A Night of Desire

Sarah Shelby pushed her thoughts aside. She tilted the rearview mirror down, tidied her hair, and gently patted her face a few times. Only when her complexion looked much more natural did she start the car and head toward Clara Grant’s house.

...

Once upstairs, Sarah Shelby had barely rung the doorbell when the door swung open, revealing Clara Grant.

But instead of letting her in right away, Clara stared at her intently for a long moment.

Sarah Shelby squeezed past her, then turned back with a laugh. "Clara, what gives? You told me to come over, but now you won’t let me in?"

Clara Grant closed the door. Sarah’s expression looked perfectly normal, but Clara still asked worriedly, "Sarah, are you okay?"

Sarah Shelby avoided her gaze and headed for the living room, replying as she went, "What could possibly be wrong? I’m doing great."

Clara no longer felt suspicious and followed her into the living room.

Skylar Hayes came out of the kitchen with a platter of fruit and smiled when she saw Sarah. "Sarah, you’re here! Come, have a seat."

Sarah Shelby smiled sweetly back and called out, "Auntie."

Skylar Hayes replied, placing the fruit platter on the coffee table. "I washed some grapes, your and Clara’s favorite. Come and have some."

Feeling right at home, Sarah didn’t stand on ceremony. She sat down on the sofa, reached for a grape, and started eating. "Mmm, these grapes are so sweet," she said as she ate. "Here, Auntie, you have one too."

With that, she held a peeled grape up to Skylar Hayes’s lips. Skylar smiled and ate it.

"So? Delicious, right?" Sarah Shelby asked, popping another grape into her mouth, her words slightly muffled.

Skylar Hayes nodded with a smile and said to her, "You and Clara go on and chat."

Sarah Shelby said, "You got it, Auntie! Don’t mind us."

With that, she turned to Clara, who had followed her in, and waved her over. "Clara, hurry up! Any slower and I’ll finish them all."

Clara Grant walked over and sat down beside her, smiling. "Go on, eat."

Sarah grabbed a few and handed them to her. "So, you said you had something to tell me. What is it? Spit it out, I’ve got a date with a cute guy to get to."

Clara gave her a skeptical, sidelong glance. "Seriously? I was just kidding around earlier. Don’t tell me I was actually right?"

"Hey, what’s with the ’seriously?’ You say that as if I can’t get a man. Of course it’s for real! Now, do you have something to tell me or not? If not, I’m leaving." As she spoke, Sarah made a show of getting up to leave.

"I do, I do! Of course I do," Clara said quickly. "Remember last time? You asked me to find out if Rowan Linden has a girlfriend."

"Who?" Sarah frowned, pretending she’d forgotten.

"Rowan Linden. The cardiology and neurology specialist I told you about, Dr. Linden. You don’t remember? You said that if he didn’t have a girlfriend, you were going to make your move, right?"

Sarah paused, a grape halfway to her mouth. A glint flashed in her eyes as she turned to look at Clara. "Oh, right, I remember now. Rowan Linden! So? Does he have a girlfriend?"

’Weren’t Yvette Zimmerman and the others trying to force her to get married? If she had another man, wouldn’t the Stratton Family be the ones to object first, before she even had to refuse?’

"I asked Seth Quinn. He doesn’t. That’s why I asked you here today—I was planning on introducing you to him."

"Well, let’s go! What are we waiting for? Have you already arranged to meet him? Where is it?" Sarah tossed the grapes in her hand back onto the platter and started to stand up.

"Not so fast." Clara let out a laugh, grabbing her friend’s arm to pull her back down.

But before she could apply any force, Sarah was already getting up, grimacing.