Love by Design (Crystal Falls Book 1) Read Online Free

than the hair and the freckles, Rachel had almost identical features to Lily, including the signature steel-blue eyes of the Daly brood.
    The only full-time bartender and owner of the Blonde Bear, Jim Stevens, waved to her as she wound her way through mostly empty tables. She gave him a smile and nod before she reached Rachel.
    “Hey, you,” Rachel said and stood up to give Lily a quick hug. “How was the big appointment?”
    “Hellish. Where’s the drink menu? I need something strong and irresponsible.” Lily slung her purse into an empty chair a little more forcefully than necessary.
    Rachel raised her eyebrows and pushed the menu toward her sister. “Want to talk about it?”
    “Not until I’m good and liquored up.”
    “Wow, that bad, huh?”
    Lily’s best friend Angie appeared at their table and placed a bright blue cocktail in front of Rachel. Angie worked as a waitress at the Blonde Bear most nights, another reason the sisters had made the place a second home.
    “Hey babe,” she said and gave Lily’s shoulders a quick squeeze. “How’s my favorite customer tonight?”
    “Lousy,” Lily replied.
    “Job didn’t go so well?”
    “You could say that. Actually, I’m not sure it could have gone any worse.”
    “So the usual then, or do you want something a little stronger? Jim’s created something new, if you want to try it. It’s pink and foamy and has enough alcohol in it to drown even the worst of your sorrows.”
    Jim liked to make up his own concoctions and brought them out as specials at least once a week. Every once in a while he would hit on something fantastic. But most of the time they were downright awful.
    “The usual,” Lily said and put the menu away.
    “I’ll be right back with it,” Angie replied. “And then I want the details.”
    “So the meeting wasn’t so good?” Rachel asked, sipping her drink carefully from a straw.
    “I don’t think you’re supposed to drink a cocktail with a straw.”
    “You see the color of this thing? I don’t want to dye my teeth.”
    Angie came back and set a glass of chardonnay in front of Lily, then slid onto the stool next to her.
    “Want a sip?” Lily asked her, scooting the glass toward Angie.
    “Na, I get off in half an hour anyway. I’ll join you guys then.”
    “Well, go ahead,” Rachel prodded her. “Let’s hear it.”
    Rachel and Angie had been her biggest support during the hard months of starting her business. She didn’t think she would have gotten through without them. They knew every dirty detail, from the “pro bono” work she’d done in her mom’s bathroom to the surprise call from Mrs. Upton’s assistant last week. They’d been so excited for her, so supportive, that she almost didn’t want to tell them about her morning from hell.
    Lily took a drink and sighed. “I was running late, of course. I thought I’d left myself enough time but,” she shrugged her shoulders, “you know how it is.”
    Rachel and Angie both nodded sadly and Lily continued. “I got there late, only to find - wait for it!” she held up her hand and feigned astonishment, “Who else but he-who-shall-not-be-named, already there.”
    “ No. ” Rachel grabbed her hand and Angie leaned back with a look of horror on her face. “What was he doing there?”
    “Working, of course. Looks like he’s been hired to do the remodel and I’ll be doing the interior design. Isn’t that fabulous?”
    “You’ve got to be kidding me,” Angie said and squeezed her hand. Lily drank the yellow wine deeply, only cringing a little bit at the bitterness of the cheap stuff, her go-to wine for the last three months.
    “Oh, Angie. I wish I was. I walked in and he was already sucking up so hard to Mrs. Uptight I’m surprised he wasn’t in bed with her. That woman was all over him.”
    “You’re gonna need another of these, I think,” Angie said and stood. She grabbed Lily’s already empty glass and took it to the bar for a refill.
    Not only had