Betrayal of the Dove - By Capri Montgomery Page 0,34
anything, she always gives it away, but I’m going to buy it and you’re going to help me.”
“I am?” He looked at her, his green-blue eyes silently questioning her.
“She’ll never let me pay her, but you…I think you can buy it with my money without her knowing.”
“Um…won’t she think I’m buying it for a woman then?”
“Probably, but I’ll be right there and after you buy it I’ll take it from you. It will be too late for her to change things then.”
He shook his head and laughed. “You women and your plotting ways.”
“I know my sister,” she said. “She won’t let me buy anything from her.” And if he thought this was the first time she had found a way to trick her sister he would be wrong. Alyssa had a heart of gold and precious gemstones. She would give her last to any friend and anybody on the street; that’s just who she was as a person. “Besides, I’m planning to take a few of her clothing items with me so it all works out,” she laughed.
“You’re not the same size. You’re smaller than she is, and you’re taller.”
She shrugged. “We’ve always shared some things. I’ve lost weight,” she admitted. “I’m like a zero in size now and she’s still a two, three at the max, but I can still fit her sleeveless tops and I’m sure some of those knee-length sundresses will work despite my height.” They would be shorter on her, but hey, Hawaii was the perfect place to show off her legs.
“Were you trying to lose weight? You look great, but I bet you didn’t need to lose any.”
She shook her head no. “Let’s just say I spent a lot of time running for my life over the past year and that is definitely a weight loss inducing activity.”
“Playing it dangerously close to the edge; are you?”
“I was,” she admitted. “But Blaine showed me the error of my ways and I realized I needed to change some things—at least a little.” She couldn’t live on the edge forever. Adam wouldn’t have ever wanted her to do that. If he were alive he probably would have lectured her six days ‘til Sunday. But then again, if he were alive she would have never taken ninety percent of the assignments she had taken.
More customers came in, causing Shane to retreat to his security room while she worked at making sales. She hoped Alyssa’s day was going as favorably in court as her day was going in the store. The sales were top notch, and she was happy she would have some good news to break to her sister once she arrived home…maybe two things of good news because she still hadn’t told her she would be staying Stateside instead of moving to London. Well, that’s what after work conversations were for, and she was going to be sure to make sure they had a long conversation tonight. Just the two of them, like the sisters they had always been, and would always be. She missed her family, missed the days of being in touch with them more regularly and she was going to correct that; that was her promise to herself.
“And it’s your assertion that she didn’t hire you because of the color of your skin?” Judge Parker adjusted his stylish silver frame glasses on his face. Alyssa always noticed details; maybe that’s why she became obsessed with making jewelry. The little things captivated her, but right now, even though Judge Parker had what she knew to be a Doyer original design sitting on his face she could barely focus. She knew it was original because Jodi Doyer had a special way of making her frames distinctive and even from across the table, Alyssa could see the design. That was at least an eight hundred dollar frame sitting on the judge’s face. She knew the design because she had had a chance to tour the shop where the frames were made. Being a designer herself gave her access to designers in many fields and she loved it because she found inspiration in the little things—not always from their designs either. While touring the Doyer frame shop she saw a triangular light feature followed by several rows of circular features and it gave her an idea for her pyramid collection of necklaces and bracelets. She found inspiration in everything, and she thought that maybe one day she might find inspiration in this too. Maybe, just maybe, she could venture