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Third Time's a Charm

By Virginia Smith

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1

One sign was certain to drive even the most pressing appointment right out of a girl’s head: Today Only—All Shoes 15% Off. The bright red letters snagged Tori Sanderson’s gaze as she speed-walked through the mall toward the exit, an elegantly wrapped box clutched in her arms. She skidded to a halt before the exclusive store. The last time she shopped here, she’d tried on a darling pair of Bournes that had haunted her dreams since she walked out without them. If her sister Allie hadn’t been with her at the time, she would have bought them in addition to the two pairs that went home with her. But Allie wasn’t here now. Tori glanced down at the pumps on her feet. They looked okay with this new dress, but those Bournes would be perfect.

She glanced at her watch. Two o’clock. The bridal shower started in one hour, and the drive from Lexington to Danville would take about forty minutes. If she’d known about the sale, she would have left the office at noon. Or maybe she would have skipped work completely. Some people didn’t come in at all on Saturday.

But, of course, those people didn’t work for Kate Bowman.

Tori thrust thoughts of the office out of her mind. She spent far too much time at work, and even more time worrying about her job when she wasn’t there. Anybody who worked as hard as she did deserved a reward. And was there a better reward anywhere than a new pair of shoes?

She tucked her sister’s shower gift under her arm and tilted her chin in the air as she pressed her way into the crowded shoe store.

* * *

Ninety minutes later Tori marched up the sidewalk and mounted the stairs to Allie’s front door, then paused to examine the dim reflection in the storm door glass. With nervous fingers, she plucked at her hem and guided a stray ringlet back into the Shirley Temple mass on her head.

What was the matter with her? Why didn’t she just dash into the mall, pick up Joan’s gift, and run straight back to the car? She aimed a smile at the shoes on her feet. They were absolutely adorable, and the matching belt had been on sale too. But she should have ignored the sale sign. Then she could have gotten here in time to pretend to be enthusiastic about Joan’s wedding and help set up for this party.

No, it wasn’t the shoe store. It was her job. If she had a normal job, she wouldn’t be working every Saturday. She would have been here this morning, blowing up balloons or something, and she wouldn’t feel like such a loser of a sister now. Kate’s constant demands were taking over her personal life lately, and she didn’t like it one bit. But what else could she do? Advertising was a fiercely competitive business. If she slacked up even a little bit at work, she’d find herself removed from the prestigious customer accounts and assigned to something dull and unimportant, like Lawton Lawn Service.

Besides, Allie probably didn’t need her help planning a bridal shower, anyway. No doubt her super-organized oldest sister had everything under control, as always. She probably recruited Gram to bake cookies or other goodies, much better than the bag of Oreos Tori would have grabbed at the store if she’d been put in charge of snacks. Allie could handle anything: the food, the decorations, those silly games you had to play at showers. Besides, both Joan and Allie knew she’d been working on a big project the past few months. They didn’t expect her help.

And hopefully they didn’t suspect her lack of help with the shower was because of her lack of support for the wedding. They wouldn’t think that, would they? No, they wouldn’t.

Tori clutched at the shoulder strap of her handbag. So why did she feel like such a slouchy sister?

A burst of muffled laughter sounded from inside the house. The party was under way, and she was missing it. Tori squared her shoulders and opened the door.

...(chapter 1 continued) ...

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