checked the hall mirror to make sure that her concealer was still working and then stepped across their breezeway to knock on his front door.
Chris opened the door and smiled. “You look better this morning. Are you feeling better?”
“I am. Thanks. I told you, I just needed more medicine and for once, I slept well so that helped too.” She glanced around him, into his house, looking for her binder and today’s lists. “Um, I think you may have something of mine.”
He smirked at her. “Are you missing your binders?”
“Yes. Please may I have them back now?”
“Sure, let me grab them. Come on in.” He went and picked up her stack of binders from the coffee table, but when he handed them to her, she frowned.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Something’s missing.”
His mouth dropped open. “You honestly can tell that just from holding those?”
She nodded absentmindedly as she peered down at the books in her arms. “Why is there paper missing out of Cassie’s wedding binder?” She shot him an accusing glare.
“Because you’re going to let me help you with some of the stuff you still have to do.”
“You went through my binder?” she asked through clenched teeth. “What gives you the right to go through my things? These are mine. Mine alone. No one touches them. Do you understand that? There’s an organization to it and you are not allowed to mess with that.” She deepened her glare, but he didn’t seem to care. “Go. Get. The. Missing. Pages. Now.”
She was so furious with him that she could barely stand to look at him. Unfortunately, her point was lost as another coughing fit overtook her. Damn.
When she finished coughing, she looked at him expectantly, but instead of going to get the rest of her belongings, he just smiled at her. “You’re sick.” The condescension in his voice grated on her nerves, which were already strung way too tight. “So I’m going to keep those other pages and help you. We’re not debating this. I already talked to Cassie and she agrees with me.”
“Honestly? You went running to your sister about this? What are you? Five?” She continued to glare at him, as she clutched her books tighter to her chest, like he might snatch them out of her hands.
He scowled right back at her. “You can try to bully me all you want, but you aren’t going to win so save your strength for getting better.” He began to nudge her out the door. “Now go to work. I have your number if I have any questions.”
As the door clicked shut behind her, Julie stood there with her mouth hanging open. What the hell just happened here, and when had she lost control of the situation? This was not acceptable. She stormed home and yanked her front door open, seething the whole time. How dare he try to take control of her life from her?
* * *
Chris met Cassie for a late dinner in a trendy Italian restaurant after running a few of the wedding errands on Julie’s list. A new restaurant in town, it was crowded and the bar in the center of it all was hopping with a mix of college students and executives relaxing with an after-work drink. The vibe of the place was definitely up. It seemed to match his sister’s beaming smile as he sat down to join her.
“Hey, you. You look happy.” He smiled at her, loving that her life was this good.
“What’s not to be happy about? I’m getting married to the man of my dreams in three days.”
“Speaking of which, I have the candles for the reception in my truck. Julie is a powerhouse of organization. Do you know that when she ordered the candles, she also ordered lighters and matches to make sure that little detail isn’t missed? She’s amazing.” He shook his head as he considered how detail-oriented she was.
“She is, but I’m worried about her. How’s she feeling today?”
“I haven’t seen her since this morning, but she didn’t seem too bad then.” Although it was hard to tell for sure since she was barely speaking to him. She was still in a tiff about her binder, but he could deal with her bad mood if it meant that she was able to take it a little bit easier and get healthy again. “Maybe she’s finally on the mend. This cold has really nailed her.”
“I know, and when she already has so much awful stuff going on. I think Julie has