Chapter 15

"This is exciting, isn't it?" Josie grinned at her sister and was happy when Paige smiled back at her. They were walking along the streets of Blueberry Bay on a sunny, crisp winter afternoon. Paige was wearing a pair of red mittens that her sister had just bought her, and Josie thought they looked wonderful on her.

"Yeah." Paige still wasn't talking a whole lot, but she was smiling more often. Josie thought she might be a little nervous.

They were on their way to the music school, where Alissa's shower was going to be held. The day before, Alissa had excitedly told Josie about Caitlin's plans to start a pop-up dining experience business. She and Caitlin were doing a sort of test run for her business idea through the shower—they planned to hold it at the music school, so that Caitlin could get a better sense of what hosting an event in an unconventional space would be like.

"And the music school is absolutely darling," Alissa had said to Josie. "We're going to be there tomorrow afternoon—would you and Paige want to stop by so that we can all discuss details?"

Josie had agreed eagerly. She wanted this opportunity for Paige, and she was interested in seeing the music school. She knew how charming it was from the outside, and she had a feeling the inside was just as attractive, judging from the way Alissa talked about it.

"Here we are!" Josie sang out as they approached the red brick building.

"It's small," Paige said doubtfully, eyeing the building with a frown.

"There's only going to be twenty-one guests at the bridal shower," her sister assured her. "Alissa tells me there's a beautiful common room inside where they hold recitals."

They stepped inside the building and were greeted by the refreshing smell of cedar and lavender. Josie glanced around the hallway, wondering where to find Alissa and Caitlin, and then she saw Alissa waving at her from inside one of the rooms. She and Paige stepped through the doorway, and she gasped.

"Oh, wow, this is so nice," she breathed.

The walls of the room were painted a light sunshine yellow, and paintings made of vibrant colors hung on the walls. It felt like stepping into some kind of garden. There were a few white-painted pillars in the room, and large windows at the back looked out over a small courtyard garden, which was currently covered in snow.

"Hey!" Alissa hurried over to them, grinning widely. Behind her, Caitlin was talking to a smiling woman in a pinstripe suit, whose hair was pinned back in an immaculate French twist. "I'm so glad you made it." She hugged Josie and shook Paige's hand warmly. "Caitlin is talking to the business owner. Ironing out the details. But we can go ahead and talk about our stuff. Paige, those cookies your sister gave me to try were out of this world. Where did you learn to bake like that?"

Paige flushed, seeming pleased. Her smile was small, but her eyes were sparkling. "I don't know, I just picked it up, I guess. I watched some videos. I just really like baking."

"Well, you're a rock star." Alissa grinned at her. "And I absolutely want to hire you to bake some things for the shower. Is that something you'd be up for?"

Paige nodded eagerly. "Yes, for sure."

"Let's go over there and sit down," Josie suggested, gesturing to a set of light green armchairs placed in a corner of the room. She pulled a notebook out of her purse, ready to be a secretary. "I'll take notes."

Once they were settled comfortably in the chairs, Alissa turned to Paige excitedly.

"So. Tell me about what you like to make. I think we want to shoot for three different kinds of baked goodies for the shower."

"Sounds great." Paige smiled. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and began to show Alissa pictures of cookies that she'd made in the past. "These macarons are raspberry flavored, to go with that dusty rose shade of pink, but I can make them in pretty much any flavor you want."

"Oh, wow." Alissa looked at the photograph. "These look completely professional."

Josie's sister's cheeks flushed, and the sparkle in her eyes intensified. "I've also got these lemon bars, and these are white chocolate and strawberry cookies. These are chocolate and mint. I can make them as bars or cookies."

Josie watched as her sister described all of the things she could bake. She felt a rush of pride as she listened, admiring how professional Paige sounded.

She's really good at this, she thought, her heart glowing. I think she's found something that she really loves. And I'm so happy she has a chance to do it professionally here in Blueberry Bay!

After a few minutes, Caitlin joined them, and the conversation turned to overall details about the shower.

"Paige and I have decided on two colors of macarons—light pink and mint green, to match the fondant candies—and lemon bars. Don't they look delicious?" Alissa asked as Caitlin leaned forward to look at the picture that Paige was holding up for her.

"Amazing," Caitlin agreed enthusiastically. "I can't wait to try these."

Paige smiled shyly. "I think those choices will best fit with the color theme you have going for the shower—the mint and the pink, and then the lemon bars will echo the yellow color of the walls."

"I think it's going to look amazing," Josie agreed. "What other decorations are you planning on?"

Alissa eagerly described the twinkling light strands that she planned to string across the ceiling, as well as the white and pink strands of ribbons that were going to be hung in the doorways.

"It's going to look like a dream in here," Caitlin said proudly.

"What about making coasters with a stencil of the color theme on them?" Paige suggested. "I saw a picture of that once. That would look beautiful—the pink and the mint and the pale yellow."

"Oh, I love that idea!" said Alissa. "And then we could give them away as party favors. That's a wonderful idea."

Paige grinned—the first real grin Josie had seen on her sister's face since she had arrived in Blueberry Bay. Her heart warmed to see it, and she found herself smiling as well.

This is so great for her,she thought, feeling happy. She's thriving being part of a group of women like this and having a project to do. It's just like what Wesley talked about—having role models is going to be so good for her. People who will support her and encourage her as she's learning to use her wings. I'm so proud of her.

The four women continued to discuss the shower excitedly. They bounced off each other's ideas, arranging all the details together. Alissa had the final say on everything, but she eagerly accepted a lot of their thoughtful suggestions. Josie noticed happily that Paige seemed to be flourishing under their respectful inclusion of her.

Finally, Caitlin said that she had to be running along to pick up Pearl, and their group dispersed, chatting excitedly about their plans until they parted ways. Josie and Paige walked side by side along the sidewalk for a while, and Josie smiled up at the clear blue sky.

"That went really well, I think," she said, glancing at her sister.

"Yeah." Paige was looking down at the sidewalk, but there was a sparkle in her eyes and her cheeks were flushed. "It was fun."

Struck with an idea, Josie slowed down her pace. "Hey. You want to go get coffee or something?"

Paige glanced at her, looking suddenly a little uncomfortable. For a moment, Josie's heart sank, but then her sister said, "Sure."

Josie grinned. "Amazing. Tidal Wave Coffee is just a couple of blocks away from here."

They walked there together in companionable silence. Josie felt hopeful that things were getting better for her and her sister, and her heart was light. At Tidal Wave Coffee, they ordered a couple of lattes—Paige ordered a plain one with an extra shot of espresso, and Josie's had a shot of raspberry syrup. They sat at a table together and sipped their steaming beverages quietly for a while. Paige seemed lost in thought, and Josie was trying to muster her courage to open up to her sister. She wasn't sure how to begin.

Then she had an idea. She could talk about her date with Wesley—she'd been able to tell that Paige had been curious about it when it happened.

"So," she said, leaning forward and smiling. "Do you want to hear about my date with Wesley?"

"Yeah." Paige looked suddenly eager. She smirked, and there was a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. "I do. How did it go?"

"Really well." Josie grinned, remembering how full of butterflies she had felt. "I mean, he's such a nice person. You know that. I really enjoyed talking with him."

Paige lifted her eyebrows as if to ask for more details, but Josie knew what she wanted to say next, and it wasn't really about Wesley. "He suggested that I share more with you about how I feel about things. Open up to you more. That way you can feel like you're really getting to know me."

"Oh." Paige blinked, looking suddenly shy.

"And I thought that would be a good idea." She took a deep breath. "I know this has been hard for you, having to move here with me. And it's been hard for me too. I'm so happy to have you here, don't get me wrong—but it's like I don't always know how to act, you know? I don't know whether to act like your big sister, or like a mother figure, or I don't know, your aunt or something."

Paige had been listening solemnly, but when Josie said "aunt", she smirked. Her sister laughed, encouraged by the smile.

"And I want to make sure I'm doing everything I can for you. That's a little scary sometimes—I'm worried about doing it wrong. Because I love you, Paige." Her voice quieted down. "I love you very much. I wish we hadn't missed so many years together."

Paige pressed her lips together, nodding. She didn't say anything, but Josie thought her eyes looked as if she might be fighting back some tears.

"I know you probably felt like I should have come back home after leaving for school," she said slowly, trying to fight off the old feelings of guilt, "but I couldn't. It sounds as if you have a relationship with Mom that isn't like the one I had. Things were really hard for me at home. It wasn't a good place for me to be, and I knew I needed to start a new life for myself somewhere else."

Her sister nodded, and Josie thought she detected sadness in her eyes. She guessed that Paige understood what she was telling her.

"But I didn't mean to be absent from your life. I'm really sorry that happened."

Paige nodded again, and then took a deep breath, as if she was releasing some tension. "It's okay. You did what you needed to do. I get it." Her words sounded sincere, and after a short pause, she smiled a little.

Her sister smiled back at her, her heart warming in relief. It really was working! Sharing her heart with Paige was allowing them to become closer.

Thanks, Wesley, she thought. I owe you one.

"I did think about you when you were gone," Paige said. "I liked it when we talked. Chatting with you on social media was fun. And I loved looking at all your Instagram photos!" Her smile turned into a grin. "You posted some really cool stuff. Like, your life looked really amazing. And I was so proud of the stuff you were doing."

Warmth rushed into Josie's heart. "I'm proud of you too. I really am."

For a moment, the two sisters shared a smile.

"So." Josie winked at her sister. "How about these desserts for the shower? What kind of ingredients are you going to need?"

Paige grinned. "Well, I can't tell you for sure off the top of my head. I have the recipes written down on cards that Mom gave me."

"Well, you want to head back home? We can write up a list and finish our drinks there."

"Sure."

Josie felt happy that she'd called her apartment "home" and Paige hadn't seemed put off by that at all.

They walked home together, chatting about Christmas preparations and about how their daily lives had been going. Paige finally started to open up more about school, and her sister was proud to hear that her grades were excellent. A light snow began to fall, dusting the sleeves of their coats and the tops of their coffee cups.

Once they were back at the apartment, they sat down at the kitchen counter together with a pen and notebook, Paige's recipe cards, and some glazed lemon lavender cookies that Paige had made. Josie pretended to swoon over the taste of the cookies, and her sister chuckled.

"Okay," Josie said eagerly, uncapping the green pen. "What do you need for these cookies?"

Paige read the ingredients needed for the recipes aloud, and Josie jotted down notes in her beautiful handwriting.

"No." Paige laughed, pointing at Josie's list. "You have flour written down twice."

"Well, we're going to need a lot, aren't we?" She laughed.

Her sister wrinkled her nose, also laughing, and kept reading aloud. When they were finished with the list, they put their heads together and checked over everything Josie had written down, making sure they weren't missing anything and scribbling down quantities.

"Thanks for this," Paige said after a moment. "I mean, thanks for helping me out like this."

"Of course!" Josie's heart felt warm, and she beamed at her sister. "I want to support you. I can tell this means a lot to you."

Her sister returned her smile, a little shyly but warmly.

As they kept working, she felt a sense of peace. I feel like we're finally opening up to each other, she thought happily. I know Paige is going to start having a wonderful time here in Blueberry Bay, and I'm so happy she's letting me help her with her plans.