“Hi, sis!”
Cassidy’s boisterous personality made Eva smile. She was the youngest of Derrick’s siblings. She worked four ten-hour days, so she always had Fridays off, and with Celeste a stay-at-home wife, they had the entire day to hang out.
“Ready to go?” Celeste asked. She was model tall and more reserved, but Eva remembered she’d liked her right away when they met.
“Yes. Too bad your daughter’s in school and couldn’t come with us. She’s so adorable.”
“No, be thankful. She’ll talk your ear off about this, that, and the other. Believe me, it can be exhausting. Right now she wants to be an astronomer and can’t stop talking about all the constellations.”
“An astronomer? Constellations?” Eva closed the front door and followed the other two to the waiting car. “Sounds pretty advanced for a six-year-old.”
The driver stood at rigid attention with the door open, dressed in black from the top of his cap to his shiny shoes. As they piled into the vehicle, the other two laughed at her surprise.
“Didn’t Derrick tell you? Roarke is an astrophysicist. Arianna’s always been interested in science. I don’t know where she gets it from, because it certainly wasn’t from me or her father. She and Roarke are as thick as thieves. He’s been good for her, nurturing her interest. It helped them bond much faster than I would have expected.”
“Believe me, Roarke loves it, too,” Cassidy said. “No one else will listen to him drone on and on about stars, black holes, subatomic particles, and blah, blah, blah.”
“Awww, that’s one of the things I loved about him when I first met him.” Celeste turned to Eva with love shining in her eyes. “He’s so passionate about it. I’m interested in what he does—I really am—but I have to admit, sometimes it’s so far over my head I space out.”
“I knew it!” Cassidy said with satisfaction. She started handing them glasses from the minibar.
“Don’t you dare tell him.”
“I won’t, but he probably knows already. Everybody gives him a hard time.”
Celeste continued talking to Eva. “He’s going to Europe next year to present his latest findings at a conference in Germany. I’m so proud of him.”
“Roarke is smart,” Cassidy agreed. “If he did oncology research, we’d probably have a cure for cancer by now.” She poured champagne for herself and Celeste and sparkling cider for Eva. She held up her glass. “Okay, ladies, we’re going to shop till we drop. You got your credit card?”
“I do,” Eva replied, patting her purse.
Derrick had given her a credit card, and he set up a checking account for her, into which an obscene amount of money would be deposited the first business day of each month as her allowance.
When she’d protested and told him she couldn’t fathom spending that much money every month, he’d shrugged and said if she didn’t, that was fine, but it was available for her use. He reminded her that as his wife, she would need “a new wardrobe, dresses for various social engagements, maternity clothes, clothes for the baby, and we’ll have to decorate the nursery. It’ll be gone in no time. Trust me.”
The three women clinked their glasses together. “Where are we headed first?” Eva asked. When Celeste had called to invite her out, she had been very secretive. She and Cassidy had planned the entire day for the three of them.
Celeste looked at Cassidy with a mischievous smile on her face. “Should we tell her now or wait?”
“Let’s tell her now.”
“We’re going to New York.”
“New York?” Eva looked from one to the other. “As in New York City?”