The Prince's Devious Proposal - Holly Rayner Page 0,53

that you had to leave early last time. Stay as long as you want to, okay?”

Naomi smiled. For the first time in what seemed like a long time, she felt like she could relax. “Thank you.”

Later that night, while Harry put the kids to bed, Naomi and Sarah sat in the kitchen, an open bottle of wine between them.

“Mom would be glad we’re doing this,” Naomi said. “She always told me she wished we’d spend more time together.”

“She said that to me too,” Sarah said. “And she was right. I used to brush her off when she said it, but I should have listened. We should have tried to reconnect sooner.”

“At least we’re doing it now,” Naomi said.

Sarah nodded. “So what’s been going on with you?”

Naomi laughed.

“What’s funny?” Sarah asked.

“It’s not funny,” Naomi said. “It’s just…a lot. I wouldn’t know where to start.”

Sarah frowned. “Are you okay?” she asked. “Is this about Mom? Are you having trouble dealing with what happened?”

“No, it’s not about Mom,” Naomi said. “It’s actually… Oh, God. You’re going to think I’m so irresponsible.”

“I already think you’re irresponsible,” Sarah said, but she was smiling. “You don’t have to worry, Naomi. Whatever it is, you know I’m on your side.”

Naomi sighed. “I hope you still feel that way when I tell you what I’ve done,” she said.

But she knew she had to tell her sister. She couldn’t keep it to herself any longer.

Slowly, bit by bit, the story of her relationship with Petr spilled out. She told Sarah how he had presented himself as a fan of her music, and how he had revealed himself to be a prince. She shared how he had charmed her and taken her away to Europe. She told Sarah how the first-class tickets and beautiful accommodations had made way for standard fare, and how she had eventually discovered that his family was in debt.

By the time she came to the final act of the story—her second meeting with Petr at the Crystal Lounge and the revelation that he had only gotten close to her in hopes of claiming her inheritance—she could see the anger on Sarah’s face. Anxiety gripped her. Was her sister about to tell her off for being so careless? Would Sarah feel betrayed that Naomi had put their mother’s money at risk?

“What an absolute bastard,” Sarah said.

Naomi looked up at her sister. “You’re not angry with me?”

“Angry with you?” Sarah asked. “I’m mad at him! He’s the one who lied to you and took advantage of you!”

“But I fell for it,” Naomi said. “I was an idiot.”

“You got tricked,” Sarah said. “I’m not going to blame you for that. Okay, maybe it was a little naïve, but come on. He deliberately set out to con you. He’s the bad guy here, not you.” She frowned. “Did you really think I was going to be mad at you?”

“Of course,” Naomi said. “I got married to a guy after only knowing him for a couple of weeks. You would never have done something that stupid.”

“Well, you and I are very different people,” Sarah pointed out. “I’m obsessive about that kind of thing. I made Harry go to counseling with me before we got married.”

“You did?” Naomi hadn’t known that.

“I wanted to make sure we were compatible,” Sarah said. “I had this whole list of questions for him. Things I thought we needed to be on the same page about.”

“Like what?”

“Well, some of them were worthwhile things, like whether or not he wanted to have kids and where he wanted to live long-term,” Sarah said. “But some of the stuff on my list was stupid. Whether forks should go tines-up or tines-down in the dishwasher.”

“Silly question,” Naomi said. “Tines-down.”

“Right? But Harry said tines-up.”

“What? What’s wrong with him?”

Sarah laughed. “He says that’s the only way they get really clean, that food sticks to them if you put them tines-down. But the point is, it doesn’t really matter. Our therapist made me realize that I was being neurotic. At some point, you just have to take the plunge. Marriage isn’t about figuring out every detail beforehand, it’s about agreeing that you’re going to figure things out together along the way.”

“I thought something like that before I married Petr,” Naomi said. “That was how I justified to myself that we were moving so quickly.”

“I’m sorry it didn’t work out.” Sarah poured them each some more wine. “But don’t think that just because I wouldn’t have done something that it’s automatically wrong. You’re more courageous