Sometimes they talked about their childhood and what Kat had endured after Nessie left home. Those conversations were always difficult, but in the end they were cathartic as well. Over the last few weeks, they’d gotten to know each other as women who were far different from the scared children they had once been.
Now that she had her sister back and the man she loved by her side, Kat couldn’t ask for anything more in life.
“Hey, Kitty-Kat, you okay?”
Turning, she saw Vanessa approach in her elegant satin sheath wedding dress. Her sister was even more beautiful than she had remembered. Poised and graceful and utterly classy. At least until you put a beer in her hand and a dartboard in front of her. Kat had enjoyed seeing Nessie’s wild side when the four of them hung out at Duke’s Waikiki. That girl could do half a dozen shots of tequila and still hit a bull’s-eye without flinching.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just enjoying the view,” Kat said. “I’m going to miss it.”
“I wish you weren’t leaving so soon.” Nessie took hold of Kat’s hands. “Are you sure you have to go back to Boston?”
“We talked about this. Aiden already gave up his life once when you and Jax sent him after me, and I want him to have more time with his family. Plus, he already owns a house there, so it only makes sense.”
Vanessa sighed in resignation. “All right, as long as he allows me visitation rights whenever I want them,” she said with a wink.
Kat laughed. “I’ll make sure of it.”
“Good,” she said as she linked her arm through Kat’s and turned toward the ocean.
Kat still couldn’t get over the fact that she had her sister back. After so many years of keeping Vanessa at a distance to protect her, every time they were together, even the littlest thing would make her emotional, and she wasn’t sure how to process it all.
“Nessie, I know I’m not the greatest at expressing my feelings, but I want you to know how incredibly happy I am for you.” Kat felt her sister’s eyes on her, but she couldn’t bring herself to meet them for fear of breaking into a blubbering mess. “It’s so obvious how much Jax loves and cherishes you and…I’m so glad you found each other, that’s all.”
“Oh, sweetie.” Vanessa gathered Kat into a hug and held her. “Thank you. That means so much to me. But I want you to know,” she said, pulling back to look her in the eyes, “that even as much as I love Jackson, without you my life wasn’t complete.”
Her green eyes started to mist over, provoking Kat’s to do the same despite her attempts to lock her tear ducts down. Vanessa continued. “You’ve always been the missing piece of my heart. There are no words for how I feel now that I have you back. I love you so much, Kitty-Kat.”
Damn her for making Kat cry. A few tears were all it took to undo the hard work the staff had put into transforming her into a worthy bridesmaid for her sister’s wedding. Now she was all stuffy and probably had a red nose and puffy eyes with running mascara. But even at the risk it would make things worse, Kat pulled her sister into another hug and whispered, “I love you, too, Nessie.”
“Hey, Irish, you ever fantasize about doing it with sisters?”
“Nah. I’m pretty content with the one I’ve got.”
They broke apart to find Aiden and Jax walking up to them, looking dapper in their casual wedding wear. As soon as he was within striking distance, Vanessa playfully backhanded her new husband in the chest. Laughing, he wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed the scowl from her face.
Aiden smiled at Kat and she stepped into his embrace. Looking up at him, she raised an eyebrow and said, “Only ‘pretty content,’ huh?”
Bending his head, he spoke softly in her ear. “It wouldn’t be right to tell the guy on his wedding day that I have the better sister.”
She chuckled. “You’re such a good friend.”
Jax must have overheard her because he said, “If he was such a good friend, he’d stop fighting me tooth and nail on the details of our joint business venture.”
Aiden cut the other man a look that would make most cower, and Nessie let out a disgusted sigh. Kat turned to her brother-in-law. “What business venture?”
“I want to open an MMA gym with him, but he’s dragging his feet.”
“I’m not dragging anything. You’re like an antsy kid on a road trip.”
Kat held up her hands. “Whoa, what are you guys talking about?”
A splash of water doused the side of Jackson’s white linen pants and shirt. Kat tried not to laugh at the shocked look on his face as he turned to his smug wife standing in the surf.
“You said you’d give him time to discuss it with her,” Vanessa accused, one hand on a hip and the other keeping the bottom of her dress dry.
“He’s already had several weeks,” Jax argued. “He needed a fire lit under his ass.”
Jackson’s entire demeanor changed to determination and utter wickedness. As he pulled out the drawstring on his pants and wrapped it around his hands, Vanessa’s eyes blew wide.