play with this crowd—by announcing, “Everyone, this is Juliet. Juliet, this is everyone.”
The declaration allowed her to sit back and quietly work on her piece—and work on her ability to increase her stitches—as she listened to one woman despair of completing the tree skirt she was knitting by Christmas—the tree skirt she’d started two summers before. Another nimble knitter seemed to have no trouble at all adding to a stack of sweet stars made out of a glittery yarn and intended as tree decorations. Nikki and a couple of others were working on sweaters for the men in their lives.
It didn’t occur to Juliet to question that until the knitting session had ended and the three sisters were once again alone in the shop. As Nikki bundled her work into a canvas bag, Juliet frowned. “Wait a minute. How come you’re ignoring the curse and making Jay a sweater?”
“Boyfriend curse. Not father or brother or fiancé.”
Juliet fingered the soft, pretty wool in her hands and felt a little puffed up by the progress she’d made in just a couple of hours. “But I could do it then. Knit a sweater for Noah. He’s like a brother to me.”
Nikki froze, then called over to Cassandra. “Um, help here?”
The other woman stopped her tidying to join them at the matching couches. “What?”
Nikki pointed at Juliet with a knitting needle. “Noah’s like a brother to her. That’s what she just said.”
“Oh.” Cassandra dropped to the opposite couch.
“‘Oh’ ? Oh, what?”
Cassandra’s voice was gentle. “He doesn’t look at you like he’s your brother…” she started.
“And you don’t look at him like he’s your brother either,” Nikki finished in a rush.
Heat flashed over Juliet’s skin and up her neck. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” They hadn’t been there that night in her kitchen when she’d stared at him, naked, in her pool. No one but Noah and Juliet knew about the accidental kiss that had come out of her celebratory hug.
It had been a mistake, she’d decided days ago. An aberration. And the fact that she’d felt a resurgence of sexual feelings wasn’t something personal to Noah, just something she was experiencing as another step in the grieving process.
“I’ll tell you what I’m talking about,” Nikki said. “The man’s hot. He stares at you like skinny women stare at slices of chocolate cake on a restaurant’s dessert tray. Why don’t you give both of you a present and do something about that?”
“Nikki,” Cassandra protested, a laugh in her voice. “Sex isn’t the answer to everything.”
“I didn’t say so. I just don’t want two celibate sisters. That’s no fun.”
Cassandra shook her head, leaving Juliet to sputter. “I can’t… I’m not…”
“You’re not what?”
She tucked her hair behind her ears and took a breath. “I’m a widow. My husband and I… I loved him very much.”
“Oh.” Nikki sank back into the couch, her exuberant expression gone. “It’s not that I forgot…it’s just that…it’s just that..” Her eyes filled with tears.
Alarm made Juliet slide closer to the younger woman. “What’s the matter?”
Cassandra tossed Nikki a tissue box from a nearby table. “It’s okay, Nik. Everything’s okay.” She glanced over at Juliet. “Our chef’s been a crier since the night Jay got her cornered and made her promise to marry him. Turned her romance-crazy, too. She wants everyone to be part of a committed couple.”
“God,” Nikki said, wiping her eyes. “I’m mortified to admit I resemble that remark. But I’m so sorry, Juliet. I wasn’t thinking about you losing your husband.”
“It’s all right.” She smiled, remembering herself as Nikki was now. Giddy with new love and wanting everyone to have their own taste of that incredible dish. “But I’ve had my turn as half of a committed couple. I’m not expecting to find that again.”
