The Sweetest Temptation

“Don’t play yourself, cousin,” Simone drawled as she placed a cloth napkin over her lap. “Only brothers are blessed with voices that deep.”

Tessa peered closely at Faith. “Who is he?”

Faith knew that if she didn’t give the two a plausible explanation, then they would pester her throughout dinner. She could lie and say he was a client, but she’d never lied to her cousins and didn’t want to start now.

“He’s someone I promised to go out with.”

Tessa shared a smile with Simone. “I’m going to ask you one question, then I’m going to get out of your business.” Faith nodded. “Is he what Aunt Edie would call ‘potential husband material’?” Faith’s mother had lectured them sternly once they’d begun dating, saying, “Every man you date should be considered a potential husband. If not, then don’t waste your time.”

Faith filled the wineglasses with the pale wine rather than meet Tessa’s questioning gaze. “I’ll reserve comment. First I have to find out whether he’s a frog.”

“Ribbit!” Simone croaked.

Faith and Tessa burst out laughing, setting the tone for an evening of good food and a closeness that had begun with earlier generations of Whitfield women.

Tessa pushed back her chair and stood up. “I forgot to give you Bridget’s gift.” She retrieved her purse and took out a small gaily wrapped box, handing it to Faith.

Simone and Tessa stared at Faith as she removed the paper, opened a small black velvet box and stared numbly at a pair of thirteen-millimeter Tahitian pearl earrings suspended from a drop clasp of bezel-set diamonds.

“Oh, my!” Faith gasped in awe. “They are stunning!”

“I got the same pair,” Simone said.

Faith smiled at Tessa. “I’m going to wear them at your wedding.”

“Speaking of weddings, Faith,” Tessa began softly, “I’d like to ask you if you’d be my maid of honor.”

A rush of tears filled Faith’s eyes. She blinked them back before they fell. “I’d be honored, Tessa. How many attendants do you plan to have?”

“That’s going to depend on Micah. He’s asked his father to be his best man, and his two brothers will be groomsmen. You’ll be my maid of honor, Simone a bridesmaid and I’m thinking of asking Micah’s sister-in-law whether her teenage daughter can be a bridesmaid.”

Faith wrinkled her pert nose. “Isn’t it going to feel funny planning your own wedding?”

“I’m not,” Tessa admitted smugly. “Simone’s going to be my wedding planner.”

“You’re kidding, aren’t you?” Faith asked, an expression of shock freezing her features.

Simone shook her head. “No, she’s not.”

A blush suffused Tessa’s face. “Micah and I have decided to begin trying for a baby as soon as we’re married. And if that happens, then I’d like to have a backup person in case of morning sickness, bloated ankles and when I’m too fat to bend over to tie up my shoes.”

Faith waved her hand. “Please, Tessa. Knowing you, you’ll probably design a wardrobe that will make you Brooklyn’s most tricked-out mother-to-be. Speaking of Brooklyn, do you still plan to live there after you’re married?”

Tessa nodded. “Yes. Micah sold his Bronx condo to Bridget and Seth, and he only has six months left on his Staten Island rental. I’ve put a lot of money into the brownstone, so I’ve decided to keep it.”

Reaching for her wineglass, Faith raised it in a toast. “To Tessa and Signature Bridals.”

Simone and Tessa followed suit, touching glasses in a toast to Signature Bridals.

Chapter 5

Faith couldn’t believe how quickly time had slipped away when she closed the door behind her cousins. They’d talked nonstop about Tessa’s upcoming June nuptials, and would’ve still been talking if Simone hadn’t had to go to Grand Central Station to catch a train to White Plains, before she had to wait hours for one or they stopped running altogether until the following morning. Tessa had invited her sister to spend the night with her, but Simone turned her down, saying she had to deliver flowers to patients at a local hospital.

Faith had filled a large container with leftover chowder for Simone. Her artistic cousin grew and arranged beautiful flowers, set an exquisite table, but couldn’t cook worth a damn! When their paternal grandmother decided it was time her granddaughters learned to prepare some of the recipes that had been passed down through countless generations of Whitfields, Simone was nowhere to be found. And when she finally showed up hours later, she was dirty and sweaty from playing ball with the neighborhood boys.

Clearing the table, Faith stacked dishes in the dishwasher, and then she saw it. It was the paper with Ethan’s number. How could she have forgotten that he’d called? Picking up the cordless phone, she dialed his number. He answered after the fourth ring.

“Good evening.”

Smiling, Faith cradled the receiver between her chin and shoulder. “Good evening to you, too. This is Faith Whitfield returning your call.”

A deep chuckle caressed her ear. “I knew it was you, dessert lady, because your name and number came up on my caller ID.”

“Did you make it home all right last night?”

“It took a little longer than I’d expected, but yes, I made it home safely. Thank you for asking.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Do you have your calendar nearby?”

A slight frown appeared between her eyes. “Why?”

“I’d like to see when you’re available to go out with me.”

“Before I get my calendar, I’d like you to answer one question for me.”

There was a pause before Ethan said, “What do you want to know?”

“Are you married?” She’d noticed the gold signet ring on the pinky of his right hand.

There came another pause, this one longer than the previous one. “Do you think I’d ask you to go out with me if I was married?”

“I can’t answer that, Ethan.”

“And, why not?”

“Because I’ve been asked out a few times by married men.”

“Well, I’m not married, so are you still willing to go out with me?”

Tearing a sheet off the pad, she picked up a pen, drawing a line down the center of the page. She jotted down Ethan’s initials and labeled the columns Frog and Prince. She checked off Prince.

“Yes. Hold on, let me check my calendar.” Retrieving her PDA, she clicked on the current month. “I’m free Thursday and Saturday.”

“It would have to be Saturday because I’m taking you to the Rainbow Room for dinner and dancing.”

“The Rainbow Room,” she repeated.