Carrie Alexander - The Chocolate Seduction

Six months was generous, she decided. It wouldn’t be too much of a shock if they were arguing on the honeymoon cruise, when Charlie wanted to go para-sailing and Nicole chose to snorkel. Every little thing had once been a battle. The arguments were still familiar.

“Sure, they seem devoted,” Sabrina admitted. A spring breeze whipped up and stole the words “for now…” from her lips. Loose pink rose petals from the swags draped over the balcony railing scattered like confetti. Cream satin ribbons fluttered.

Below, Nicole’s delighted laughter rang out as Charlie removed the jacket of his tux and draped it over her shoulders. He used it to pull her toward his kiss.

Mackenzie sighed. “See that?”

Sabrina nodded, watching. Even her heart had melted…a little. Then the wind came again and she shivered in her whisper-of-silk slip dress. Ever practical and prepared, Mackenzie hooked an arm around Sabrina’s shoulders, sharing her pink cashmere wrap and her body warmth. Mackenzie was a home-and-hearth kind of girl. Sabrina was long and lean, built for running.

She was good at that. But then why was she still clutching the ring box so tightly?

Mackenzie stirred. “Doesn’t it make you think, Breen?”

“Think what?”

“Mom and Dad aren’t afraid to go for it. We shouldn’t be, either.”

Sabrina drew away. “What are you talking about? Love? Marriage? Me? Not on your life!”

Making a tutting noise, Mackenzie pulled off the wrap and arranged it around her sister. Her long hair covered her own shoulders like a cape. It was beautiful—waist-length, thick and wavy, the color of dark chocolate. She’d been wearing it in the same plain style since she was ten. “No, Sabrina. I mean change. Transformation, renewal, starting over—whatever you want to call it. Change would do us both good.”

Sabrina made a face. “It’s my policy to avoid anything that will do me good. And I like my life the way it is.”

Mackenzie’s brows went up. “Do you really?”

“Yes, really.”

“I remember a certain 3:00 a.m. phone call—”

“You swore you wouldn’t use that against me. It was no more than a bad breakup rant. I’d already done the sympathy margarita thing with my girlfriends. I was in the middle of the tearing-up-photos-and-freaking-long-distance stage.”

“Now, Sabrina, you were with the last guy for almost an entire winter. It was more than just another failed relationship. You’re used to those. If you weren’t hurt, you wouldn’t have packed up and flown to Mexico the very next day.”

“I’m used to doing that, too,” Sabrina pointed out.

Mackenzie got a stubborn look on her face. “Just because you’re used to it doesn’t mean you like it. I distinctly remember that before the breakup you were wondering if it wasn’t time to settle down and start a real career.”

Sabrina hesitated. Mackenzie was right. Lately she’d been nagged by the feeling that she’d been a gypsy for long enough—continually moving from city to city, job to job, one boyfriend to the next. All that had gotten her was a lot of experience, an address book full of crossed-out names and a Mr. Wrong in nearly every state.

She was ready for a change—a smart one, this time.

“What about you?” she challenged Mackenzie. “I know you’re the good sister and all, but there’s room for improvement in your life, too. How long have you been in a holding pattern with Mr. Dull? And hasn’t your boss at Regal Foods been promising you a promotion to executive in charge of jawbreakers and Gummi Bears for, I don’t know, forever and a day?”

Mackenzie’s mouth pursed. “You haven’t been keeping up. I was promoted nearly a month ago, when you were jet-skiing in Mazatlan.”

“Uh, wow. That’s fabulous. Congrats, and all that.” Sabrina wondered how her sister stood it, being so steady and reliable all the time. She really ought to offer the family’s heirloom ring to Mackenzie, except that…

“And how is Mr. Dull?” Sabrina asked.

“His name is Jason Dole. He’s—”

“A deep snooze. A dead bore.”

“You’re wrong. He might not be up to your Danger Boy standards, but he’s a good guy.”

Sabrina rolled her eyes. “There’s that word again. Good. The kiss of death.”

“Not for me. We’re alike. We get along.”

“You wouldn’t be talking change if all you wanted was to ‘get along.”’ Ever since the divorce had turned their world upside down, Mackenzie had been resistant to change. She’d lived in the same apartment since college, worked at the same candy company as she slowly worked her way toward a position as the top Tootsie Roll. She had to be as tired of routine as Sabrina was of airports and train stations.

“Look,” she said, nudging Mackenzie toward the railing again. Charlie and Nicole had continued to kiss. Aside from the slight ew factor—this was their middle-aged parents, after all—the couple’s affection was enviable. “Tell me you have that much passion with Jason and I’ll gladly dance at your wedding.” And even surrender the ring.

“I can’t.” The admission came too fast. Mackenzie wasn’t nearly as resistant as Sabrina had expected.

“Well, then, there you go.” Sabrina cocked her head. Charlie and Nicole were still kissing. She leaned over the railing and yelled, “Hey! You kids down there. Getta room, why don’tcha?”

Her parents broke apart, looking around in surprise. When they spotted their daughters up on the balcony, they laughed and waved, calling hellos.

Sabrina lifted her glass to them, then drained the remaining champagne in one swallow. “Mackenzie—I’ve got it. You and I need to switch lives.”

“Oh, no. I’m not cut out for changing boyfriends with the seasons. And I can’t roller-skate.” Sabrina’s latest temporary job was as a roller-skating waitress in a fifties-theme drive-in restaurant in St. Louis, a city she’d chosen by poking her finger at a map in a travel agency’s window.

“But we do need to make changes,” Mackenzie went on. She took a breath. Stuck out her chin. “I will if you will.”

Sabrina narrowed her eyes. “What did you have in mind?” It wasn’t like her sister to be reckless, so she was forced to be cautious in response. One way or another, they always balanced each other out.

“For your part, you’ll settle down in one city. Sign a real lease, not a month-by-month.”

That wasn’t so bad. “You have to break up with Mr. Dull.”

Mackenzie nodded. “I can do that. If you get a job—a job you like enough to stick with for at least a year.”

“An entire year…” Sabrina gulped, then leveled a finger at Mackenzie’s round face. “Fine, but you have to quit the candy company.”

“Quit Regal Foods? Why? I told you how I just got that big promotion.”

“You’ve always talked about running your own fancy candy store. I know you’ve been saving for it. Why not crack open your nest egg? There’s no better time to go for it.”

Mackenzie had paled, but she nodded. Reluctantly. “I’ll take the plunge if you promise to give up men,” she said, probably because she’d calculated that it was a safe offer which would never be accepted.

Celibacy? Sabrina thought. That was absurd! Impossible! But she retaliated without voicing her doubts. “Only if you cut your hair.”

“How short?”

“How long?” Sabrina said at the same time.

“Until you truly fall in love,” Mackenzie answered.

Sabrina’s fingers clenched on the ring box. “Then you go above the ears.”

The sisters stopped, momentarily dumbstruck by their careening conversation.

“My hair?” Mackenzie whispered, lifting a hand to stroke the dark length of it.