teeth. "Pastel would be best, a fragile color, soft green or pink."
Because her head was starting to spin, Grace put a hand to it. "You're
going too fast."
"Well, someone has to. At this rate, you and Ethan will still be
circling each other when you're sixty. No jewelry," she added. "Just the
bare minimum of makeup. Wear your usual scent, too. He's used to it,
it'll say something to him."
"Anna, it doesn't matter what I wear if he doesn't want to be there."
"Of course it matters." As a woman who had a long-term love affair with
clothes, she was very nearly shocked at the suggestion. "Men don't think
they notice what a woman wears--unless it's next to nothing. But they
do, subconsciously. And it helps click the mood or the image."
Lips pursed, she added fresh basil to the sauce and got out a skillet
for sauteing onions and garlic. "I'm going to try to get him over there
close to sunset. You should light some candles, put on music. The Quinns
like their music."
"What would I say to him?"
"I can only take you so far here, Grace," Anna said dryly. "And I'm
betting you'll figure it out when the time comes."
She was far from convinced of that. While new scents began to romance
the air, Grace worried her lip. "It feels like I'd be tricking him."
"And your point would be?"
Grace chuckled. And gave up. "I have a pink dress. I bought it for
Steve's wedding a couple years ago."
Anna glanced over her shoulder. "How does it look on you?"
"Wella" Grace's lips curved slowly. "Steve's best man hit on me before
they cut the cake."
"Sounds like a deal."
"I still don't--" Grace stopped as her mother's ear caught the tinkling
music from the living room. "That's the end of Aubrey's show. I have to
finish up in there."
She rose quickly, panicked at the thought of Ethan coming home before
she was gone. Surely everything she felt must show on her face. "Anna, I
appreciate what you're trying to do, but I just don't think it's going
to work. Ethan knows his own mind."
"Then it won't hurt him to come around to your house and see you in a
pink dress, will it?"
Grace blew out a breath. "Does Cam ever win an argument with you?"
"On the rare occasion, but never when I'm at my best."
Grace edged toward the door, knowing that Aubrey's sit-and-behave time
was nearly up. "I'm glad you came home early today."
Anna tapped her wooden spoon on the lip of her pot. "Me, too."
Chapter Ten
the following day as sunset approached, Grace wasn't certain she was
glad at all. Her nerves were stretched so tight she could feel them
straining and bubbling under her skin. Her stomach continually jumped in
quick little rabbit hops. And her head was beginning to throb in a
sharp, insistent rhythm.
It would be just perfect, she thought in disgust, if Anna managed to get