Oh, God. Tiffany didn’t know what to say. Yes, she felt closer to these two women than she’d expected, but she wasn’t convinced that it would last. One confidence shared over lunch wasn’t a commitment of friendship or sisterhood. Or was it?

“Well, sure.” Katie’s eyes sparkled at the thought. “Why not?”

A thousand reasons why not! Tiffany looked away.

“I . . . I don’t know.”

“I don’t need an answer immediately,” Bliss said. “And I understand why you might have reservations. As I said before, you need your own space, but I would love it if you would do this for me.”

“Don’t you have friends who would want to be in your wedding?”

“I suppose. But now I’ve got two sisters. Well, half-sisters. And even though I’m not crazy about what Dad did and I hate to think of how my mother must have felt, I think it’s time to move on, not dwell on the past, and look to the future. I always wanted sisters ...or brothers, for that matter . . . and now that I know about you two, well, it only seemed right.”

“John didn’t put you up to this?” Tiffany asked, still not trusting the man who had sired her.

“He doesn’t even know about it. Neither does Mason. This is all my decision.”

“Well, count me in.” Katie finished her drink in one long swallow.

Tiffany felt cornered. If she didn’t agree, she’d appear headstrong and one-sided, when the truth was she didn’t know how she felt about her half-sisters. Some of her anger had dissipated over the past few weeks. But, on the other hand, if she jumped on this bandwagon she might not be able to jump off, and she didn’t want to appear weak. “I’ll think about it,” she said, but then remembered her own wedding day—how she would have loved to have sisters in attendance, or even a father to give her away.

“Do. Just let me know in a couple of weeks.”

“I will,” Tiffany promised. Could she do it? Accept this olive branch that Bliss was offering?

“Good.”

“It’ll be a blast!” Katie predicted.

The waitress came with the check and before the others picked it up, Bliss snagged the bill. “This one’s on Dad.”

“What?” Tiffany’s head snapped up.

“He insisted.”

“No way. I can pay my share,” Tiffany said. She wasn’t about to take any charity from John Cawthorne. No way. No how.

“Fine with me.” Katie tossed her napkin onto the table. “I’ve got to run anyway.”

“But—”

“Let him pick up the damned tab,” Katie said as she slung the strap of her purse over her shoulder. “The way I figure it, it’s the least he can do.”

Bliss nodded. “You don’t have to love him, Tiffany. You don’t even have to like him. But let him buy you lunch.”