The Reluctant Cinderella by Christine Rimmer

so close, right from the first. And then, when Megan was fourteen, right after Angela’s sweet-sixteen birthday, their parents had separated—and then divorced.
    Angela had been devastated. Megan, too, but not as bad as Angela. Megan had seen enough tragedy in her life by then that, to a degree, the divorce of her adoptive parents was just more of the same.
    Their father, who had found another woman, vanished from their lives. Their mother became distant, wrapped up in her fury at their father’s betrayal. The sisters had grown even closer through that tough time. They had each other, at least. And they’d both vowed never to lose their special bond.
    Into the silence, Angela said softly, “When you want to talk about it, you know I’m here.”
    Megan took another sip. She continued to watch the sunrise. “Yeah. I know. Thanks, sis….”
    â€œAnytime.”
    Â 
    All through Tuesday and Wednesday at Design Solutions, at home in the evening and later in her apartment during the mostly sleepless nights, Megan promised herself she wouldn’t even think about Greg.
    Her promises were pointless. She did think of him. She kept waiting for the feeling that she was throwing away something wonderful to fade at least a little.
    Waiting didn’t help. The feeling didn’t fade.
    Thursday morning, she got up early again, went over to the main house and made coffee.
    Angela appeared in her sleep shirt just as the coffee finished dripping. “Ready to talk about it?”
    â€œYeah. I guess I am.”
    They filled twin mugs and sat at the island. As the sun came up, Megan told Angela everything—from the private stuff Greg had shared with her in the restaurant Monday to the tour of his empty house onSycamore Street to the forbidden kiss. To how Rhonda and Irene had seen them, and finally to the way Megan had lied to Carly by not saying anything about any of it.
    Angela waited until Megan had gotten it all out. And then she said exactly what Megan had known she would say. “Tell Carly. Tell her right away. You know you’re not going to be able to live with yourself until you get things straight with her.”
    â€œOh, God…”
    â€œI know how you are.” Angela sent her a look of fond exasperation. “At work, you’re a dynamo. Nobody gets in your way when it comes to Design Solutions. But here at home…”
    Megan finished for her. “I hate making waves.”
    â€œWell, in this case,” Angela predicted, “there will be waves and you know it, as soon as word gets around that you and Greg Banning are seeing each other.”
    Megan gaped at her sister. “But I’m not seeing Greg. Didn’t you hear what I just said?”
    â€œEvery word. And I don’t believe for a minute that you and Greg Banning are done with each other. You’re crazy about him. You light up like a firecracker on the Fourth of July every time you mention his name. And from what you’ve just told me, he’s gone on you, too. Why are you trying to walk away from that? I don’t get it. You’re both single. You have every right to take the attraction you feel for each other and run with it.”
    â€œWell, yeah. Except for poor Carly…”
    â€œGreg isn’t Carly’s anymore. It’s sad she won’t admit that, but still, it’s a fact. Carly needs to get over Greg. And you need to deal with that big, fat hole in your integrity. You let Carly cry on your shoulder. That’s your weakness—you know it is. In your personal life, you let people think what they want to think. People tell you all their troubles and you let them, you listen and you nod and make understanding noises. You hold their hands. Which is fine. Most of the time. But this time, well, it’s kind of backfired on you. You held Carly’s hand and you heard her long, sad story and now she trusts you. When you tell her the truth,