Read Online Playing All the Angles by Nicole Lane - Free Book Online Page B

Dominic called his manager and explained the situation, announcing his retirement at the same time. There was a bit of a row about it, but Dominic was firm. Yes, it had been a short career but a stellar one, and he could go out on top. She had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing at the rude gesture he made as he said the last, mouthing to her, “Like you better on top.”
    Isabelle went to work, planning, finding what she wanted and what she could get on such short notice. The only thing lacking would be the dress Eve was designing, but it was a small thing. She was sure she could find something suitable in Paris. Even that seemed romantic—to just go to Paris and buy something there.
    They talked about having a more formal ceremony in October as they’d planned, so that their families could be included. If they did decide to do that, provided Isabelle wasn’t very pregnant by then, she’d wear the dress Evie had designed for her.
    Dominic was in training for his last race, and that was keeping him busy during the day while Isabelle finished up her exams for the semester. While planning their elopement, she still sat on all the phone calls from Alora about the plans for the wedding and tried to sound enthusiastic. It wasn’t that difficult to sound excited, since her big day was nearly upon her, but it was awfully hard not to tell Alora what she was really planning to do. She felt a little guilty for letting her sister go to so much trouble, but it made Alora happy. She agreed to go to lunch at Alora’s to discuss the moot floral arrangements, looking forward to at least visiting with her sister and her nieces.
    When she arrived, Alora was running around in a twitter. “Can you believe I forgot that Una’s got a party today? Could you be a love and keep an eye on Olive while I deliver her?” She grabbed her purse and Una’s hand. “I won’t be an hour. We just have to run to get a pressie for her little friend, and then I’ll drop her by the party. Olive’s ready to go down for a nap at any time, aren’t you, lamb chop? Do you mind?”
    Isabelle laughingly shrugged. “Not at all. Olive and I will have a great time.”
    Alora was out the door and gone with a breathless, “Thank you!” and Isabelle bent and scooped Olive up off the floor, tickling her as they went up the stairs.
    Olive’s bedroom was done in butterflies with green fields painted on the walls. It was lovely. Isabelle wondered if she would have daughters or sons and what they would end up wanting in their rooms. Her niece began to squirm and asked to be put down, so Isabelle set her down on the play mat. If Olive was tired, she didn’t show it. If anything, she seemed to want to bask in the undivided attention of her aunt. She kept bringing things to Isabelle to play with, and they would play for a while before she scurried off for something else. Finally, after all the stuffed animals had received proper attention, Olive pointed to the shelves above her bed.
    “Buh-fly,” she said, indicating the brightly colored butterfly on the middle shelf. Isabelle recognized it as the bank that Olive had received on her first birthday the year before. It was one of those mechanical ones that lit up and played a tune when coins were put into it.
    “You want to watch the butterfly light up?” Isabelle asked, standing to reach for the bank when Olive nodded and clapped.
    Isabelle dug into her jeans pocket for some change and came up with a few coins to feed into the slot. She put one in, and the butterfly played its tinking song, the lights popping and fading in time to the music. Olive squealed with delight, and Isabelle couldn’t help but laugh.
    “You want to try?” she asked, offering one of the coins to Olive.
    She nodded and took the coin, considering it for a moment before lifting it toward her mouth.
    “No, Olive, give it to the butterfly,” Isabelle said, indicating the slot.
    She did as she was told, and the butterfly repeated its