Return To Rose Cottage: The Laws of Attraction

“I am not here to encourage some man I’ve barely met,” Ashley insisted.

“I agree with Maggie. Just open yourself up to the possibilities,” Melanie pleaded. “That’s all we’re asking. Now go set a place for Josh, then sit down right next to it. Maggie and I will get dinner on the table.”

Ashley laughed despite herself. “You two never give up, do you? Just because you landed fantastic men doesn’t mean everyone has to settle down to be happy. It’s possible to be single and totally fulfilled.”

“Maybe,” Maggie conceded with obvious skepticism, “but you can’t blame us for wanting you to be as happy as we are. You nudged me and Rick together. Now it’s my chance to return the favor. Melanie’s, too.”

“I don’t consider this a favor,” Ashley said, giving it one last try.

Maggie smiled serenely. “Something tells me you will,” she said.

Melanie nodded in agreement, then added with a grin, “Eventually, anyway.”

Josh noted that Ashley had managed to seat herself at the opposite end of the table from him, much to her sister Maggie’s very evident dismay. He, on the other hand, was a little relieved. The woman overwhelmed him. He literally needed some space between them so he could catch his breath.

Besides, he hadn’t made that call to Stephanie yet. It was a point of honor with him that he needed to officially break things off with her before he moved on. If Ashley were too close, he might toss aside his better judgment and try to figure out some way to crawl directly into her bed before the night was over. That kind of reckless, breakneck pace was a very bad thing, especially for a man who had supposedly taken some vacation time to make some tough decisions about his future.

He’d always been a plodder, taking things slowly, thinking them through. He’d just about thought the whole engagement thing to death, which was one reason—thankfully—that it had never happened.

The woman sitting opposite him made him want to seize the moment, which was a very scary proposition. When he’d agreed to come to dinner tonight, he’d had no idea that Ashley would be here. The hop, skip and jump of his pulse when he’d spotted her dented car in the driveway had been way too telling. He was about to throw caution to the wind. The length of the dinner table and the presence of four obviously fascinated observers were the only things standing in his way.

Well, those things and that look of distress in Ashley’s amazing eyes, which had turned a golden topaz in the candlelight. She was clearly vulnerable and hurting. It evidently had something to do with her career. Since his own was likely to go up in flames as soon as he broke things off with Stephanie, he could relate to Ashley’s professional uncertainty.

Brevard, Williams and Davenport was one of Richmond’s premier law firms. Josh had been proud when they’d hired him straight out of law school, then promoted him quickly. But it had been increasingly evident that his future there was directly tied in to his relationship with Stephanie. If he broke up with her this weekend, he was very likely to be fired on Monday. The thought didn’t terrify him nearly as much as he’d expected it to. In fact, when he could ignore the churning in his gut, it seemed to give him an amazing sense of freedom.

“You’re awfully quiet,” Mike said. “You sure you didn’t bump your head in that accident?”

Josh shrugged off his concern. “Just thinking about how life takes a lot of unexpected twists.”

Mike glanced over at Melanie, and his entire expression softened. “Indeed, it does.”

“How long have the two of you been married?” Josh asked him.

“Four months.”

“Long engagement?”

Mike grinned. “Hardly. We just met in March.”

Josh stared at him in shock. “You seem like you’ve known each other forever.”

“I guess that’s the way it is when you meet the right woman,” Mike said. “What do you think, Rick?”

Rick blinked and dragged his gaze away from his wife. “What?”

Mike chuckled. “Josh and I were discussing whirlwind courtships.”

Rick laughed. “You’re definitely asking the experts. Maggie and I were together for, what, a couple of months?”

Josh’s jaw dropped. “And you’ve been married how long?”

“About four weeks,” Rick said. “The D’Angelo women don’t waste a lot of time. A smart man seizes the moment when they’re around.”

Josh fell silent, staring at the three women at the opposite end of the table, their heads together. How had he missed it? Of course, the three women were more than just friends. They were sisters. Melanie had even said as much when she’d referred to their grandmother Lindsey earlier. He’d been fooled by the different last names or maybe by the fact that they’d all grown up into such vibrant but distinctive women.

As girls, they’d been cookie-cutter versions of each other, varying only in height. Oh, they’d been gorgeous enough to catch his attention and leave him tonguetied, but they’d worn their hair in similar styles and dressed in variations of the same shorts and halter tops. Back then, there had been no mistaking the family resemblance. In fact, only those who knew them well could keep them straight. Josh hadn’t known them at all. They’d been on the periphery of his life, a taunting reminder of what an outsider he was.

Josh studied them quizzically, then asked Mike, “Isn’t there another sister?”

“Jo,” he said at once. “She still lives in Boston. You knew the D’Angelo sisters, growing up?” Mike asked.

“Not really. It’s more like I knew of them. We didn’t exactly travel in the same circles.”

“But didn’t Melanie say your family knew their grandmother?” Rick asked.

“Fairly well, as a matter of fact,” Josh admitted. “But you know how kids are. They find their own friends, especially in the summertime around here.” Determined to move on, he asked, “How did you meet them?”

“Maggie and I met in Boston,” Rick said. “I stepped in at the last minute to handle a photo shoot for her magazine. She came down here, and I followed her.”

“Melanie and I met here,” Mike explained. “She was staying at Rose Cottage for a bit.” He grinned. “Sort of the way Ashley’s staying there now for a little R & R.”

Rick gave Josh a considering look, then added pointedly, “History tends to repeat itself at Rose Cottage.”

Not this time, Josh thought. Not that he wasn’t attracted to Ashley. He was. Not that he didn’t intend to see more of her while she was here. He did.

But his life was in chaos, and something told him hers was, as well. That made it a very bad time to be thinking in other than the most immediate terms. Dinner. A few laughs. That kind of thing.

When he glanced around the table, he noticed that four pairs of eyes were regarding him way too speculatively. The only eyes that counted, however, were watching him with unmistakable wariness. Clearly, Ashley was no more inclined to be railroaded into a relationship than he was. And wasn’t that all that mattered?

“Maybe you and Ashley should get together to work out a settlement for the damages from the accident,” Maggie suggested without any attempt at subtlety.

“We’ve taken care of that,” Ashley replied at once.

To his shock and dismay, a streak of totally unfamiliar perversity sliced through Josh. “I’ve been thinking maybe we were a little too hasty. Neither of us was thinking too clearly.”

“I was thinking just fine,” Ashley retorted. “I offered to pay for all the damages since it was my fault. That offer still stands.”

“As a lawyer, you should know an offer like that could open you up to exorbitant demands,” Josh countered. “You’ve admitted guilt. You couldn’t possibly have been thinking clearly or you would never have done such a thing.”

“I was taking responsibility for my actions,” she retorted. “You turned me down.” Her gaze narrowed. “Are you changing your mind? Suddenly feeling the onset of whiplash, perhaps?” she inquired tartly.

If it would keep the fire in her eyes, Josh would have prolonged the argument as long as possible, but they were being watched with total fascination by everyone else at the table. He didn’t want to encourage the meddlers.

“Possibly,” he equivocated, rubbing his neck. Sure enough, sparks of indignation lit her eyes.

“Well, be sure to let me know when you’ve made up your mind,” Ashley replied, a hint of sarcasm in her tone. “Why is it that men can never make a decision about anything?”

“Hey,” Rick and Mike protested in unison. “Don’t turn this into some sort of gender war and drag the rest of us into it,” Mike went on.