“Why the glum look?” Josie asked when Aren met his sister Monday morning. “I thought you spent the day with Lucie and she cooked you dinner.”

“I didn’t go.”

“What?” Josie nearly stumbled into the man standing in front of her in the Starbucks line. “Why not? Being with Lucie was all you could talk about on Saturday.”

That wasn’t entirely true. The one doing the talking had been his sister. Josie had been bemoaning the sorry state of her life after she saw Jack. Aren wished now he’d been a little more sympathetic seeing that he was currently the one on the receiving end of rejection.

“It’s over between us,” he stated matter-of-factly, as if it was of little consequence. In reality, Lucie was all he’d thought about from the moment he’d disconnected the call. She’d made her feelings clear. No matter what he said, Lucie wasn’t going to change her mind. She wanted a breather, or so she said, but he didn’t need a crystal ball to read her mind. Lucie didn’t want anything more to do with him, only she hadn’t been strong enough to say it.

One look told him Josie had figured out what had happened. “Lucie read the column, didn’t she?”

The Starbucks line moved forward and so did they. “Yeah, and sweet as she appears, she doesn’t have a forgiving nature.”

Josie frowned. “Are you going to leave it like that?”

Aren’s gaze shot to his sister. “I don’t have any choice.”

“Hold on just a minute. Weren’t you the one who lectured me about Jack and pride and telling me that if I was really in love with him I couldn’t take our breakup sitting down?”

“I said all that?” Aren wanted to eat those words now, seeing that they were coming back to bite him.

“That and more.”

“Did you take them to heart?” He knew she hadn’t and now, seeing the situation from her side, he understood why.

“As a matter of fact I did.” Seeing that it was her turn in line, Josie stepped to the counter and ordered for the both of them.

Aren hadn’t expected his sister to buy his coffee. He’d done it for her recently and apparently this was payback.

The barista handed them each a grande coffee and Josie paid with a swipe of her debit card. They started toward the subway when Aren pushed for more information.

“You contacted Jack?”

“Not yet, but I thought long and hard about what you said. You’re right, Aren. I have to face the fact that I do care for Jack. What I need to decide is if the pain I felt seeing him with another woman was real or if I was simply jealous and angry that he’s recovered enough to date someone new.”

“What did you decide?”

“I haven’t … not yet.”

Aren shook his head. They were certainly a pair, hurting and broken and both unwilling to let go of their pride. “I’m beginning to think I’d be better off concentrating on my career,” he told his sister. “It’s best if I avoid relationships completely.”

“Don’t be silly. You want a wife and family.”

“Who says?” he argued.

“I do. You’d make a wonderful husband and father. You can’t let a little bad luck stand in your way.”

“It’s more than bad luck. This is karma. Every relationship I’ve had—or been close to having—has gone down in flames.”

“Not true. What about Mary Jane Milton. She was crazy about you in high school.”

“I saw her at our last high school reunion. Married, three kids, and another on the way.”

“See, you didn’t act fast enough.”

“I was seventeen.”

They came to the subway and his sister paused. “Meet me for dinner,” Josie insisted.

“I’m working late,” he muttered. He knew she wanted to help, but this thing with Lucie was fresh in his mind and he preferred to take a couple of days to lick his wounds.

“Fine, call me when you’re finished and we’ll meet somewhere convenient.”

“I …”

“Don’t argue with me,” she said and started down the stairs. Halfway down, she paused and looked back. “Don’t disappoint me, Aren.”

It didn’t look as if he’d be able to get out of this easily, so he decided to make the best of it. Dinner with his sister should be safe enough.

Thankfully Aren was busy from the moment he walked into work. The distractions helped keep his mind off Lucie. He ate lunch at his desk, swallowing his sandwich of roast beef with horseradish sauce and a cup of hot coffee. By six he was tired and out of sorts. Dinner with Josie held little appeal, seeing that she was sure to lecture him. Aren wished now he’d kept his mouth shut when it came to dishing out advice, especially now that Josie was sure to give it back to him.

Being a dutiful brother, he called her as promised.

“You hungry?” she asked.

Aren had to think about it. “I suppose.”

“Great. Meet me at the Italian place I told you about.” She gave him the cross streets.

“Are you buying?”

“Yes, so don’t argue.”

Aren realized giving her an excuse wouldn’t do any good, so he capitulated. He didn’t have any trouble catching a taxi and did his best to ignore the festive mood that seemed to permeate the city. He didn’t want to think about Christmas. He had other matters on his mind. Not matters, he admitted, Lucie. He tried not to think about their painful conversation but it kept repeating itself in his mind. Bottom line: Lucie didn’t feel she could trust him. She claimed she didn’t know him.

Josie was waiting outside the restaurant when Aren’s taxi pulled to a stop at the curb.

“This is one of my favorite restaurants in the entire city,” Josie said as way of greeting. “Their red sauce is the best I’ve ever tasted.”

“Why haven’t you suggested we eat here before now?” he asked. He often talked restaurants with his sister. She loved Italian but he could remember her mentioning this place only once before.

She hesitated. “It was Jack’s and my favorite spot. Mostly I didn’t want to bring up a bunch of hurtful memories so I’ve avoided coming here ever since our breakup, which is silly.”

Aren hesitated. “Aren’t you afraid of running into Jack?”

Josie shook her head. “He probably doesn’t want to chance meeting up with me in the place we used to think of as ‘our restaurant.’ ”

Aren hoped his sister was right. Then, on second thought, it might serve Jack and Josie well if they did happen to stumble across each other. If Jack’s reaction was even close to his sister’s, then perhaps there was hope for the two of them. And if matters could be patched up between the pair, just maybe it could happen for him and Lucie. Aren frowned. His mind was playing silly tricks on him.

Aren held the door open for his sister. She paused just inside the restaurant and whispered, “And if Jack does happen to show I’ll smile and pretend I’m having the time of my life.”

“Right,” Aren whispered back.

The hostess smiled warmly when she saw Josie.

“Oh, Miss, it’s so good to see you.”

“You, too,” Josie said. “Is my favorite table available?”

Aren didn’t pay much attention to the exchange between the two women as he was distracted by the enticing scents coming from the kitchen. He momentarily closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. A mixture of garlic and spices, tomatoes and basil. If the aroma was anything to go by he was in for a treat.

In just a matter of minutes they were escorted to a table and handed menus. Even before Aren had a chance to review the selections, breadsticks were delivered to their table.

“The breadsticks are baked here every afternoon,” Josie told him. “They’re divine. Jack always said we could make a meal out of them alone.”

“How’s the ravioli?” he asked, more interested in studying the menu. He had to admit he was impressed.

A pained look bled into Josie’s expression. “The cheese ravioli were Jack’s favorite. He’d order them every time we dined here, and we came at least once a week.”

“What about you? What did you order?”

She smiled then. “Everything. The food is so good, I wanted to try every last thing on the menu. I’d worked my way through the appetizers and the salads and I was halfway through the entrées when we split.”

“Did you have a favorite?”

“That’s just it. Every dish is simply wonderful. I was even inspired to try to make some of the appetizers myself, especially the rolled eggplant, but my attempts were never as good as what we had here, so we just kept coming back week after week.”

The waiter came for their order and Aren asked for the cheese-stuffed ravioli. Josie had just finished telling the waiter she wanted to try their seafood spaghetti when she abruptly went still. Aren didn’t need anyone to tell him Josie had spied Jack. He could almost have guaranteed this would happen.

Leaning across the table, Aren asked, “Is Miss Universe with him?”

Josie held her head high and nodded ever so slightly. “Oh, yes, and she’s as gorgeous as ever.”

Because Aren’s back was to the entrance, he couldn’t see, and turning around to look would have upset Josie, although he was tempted.

Josie smiled and nodded. “He just saw me,” she said under her breath.

“And?”

“And he looks pretty shaken up. Good. Now he knows how I felt when I saw him last Saturday night.” She leaned across the table and whispered, “Laugh.”

Aren blinked. “I beg your pardon?”

“Don’t be dense. I want you to laugh as if I’m the funniest, most clever woman you’ve ever met in your life.”

“Josie.” Aren wasn’t up to playing games.

“Please, Aren, do this for me. I’ll never ask anything of you again as long as I live.”

That was a likely story. He was beginning to think his sister had set up this entire meeting and he’d blindly walked into her plans.

“Please.” Her eyes pleaded with him.

“All right, all right.” He chuckled and managed a weak smile.

“Louder,” Josie whispered.

“This is ridiculous.” He should have suspected something was up when Josie mentioned a favorite table and insisted on sitting facing the door.

To keep the peace, Aren laughed again, with a bit more energy this time.

She smiled with a dreamy expression. “That was perfect.”

“Thanks.”

Josie leaned closer and became more animated, laughing softly while Aren did his best not to roll his eyes. His sister was overdoing it. She pressed her hand over her heart and smiled at him as though she hung on every little word Aren uttered.

“The least you could do is play along,” his sister hissed when he glared back at her.

“What’s Jack doing now?” Aren asked.

Josie looked mighty pleased with herself. “He hasn’t been able to take his eyes off us.”

“Where’s he sitting?”

“Two tables over against the wall.”

Aren set his napkin on the tabletop, then he stood up without a word.

“What are you doing?” Josie whispered as a worried look came over her features. “Aren, if you do what I think you’re about to do, I swear I’ll never speak to you again.”

He grinned and shrugged. “I should be so lucky.”

“Aren,” she pleaded frantically, half-standing as though to stop him.

He had no intention of being dissuaded. His sister was miserable and if Jack hadn’t been able to take his eyes off her then Aren suspected Jack felt the same way about her.

Turning away from his sister, Aren crossed the short distance between the two tables. As Aren approached, Jack set aside his napkin and stood. He was a good three inches taller than Aren and outweighed him by twenty pounds, but Aren wasn’t looking to best the other man.

“You must be Jack,” he said and extended his hand. “Aren Fairchild, Josie’s brother.”

The other man broke into an instant smile.

Aren dared not look in Josie’s direction. “It seems you and my sister have had a misunderstanding.”

“Excuse me.” The woman with Jack didn’t look the least bit pleased. “I’m not invisible, you know.”

Jack appeared to have completely forgotten the other woman. “Oh, sorry. Pamela, this is the brother of the woman I mentioned earlier.”

“You mean the one you seem to drag into every conversation?”

Jack looked away and didn’t answer.

“It seems I ordered your favorite meal. It’s about to be delivered. Why don’t you join my sister and I’ll introduce myself to Pamela.”

“Now just a minute. Don’t I have a say in this?” Jack’s date demanded.

“Apparently not,” Aren answered. Jack was already halfway across the restaurant.

Aren pulled out the chair and sat down with Pamela. She was pretty enough, he supposed, but two minutes in her company and it was clear she was high maintenance. After a good ten minutes she scooted out of her chair and said, “Tell Jack it would be best if he not contact me again.”

Aren waved her off. “It might be best if you tell him that yourself.”

“Then I will. Gladly.”

Sure enough Pamela pranced across the room to the table where Jack sat with Josie. Their heads were together and whatever their problem had been, it wasn’t in evidence now.

Jack stood as Pamela approached. Aren wasn’t privy to whatever the other woman had to say but apparently she wanted nothing more to do with him. She left in a huff.

Seeing that he’d accomplished his mission, Aren left a generous tip on the table before getting up to leave. He felt more than conspicuous as every eye in the restaurant was on him. He could only imagine that speculation among the diners must be rampant. On his way out the door, Josie caught his eye and blew him a kiss. He returned it with a wave and was off.

His apartment felt cold and dark when he let himself in. He felt good about helping his sister and Jack. He hoped it had just been prewedding jitters that had set them off course. Seeing them together this evening made it clear neither one was happy apart. He hoped they would be able to settle the matter once and for all.

His phone rang close to midnight, waking Aren out of a sound sleep.

“Thank you,” Josie whispered.

“You’re welcome. Can I go back to sleep now?”

“No. Do you want to come over so we can talk?”

“Josie, I’m in bed.”

“Okay, be a party pooper, see if I care.”

“I’m happy for you.” And he was, but at the moment he was too tired and he wanted to get back to his dream … a dream that involved Lucie.