Just Desserts Read Online Free Page B

word into the phone, because he really couldn’t think of anything to say. He opened the passenger door, dug around under the seat, then shoved his hand deep into the crack between the seats and struck gold.
     
    “Got it,” he said, pulling out a slim eel-skin wallet. “You must have lost it when you dumped your purse out.”
     
    “I dumped my…never mind. Thank you for finding it.”
     
    “I’m pretty swamped today, but I can drop it by your house on my way home.”
     
    “Don’t bother. I’ll pick the wallet up tomorrow on my way to work.”
     
    “It’ll be here waiting for you.” And Justin wouldn’t be. “I’m going to the lake tomorrow for a catering event. I, uh, could pick up your overnight bag there if you want.”
     
    “Oh.” It was obvious she hadn’t even thought about that. And that she wanted to say no, but wasn’t going to. “Thank you. I would very much appreciate it.”
     
    He smiled at her stiff tone. Likely she was torn between gratitude and a desire to keep him out of her life. “You know me, Layla—always there to lend a hand.”
     
    There was a slight choking sound and then the phone went dead.
     
    SAM, WHO COULDN’T MAKE IT up to the lake in her little car to rescue Layla, did make it across town just fine to see her sister on her way to the small shop she ran a few blocks from Layla’s house. But in Sam’s defense, the snow that had pelted the mountains was a slushy sleet in Reno.
     
    “Oh. My.” Sam stopped dead in the doorway and stared at her sister for a long moment, oblivious to the wet snow blowing into the house. Layla grabbed her by the sleeve and tugged her inside.
     
    “I haven’t had time to shower.”
     
    “Well, at least wipe the mascara from under your eyes.”
     
    Layla nodded. But she didn’t move.
     
    Sam’s eyes grew wide. “This is bad, isn’t it?”
     
    “I don’t think I’ve ever had a worse day than yesterday.”
     
    “Considering some of the stuff the twins did to you, that’s saying a lot.”
     
    Layla nodded again, then sat on the upholstered window seat. She hadn’t changed out of her dress, hadn’t managed to do much of anything except to lie quivering on her bed, fighting the mother of all hangovers. She did feel slightly better now that the Pepto Bismol and aspirin had taken effect. Physically, anyway.
     
    “Tell me about it,” Sam said, sitting beside her.
     
    Layla turned to her sister, who was so very different from her, and took in the short red hair, the fuchsia lipstick painted into an exaggerated Cupid’s bow, the clothes that appeared more costumelike than conventional. Yes, they were from different planets, but if anyone was going to understand… She took a deep breath and the story poured out. One solid hit to her ego and self-dignity after another.
     
    “I knew something was…off,” Layla said, talking to her clasped hands. “For weeks.
     
    “He took you to the lake to tell you he was sleeping with someone else.”
     
    Layla looked up at her sister. “No. I asked him why we hadn’t—” she gestured “—you know…slept together much lately. And then I jokingly asked if he was wearing himself out with someone else.” She bit her lip as she recalled the way the color had drained from his face. “He was. Is.” She shook her hair back. “Melinda. From school.”
     
    “Melinda!”
     
    “They met at the school faculty Christmas party.”
     
    “That bitch!”
     
    “I introduced them.” She’d rather smugly wanted Melinda, who was always jockeying for top position at the school, to see what kind of a great guy she, Layla, had landed. Joke was on her.
     
    “That has to sting.” Sam put an arm around her shoulders and Layla gave up the fight, slumping against her. She didn’t let herself depend on people often. She’d been disappointed so many times in the past by her well-meaning but easily distracted family. But right now, for this moment, she was going to lean on her sister.