Page 6 of Puppy Christmas

Chapter 2

That’s a terrible shade of lipstick to wear on a beautiful winter morning.” Dawn sat cross-legged at the end of Lila’s bed, watching as she put the finishing touches on her makeup. “Come to think of it, that’s a terrible pantsuit you’ve got on. You look like a cross between a politician and a Golden Girl—and I don’t mean that as a compliment.”

Lila took a step back and surveyed herself in the mirror. Shedidlook awful, what with her long, dark hair pulled back in a tight bun and her makeup better suited for a jail warden than a day of playing with puppies. When added to the generous features of her face—which she’d always felt were a touch too large for anyone who wasn’t a marble statue—she looked downright medieval.

“Good.” She clipped the lid on the matte mauve lipstick. “I want to look as blandly professional as possible. If you saw me on the street, what would your first impression be?”

Dawn tilted her head and considered the question before answering. Her middle sister’s no-nonsense approach to honesty was one of the things Lila loved about her, since she could always count on Dawn to tell her the truth no matter what.

“I’d say you were trying your hardest to look like the opposite of a princess.”

Okay. Maybe she didn’talwayslove the honesty.

“I do not. The opposite of a princess is a pauper. I don’t look like a pauper.”

“No, just like the evil villain who created all those paupers in the first place.” Dawn laughed and unfolded herself from the carefully made-up bed. She left all kinds of creases and crinkles behind, but it would have been fruitless to complain. Lila had been complaining for almost three decades, and it never seemed to make the slightest difference.

As if to prove it, Dawn sidled up next to her and placed her chin on Lila’s shoulder. Everything about the two of them spoke of shared DNA—the wide-set brown eyes, the sandy-toned skin, the way their lips lifted at the corners—but most of the similarities stopped there. Dawn’s dark-brown hair was tousled, her chunky sweater carefree, her personality both those things combined.

Lila was, well, Lila.

“The dress wasn’tthatbad. I thought you looked sweet. Like a cupcake with frosting and sprinkles and fairy wings on top.” Dawn grinned. “By the way, what’s Prince Charming’s name again? Buick Buick? Porsche Porsche?”

Lila sighed. It was never a good idea to tell her sister anything related to men. She had a tendency to make mayhem out of molehills. “His name is Ford Ford, and he’s going to be here with Emily any minute. I’m serious about this, Dawn. I need to look prim and untouchable.”

And, she didn’t need to add, like a woman who’d never even heard the wordwaltzbefore.

Dawn tugged the bottom of Lila’s beige jacket and brushed off her shoulders, even though there hadn’t been any time for the suit to gather dust in the five minutes since Lila had pulled it from the deepest recesses of her closet. If she remembered correctly, she’d bought the thing to wear to her college admissions interview. She’d gotten into her first choice school with it, but she’d vowed that nothing short of an appearance in criminal court would get her to wear the sartorial monstrosity again.

Criminal court or a day spent in a handsome man’s company, apparently. In Lila’s world, they were basically the same thing.

“I haven’t seen you this nervous since that time you got caught stealing chalk from the principal’s office. Relax. I’m sure no one even noticed what you were wearing.”

Lila grimaced. On the contrary, she’d never been such an eyesore in her life. Everyone knew she wasn’t a woman who sparkled. Ford Ford needed to see her in her natural element, that was all. Then he wouldn’t laugh at her with those dancing blue eyes. Then he wouldn’t reduce her to an incoherent, blubbering, mortified mess.

“Just pretend I’m the most dignified person you know, okay?” Lila glanced at the clock on her bedside table. “Oh dear. They’ll be here any minute. What time is Sophie getting in?”

“She’s not. She’s working on-site with that peanut allergy terrier all week.”

“Drat.” Lila had been looking forward to their youngest sister joining them for the day. If anyone was like a princess, it was Sophie. Cute, petite, friendly-to-a-fault Sophie was exactly what this situation called for. “I was hoping she could be here to help with Emily. She’s good with kids. Kids love her.”

“Kids love cotton candy and fart jokes. They’re not complicated.”

That bit of advice didn’t help nearly as much as it should have. Lila couldn’t remember the last time she’d touched cotton candy, let alone eaten it, and the only joke she knew was the one about the chicken and the road. And even then, she didn’t think she told it right.

A knock sounded on the front door. Before she could help herself, Lila shot out a hand and grabbed Dawn by the wrist. “You won’t leave me alone with them, will you? Promise you won’t leave me alone with them.”

Dawn laughed and made an X over her chest with her free hand. “Are you kidding? I’m dying to see what it is about this man that has you so flustered. At this point, wild elephants couldn’t keep me away.”

* * *

“Your sister took off in an awful hurry.” Ford stood back and watched as the woman dashed out of the living room with her phone pressed to her ear. “I hope it wasn’t bad news.”

“I do. I hope it was terrible news. I hope it was news so bleak she won’t be able to lift her head from her pillow for a week.”

He turned back to Lila with his eyebrows raised, struggling to suppress a smile. No woman had ever uttered an oath with so much vehemence—and with such a strangely charming schoolmarmish air.

“Uh-oh. You two don’t get along?”