Chapter 2 Sabrina made a face

Sabrina made a face. "It's my policy to avoid anything that will do me good. And I like my life the way it is."

Mackenzie's brows went up. "Do you really?"

"Yes, really."

"I remember a certain 3:00 a.m. phone call-"

"You swore you wouldn't use that against me. It was no more than a bad breakup rant. I'd already done the sympathy margarita thing with my girlfriends. I was in the middle of the tearing-up-photos-and-freaking-long-distance stage."

"Now, Sabrina, you were with the last guy for almost an entire winter. It was more than just another failed relationship. You're used to those. If you weren't hurt, you wouldn't have packed up and flown to Mexico the very next day."

"I'm used to doing that, too," Sabrina pointed out.

Mackenzie got a stubborn look on her face. "Just because you're used to it doesn't mean you like it. I distinctly remember that before the breakup you were wondering if it wasn't time to settle down and start a real career."

Sabrina hesitated. Mackenzie was right. Lately she'd been nagged by the feeling that she'd been a gypsy for long enough-continually moving from city to city, job to job, one boyfriend to the next. All that had gotten her was a lot of experience, an address book full of crossed-out names and a Mr. Wrong in nearly every state.

She was ready for a change-a smart one, this time.

"What about you?" she challenged Mackenzie. "I know you're the good sister and all, but there's room for improvement in your life, too. How long have you been in a holding pattern with Mr. Dull? And hasn't your boss at Regal Foods been promising you a promotion to executive in charge of jawbreakers and Gummi Bears for, I don't know, forever and a day?"

Mackenzie's mouth pursed. "You haven't been keeping up. I was promoted nearly a month ago, when you were jet-skiing in Mazatlan."

"Uh, wow. That's fabulous. Congrats, and all that." Sabrina wondered how her sister stood it, being so steady and reliable all the time. She really ought to offer the family's heirloom ring to Mackenzie, except that...

"And how is Mr. Dull?" Sabrina asked.

"His name is Jason Dole. He's-"

"A deep snooze. A dead bore."

"You're wrong. He might not be up to your Danger Boy standards, but he's a good guy."

Sabrina rolled her eyes. "There's that word again. Good. The kiss of death."

"Not for me. We're alike. We get along."

"You wouldn't be talking change if all you wanted was to 'get along."' Ever since the divorce had turned their world upside down, Mackenzie had been resistant to change. She'd lived in the same apartment since college, worked at the same candy company as she slowly worked her way toward a position as the top Tootsie Roll. She had to be as tired of routine as Sabrina was of airports and train stations.

"Look," she said, nudging Mackenzie toward the railing again. Charlie and Nicole had continued to kiss. Aside from the slight ew factor-this was their middle-aged parents, after all-the couple's affection was enviable. "Tell me you have that much passion with Jason and I'll gladly dance at your wedding." And even surrender the ring.

"I can't." The admission came too fast. Mackenzie wasn't nearly as resistant as Sabrina had expected.

"Well, then, there you go." Sabrina cocked her head. Charlie and Nicole were still kissing. She leaned over the railing and yelled, "Hey! You kids down there. Getta room, why don'tcha?"

Her parents broke apart, looking around in surprise. When they spotted their daughters up on the balcony, they laughed and waved, calling hellos.

Sabrina lifted her glass to them, then drained the remaining champagne in one swallow. "Mackenzie-I've got it. You and I need to switch lives."

"Oh, no. I'm not cut out for changing boyfriends with the seasons. And I can't roller-skate." Sabrina's latest temporary job was as a roller-skating waitress in a fifties-theme drive-in restaurant in St. Louis, a city she'd chosen by poking her finger at a map in a travel agency's window.

"But we do need to make changes," Mackenzie went on. She took a breath. Stuck out her chin. "I will if you will."

Sabrina narrowed her eyes. "What did you have in mind?" It wasn't like her sister to be reckless, so she was forced to be cautious in response. One way or another, they always balanced each other out.

"For your part, you'll settle down in one city. Sign a real lease, not a month-by-month."

That wasn't so bad. "You have to break up with Mr. Dull."

Mackenzie nodded. "I can do that. If you get a job-a job you like enough to stick with for at least a year."

"An entire year..." Sabrina gulped, then leveled a finger at Mackenzie's round face. "Fine, but you have to quit the candy company."

"Quit Regal Foods? Why? I told you how I just got that big promotion."

"You've always talked about running your own fancy candy store. I know you've been saving for it. Why not crack open your nest egg? There's no better time to go for it."

Mackenzie had paled, but she nodded. Reluctantly. "I'll take the plunge if you promise to give up men," she said, probably because she'd calculated that it was a safe offer which would never be accepted.

Celibacy? Sabrina thought. That was absurd! Impossible! But she retaliated without voicing her doubts. "Only if you cut your hair."

"How short?"

"How long?" Sabrina said at the same time.

"Until you truly fall in love," Mackenzie answered.

Sabrina's fingers clenched on the ring box. "Then you go above the ears."

The sisters stopped, momentarily dumbstruck by their careening conversation.

"My hair?" Mackenzie whispered, lifting a hand to stroke the dark length of it.

"No men?" Sabrina said, her voice faint and very far away. She couldn't possibly. She loved men. She was addicted to testosterone.

Mackenzie's eyes sharpened. "One year to change our lives. I say we shake on it!" And bam, she stuck out her hand without taking the usual week to think over the decision.

Sabrina wavered. "I..."

"Chicken?"

"Of course not. But what are the stakes?"

"The journey is its own reward."

"Phooey. How about this?" Sabrina flung back the cashmere wrap and held out her hand, palm up.

Mackenzie froze, staring at the worn blue velvet box which was familiar to both of them. Finally she reached out to flip up the lid and reveal the diamond ring that Nicole Bliss had removed from her finger the day of her divorce and stuck way in the back of her jewel box, saying she never wanted to see it again. Now and then, when their mother wasn't home, the sisters had sneaked in to take the ring out and try it on. Sabrina had wanted to believe that her attachment to the ring was the usual girlish attraction to shiny jewelry, but now that it was hers, she knew it meant more than that. Romance, love, marriage-which she wasn't supposed to believe in.

"Grandmother's diamond solitaire?" Mackenzie said, awed.

"Mom gave it to me before the ceremony." Charlie had presented Nicole with a new ring to symbolize their fresh start, so she'd passed the heirloom on to her oldest daughter.

"But I'm not sure I want it," Sabrina added hurriedly. "You'll be getting married before me. I mean, I have no intention of ever getting-"

"No, no, you're the oldest." Mackenzie gazed longingly at the ring. "You should have it."

"Ugh, I knew you'd be noble. That's why I want to put it up as the prize in our bet. The one of us who most successfully changes her life in the next year gets to keep the ring. We'll make the decision on our parent's first anniversary-if they last that long."

Mackenzie laughed in disbelief. "That's so-so-"

"Sacrilegious? It's only a ring." Sabrina slapped the velvet box into Mackenzie's palm, then impulsively tossed the champagne flute over the railing. "I'm not giving you time to change your mind. We have a deal!" They shook hands, clasping them around the treasured ring box. The sound of glass shattering on the patio below seemed appropriate. They were breaking out, starting off new. Just like-

Well, maybe not just like their parents, Sabrina thought when she glanced over the balcony. Charlie was laughing and Nicole was pulling out of his embrace, trying to get away so she could stalk over to the balcony and scold Sabrina for being so careless.

Typical.

But even as Sabrina watched, Charlie managed to grab hold of his wife's hand. He kissed Nicole on the cheek, placating her with a few murmured words, then raised a fist, shaking it playfully at his daughters. "Which one broke the glass?" he called. "A shard might have flown up and nicked my beautiful bride's face."

Sabrina and Mackenzie looked at each other and grinned. "Sorry," they sang in unison, standing shoulder to shoulder.

There was no good reason for it, especially with grown-up responsibility and a crazy celibacy promise looming in her future, but Sabrina's spirits soared when she looked into her parents' upturned faces. Charlie was balding and Nicole had lost the battle of the bulge. They had wrinkles and graying hair and fallen arches. There had been sieges when they'd threatened that widowhood was an even better solution than divorce, yet here they were, holding on to each other, trying again, their timeworn faces glowing with love. What courage they had.

Maybe, Sabrina thought, recognizing that the tiny part of herself that still believed in love wasn't buried as deep as she'd thought. Maybe this time...